KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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The Sun Fresh grocery store location at The Shops at Blue Parkway closed permanently on Sunday after months of financial and other struggles.
A news release from Community Builders of Kansas City, the organization that owns The Shops at Blue Parkway and operated the grocery store, stated "declining sales, economic factors and rising operating costs have made the store unsustainable."
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva spent the afternoon outside the Sun Fresh on Blue Parkway, where she saw many neighbors park in the lot and walk to the front door, only to see a "Store closed" sign.
LaRon Lock works next door to the Sun Fresh and heard many questions from customers before the closure.
"They kept asking, like, are y'all going to restock? What's going on?" Lock said.
Now those customers have answers, but not the ones they were hoping for.
For many shoppers, the closure hit hard.
"It's really sad," said Tony Henderson, a shopper.
"It's depressing," said Intwyne, a shopper.
"It's shocking," said another customer, who works nearby. "I didn't expect them to close."
"It's probably bad for the employees, too," said John Agee, who often shopped at the store. He said the closure also means a longer trip for groceries. "I have to travel farther to shop for groceries."
CBKC says it is working with the nearly 25 employees affected by the closure to provide severance and job-placement services.
"I was just surprised," said Jeffrey Johnson, another shopper.
Some said they saw the closing coming.
"I was just talking to my wife. I was telling her, 'I dthe on't know why they just don't close if the shelves are always empty," said D'Angelo Hicks, a shopper.
KSHB 41 News has reported on the store and its problems before. In September, shoppers had grown uneasy about empty shelves and limited selection.
"They were going scarce after a while," said David Jones, a shopper.
"Can't even get a ramen noodle out of there," Henderson said.
Neighbors also said the closure is a familiar situation.
They recalled the closure of the former Sun Fresh on Prospect — one also run by CBKC. The location later reopened as United Market KC.
Hicks says he's disappointed.
"I feel like they know it's a service to the community," Hicks said.
The community hopes the same happens at Blue Parkway.
"Hopefully, they can make another, like, grocery store or convenience store to help those people out," Lock said.
I reached out to the city and officials said Sun Fresh at the Shops at Blue Parkway is a privately-owned business. The city does not have involvement with the business.
I also reached out to city council members from the council district where the store was located, but did not get any responses.
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