Goodbye Cornersburg Giant Eagle

Photo by: Daniel C. Britt

Photo

Lori Filicky and her son Mark, 5, of Boardman shopping at the Giant Eagle in Cornersburg. "I'll certainly miss it," She said, "With three boys, I've been here nearly everyday for 17 years."

YOUNGSTOWN — For one day, the clerks, baggers and bakers at Giant Eagle were celebrities. And they were giving autographs.

Nine-year-old Sarah Velichko collected nine of them on a rubber ball just before the store in the city’s Cornersburg area closed today for the final time. Then she ran off to get a hug from one of workers.

“We’ve shopped here for 13 years, and everybody here is our friend,” said Sarah’s mother, Laurie Velichko, 41, of Boardman. “They know us by our names.”

One of the baggers gives her daughter a Christmas gift every year.

“It’s really sad that they are going,” Velichko said.

Giant Eagle, a Pittsburgh-based grocery chain, announced recently that it was closing the store for financial reasons but hasn’t been specific.

For the complete story, see Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.