CUSTOMERS have been left in the lurch after a major discount grocery chain closed a location.
But another smaller company plans to take over the store, which was a vital source of fresh produce and other healthy groceries.
June 20 was the last day of business at the Save a Lot in Independence, Missouri, a suburb directly east of Kansas City.
Pervasive crime and a general decline in business preceded the closure.
"Theft has gone way up the past couple of years at our stores," Syed Haider, vice president of operations at Value Grocers LLC – which owns several Save a Lot stores across the region, told the Kansas City Star.
"People steal meat, they steal canned goods. They take it, put it in their pocket, and walk out. And we’ve had trouble getting the police to respond."
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Officers have been called to the store 14 times over the last year for crimes ranging from shoplifting and trespassing to vandalism and larceny.
Police will only respond to shoplifting reports if the suspect has been detained at the scene Jack Taylor, the public information officer for the Independence Police Department, told the Star.
Otherwise, they take the report over the phone and investigate after the fact.
But the former Save a Lot storefront won't be empty for long.
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El Mercado Fresco, a small grocery chain focused on Hispanic cuisine, hopes to open a new location there by Thanksgiving.
"Where no big stores want to come in, we're here to come in and serve the community," Tony Gutierrez, who works for the company, told KSHB.
El Mercado Fresco plans to hire between 50 and 60 employees for the new store.
Gutierrez believes the company won't struggle with the same issues Save a Lot did.
"Once we show customer service, I think that's going to reduce a lot of theft," he said.
El Mercado Fresco has four other locations open at the moment.
Three are in Kansas City, Missouri, and one is across the river in Kansas City, Kansas.
At the end of the month, Value Grocers plans to close another Save a Lot location in Gladstone, Missouri, about 10 miles north of Kansas City.
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