Ray's Market Information

Ray's Market was originally located on STH 13 in Unity, just south of the CTH P/K intersection. Ray Gurtner started the business on January 7, 1971, after purchasing it from a previous owner. At first there was a grocery store with the business but that was discontinued in the early 80's. Ray's son, Al, had always been a helper around the store, from stocking shelves to tending the register. On July 7, 2007, Ray passed away and Al quit his construction job to take over. His mother, Janet, came aboard as a full-time shopkeeper. The business was always a repository of Unity history with a storeroom next door that held several antiques. But perhaps the most important items in the entire business were three pictures showing the Gurtner family through the years. Janet Gurtner was jolted awake the morning of March 3, 2009, by a smoke alarm going off. She lived in the apartment above the original Ray's Market and thought the television or telephone was making the noise. When she looked out her window and saw much more smoke coming from the meat market than usual, she tried calling 911 only to find the phone lines dead. By the time she called from a neighbor's place people had stopped on STH 13 because of the smoke. Al, a Colby resident, was told by a Colby-Abbotsford police officer that firefighters were on the way to his store. By the time firefighters from Colby and Spencer arrived the building was ablaze. Most flames were put out within 45 minuets but firefighters had to cut holes in the roof to keep the fire from spreading. It caused damage to Janet's apartment, forcing her out o a job and out of her home. The fire destroyed four smokehouses and wrecked freezers, coolers and sausage-making equipment. It also left Al with about 25,000 pounds of meat that were stored in a refrigerated truck. Initially he hoped to salvage it but it was later determined that burning Styrofoam and other materials had rendered it inedible. Initially Al had considered rebuilding in Unity and waiting to see how much of the brick ...