Cornersburg Giant Eagle prepares to close; residents lament the loss
By Denise Dick
The mayor said he and his wife frequent this store.
YOUNGSTOWN — Beginning July 13, shoppers at a Cornersburg supermarket will have to find a new place to buy groceries.
Giant Eagle said Tuesday that its Canfield Road store will close at the end of business July 12.
The company, based in Pittsburgh, made the decision for financial reasons and the 65 employees who work at the Cornersburg location will be offered jobs at other corporate-owned stores, according to the company.
That decision distressed Darla Avery, who lives off of Schenley Avenue and usually shops at the Giant Eagle or down the road at Sparkle Market on Meridian.
“Now, I’ll have to go to Austintown or Boardman if I want to go to Giant Eagle,” she said while loading groceries into her truck Tuesday night.
That’s a particular inconvenience with gas prices so high, Avery said.
Robert Davis shops at several Giant Eagle locations in addition to the Cornersburg one, but it’s the closest to his home.
He was surprised that the company pointed to finances as the reason. The store always seems to do a good business while he’s there, Davis said.
Mayor Jay Williams was surprised by the reasons cited, too. He was in Detroit on Tuesday and was unaware the store would close. He planned to call the company upon returning to town today to get more details.
“I’m in that store all the time,” Williams said. “That’s where my wife and I shop. I know the employees there. I see people in there from Austintown, from Boardman, Canfield and Youngstown.”
He said he found it difficult to believe that this particular store suffered financial problems.
Craig LaSalandra, a Cornersburg resident, typically shops at Giant Eagle, Sparkle or Rulli Brothers. Sparkle is on Meridian, just around the corner from Giant Eagle, and he frequents the Rulli Brothers on Kirk Road, Austintown. The closure, however, will restrict LaSalandra’s food shopping options.
“Instead of three grocery stores, we’ll be down to only two,” he said. “I’m going to have to go a lot farther if I want to go to Giant Eagle now.”
LaSalandra isn’t sure whether he’ll opt for Austintown or one of the Boardman locations as they’re about the same distance from his home.
“I don’t like the superstores,” he said. “Boardman and Austintown — those are superstores. I like a smaller store. I don’t need to walk five miles to do my shopping.”