People need and want cheap food, Joseph DeClue thought to himself earlier this year. So he opened a market. Simple as that.

After doing some research and talking to a distributor from the Twin Cities who has done the same, DeClue opened Family Market in Austin, a bent-and-dent food store that offers convenience and savings. DeClue, along with his brother, Josh DeClue, and sister-in-law, Val DeClue, operate the market at 807 Ninth St. SE, the former spot of a Sudanese market and a longtime corner market before that.

“I figure people need food, and times are hard right now,” Jospeh said, who always wanted to open a business and discovered his distributor had great success in the same area.

To start, Family Market offers the necessities, such as milk, bread and eggs. From there, it’s a matter of what’s in stock at the warehouse, or what has fallen off of pallets, been scuffed or inadvertently shipped.

“This is a totally new endeavor for all of us,” Val said, who was working on Tuesday.

Val lived just six blocks away from the location many years ago, when the store was also a corner market. Now those from the neighborhood are popping through the doors to see what’s in stock.

“We get a lot of people coming in just to check it out,” Val said, standing amidst many salad dressings, candy bars, potato chips and household products.

The store has really just gotten off the ground, and the DeClues hope to have more items in coming months, and perhaps more services like a bakery, consignment or even a photography studio in the back.

More than anything, though, Joseph wanted a place that was family oriented, serving the community.

“We want families to be able to come in and feel like they have a place to go to,” Joseph said.

Currently, families can get a sample of that with a children’s coloring contest, or visits with Santa Claus from 1 to 4 p.m. this Sunday.

Family market is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, including some holidays.