With Junction Fuel & Grocery in New Florence closing in less than a month, Amanda Burch is not looking forward to leaving her office.

“Packing 18 years up is what I’m dreading,” the store’s co-owner said.

Burch and her father, Wayne Niemeyer, ran the family-owned business at 447 Booneslick Road for 18 years. That long tenure is going to come to an end on Sept. 17.

Junction Fuel & Grocery will become Casey’s General Store after it was sold to the Ankeny, Iowa-based store last winter. The store has been family owned since 1979, when it was the Hoffman Oil Company. It will have a customer appreciation day on Sept. 16.

“It will be bittersweet,” Burch said.

Junction Fuel & Grocery also has Champs Chicken and BluTaco, both were added in 2020. With Casey’s taking over, both restaurants will be closed.

Burch said she and Niemeyer decided to close the business since Niemeyer is 65 years old.

“It’s time to let it go,” Burch said.

Niemeyer, who grew up in St. Charles County, moved to the Montgomery County area with his parents in 1976. He started working at the old Standard Oil station – which was at around the same location as the current’s Love’s store – in 1978. He then worked at Hoffman Oil Company in 1985, a month before Burch was born.

Niemeyer and Burch purchased the Hoffman Oil Company building on July 1, 2005 and renamed it Junction Fuel & Grocery. Nine years before, the current building was rebuilt by Art Hoffman, Burch’s grandfather.

Burch graduated from Montgomery County High School in 2003. Three years later, she became a graduate at the University of Missouri-Columbia, earning a Bachelor’s degree in agribusiness. She was also eight months pregnant.

Then, Burch decided to join the family business that included Wayne Niemeyer, her mother Sharon Niemeyer (who died in 2014) and brother Eric Niemeyer.

“I couldn’t have done it without her,” Wayne Niemeyer said.

Now, Burch is trying to decide what she wants to do next.

“I’ll have enough paperwork and taxes,” Burch said. “I do all of that here, so I’ll have enough of that to get me through for a while.”

Junction Fuel & Grocery has 11 employees, all of them have the option to be retained. Burch said most of them have worked in the store for 18 years.

“It’s just one big family,” Burch said.

Casey’s will have its third location in Montgomery County. There are also stores in Montgomery City and Wellsville.