GASSAWAY, W.Va. — Kroger has announced it will reverse an earlier announced plan and keep its small store in Gassaway operational.
The company plans last week to close the Braxton County store at the first of the year citing a continued decline in profits.
The company announced in a news release Thursday the plan has changed for at least the time being.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement for a new lease to continue operating for the next year,” said Lori Raya, president of Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division in a statement. “We are grateful to our customers and community for their continued support and patronage of our store and look forward to working together to improve the economic viability of this store location.”
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin visited the store Thursday and met with workers.
“I called them and asked them if they would have the compassion to reconsider and I want to thank them and they did,” Manchin said. “They reconsidered what it meant and what it would do to the area.”
Manchin worked with United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 which represents the workers.
Manchin said a closing would create a food desert in parts of Braxton, Webster, Clay and surrounding counties.
“When you think about the rural counties it’s just a tremendous loss,” Manchin said.
Manchin said hopes Kroger can combine its earlier business decision with its compassionate decision and look at updates to the existing location to help make it more profitable.
“You have to make investments too, so we’re talking to them about that and also the lease and property here and what’s available still yet for expansions. There’s so many things they can do,” Manchin said.
The Gassaway Kroger is the smallest in the Mid-Atlantic Region and has 52 employees. Kroger has 2,900 workers in all of West Virginia with 29 stores statewide.