43
Faithful shoppers lament loss of city grocery store
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."
By Don Shilling
Giant Eagle customers were sad as they left the store for the final time.
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 Saturday for the final time. Then she ran off to get a hug from one of the 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.
Sadness was the common sentiment in the final hour as shoppers came out of the store with shopping carts full of good deals. Most people had plenty of produce because the store was offering bushels of fruit for $1.
“It’s pretty sad,” said Cynthia Velez, 22, of Cornersburg. “We live across the street, and I have two kids. It’s really easy.”
She and her mother, Sandra Miranda, 43, said they like the store because if offers Hispanic products.
“Now, we’ll have to go farther away, and gas is expensive,” Miranda said.
The mother and daughter plan to go to the Giant Eagle store on Boardman-Canfield Road in Boardman. Other shoppers said they would go to the Giant Eagle in Canfield or the Sparkle Market on Meridian Road.
“It’s a sad day, said Arlene Jeffries of Youngstown. “The workers all look so sad.”
A manager would not allow workers to be interviewed, but Velichko said the employees she has talked to are taking jobs at other Giant Eagle stores in the area. The store had 65 employees.
Katie Gries, 29, of Youngstown said she was disappointed that grass-roots efforts to save the store didn’t work.
“It’s sad to lose this store in our neighborhood,” she said.
Mayor Jay Williams and the Cornersburg Merchants, a newly formed business group, lobbied Giant Eagle to keep the store open. Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th, started a petition drive.
The store was busy in its final hour, but a manager started turning away customers at 6 p.m. Employees remained in the store for a while to finish their duties, but some people could be seen taking pictures and hugging.
shilling@vindy.com