Shoppers aren’t thrilled by the imminent closure of Flatbush’s Stop & Shop

New York — supermarket brooklyn It will be closed next month. The move has made shoppers worried about access to fresh produce.

CBS2 spoke with Flatbush residents on Monday.

For many customers, the Stops & Shops in that section of the district are highly rated.

Frank Hazard said, “Because everything is fresh and everything is up to date. That’s what I like.

So closing news is a tough pill to swallow.

“This isn’t fair to us as a community because we need this. It provides us with fresh food and is reasonably priced,” said Mary Wright.

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Stop & Shop told CBS2 in a statement that the company “has made the difficult decision not to renew the lease on the Flatbush store.”

This location will be closed on January 19th. The company says Food Bazaar will take over the space.

However, residents and community advocates worry that the new stores will not be able to offer the same quality of food at the same prices.

Food Bazaar operates just over 20 stores in the Tri-State Area compared to Stop & Shop, which has over 400 supermarkets.

Some fear that the void left will lead to food desertification.

“I don’t know. Where are you going to shop now? I have to drive farther,” said Gloria Thomas.

“Across Flatbush, there aren’t enough grocery stores where people can get quality food at an affordable price,” said David Alexis of the group New York Communities for Change. increase.

Alexis said people don’t have to travel far for food.

Alexis said, “We plan to hold anyone who comes here to the responsibility of ensuring they have what they need once again.”

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Employees at closed stores were most likely to move to other Stop & Shop locations.

A woman named Valerie has been with Flatbush for 14 years. she said.

She added that Stop & Shop has been loyal to her and will remain loyal to the company going forward.

A Stop & Shop official said the company waited to leave the space until another supermarket promised to take over the space.