GASSAWAY, W.Va. — Friday will be the last day in business for the Gassaway Kroger in Braxton County. Earlier this year, the Kroger corporate offices announced the closing of around 60 stores across the Mid-Atlantic Region including the Gassaway location. It’s the smallest store in the region.
It’s a blow to the town and a tear jerker for Mayor Paula Cunningham.
“Sad, disappointed. I’ve lived her for 43 years and I sent a letter to the leadership of Kroger and unfortunately didn’t get a response from them at all. My concern, obviously is for the community and it just served so many different purposes,” said the Mayor.
The store was a large employer in the town. It also provided a lot of products which you couldn’t buy in the area and was convenient, particularly for elderly who lived in the Gassaway community. Cunningham added that the store was a partner with the nearby Mountaineer Food Bank and always made sure when items couldn’t be sold, instead of being trashed, they were provided to the hungry in the region.
Cunningham said despite her disappointment, she’s been trying to find ways to woo other grocery store operators to the location. She’ll visit the opening of a new Save-A-Lot in Clendenin next week in a location which has been vacant since the 2016 flood. She hoped to make some connections and cultivate a relationship which might bring another retailer to the space.
“The fact that they were physically operating there they benefited our community in so many ways in both jobs and convenience,” she said.
The store’s closing is just the latest blow to the town. The Long John Silver’s restaurant which sits on the same property closed about four months ago. There is also another vacant retail storefront in the Kroger Plaza. Cunningham said she wants to find somebody willing to occupy it.
“I’m just trying to find out how available this piece of property is up here. Again, it adds to our community and the quality of life,” she said.
The Kroger was on the list of stores to close once before and at that time then U.S. Senator Joe Manchin was able to work with Kroger corporate leadership and stave off a shutdown. That wasn’t the case this time around.
“It’s looking pretty bleak and I’m all about where do we go from here? Plus just so you know all kinds of people are pushing for a Tudors Biscuit World if anybody from there is listening,” said the Mayor.