A Virginia supermarket is being forced to shut down after nearly 25 years, citing a crippling $ 25K-a-month utility bill.
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Grants Supermarket's Richlands location is set to shutter on Oct. 10, according to The New York Post. The company decided to let the lease expire rather than renew it due to the overwhelming overhead of running the location, which serves the small town of just over 5,000 people.
"Our lease on the Richlands location will be expiring soon. At the same time, we have faced dramatically rising operating costs," the company explained in a statement via local outlet SWVA Today. "Like many families and businesses throughout our community, we have struggled with increasing utility expenses."
"Over the past two years, the utility bill for this location alone has averaged more than $25,000 per month. With the lease nearing its end, these continuing costs made the difficult decision not to renew unavoidable," the press release contined.
"Closing a store after nearly a quarter century is never easy. We leave with tremendous gratitude for the relationships, friendships, and memories that have been created here," Grants Supermarket added.
The Grant Supermarket Location Shutting Down Follows a Surge in Utility Prices
The supermarket shutting down follows a surge in inflation, The Post points out. The outlet reports that electricity prices have skyrocketed 35.3% since 2021. Piped natural gas prices also jumped 61.8% this past decade.
Meanwhile, prices for consumers spiked 39.1% over the past ten years.
However, Grants Supermarket didn't directly blame rising utility rates for its decision to shut down the Richland location.
"This is an incredibly difficult decision and one we did not make lightly," the company wrote after citing the overall fiscal burden of the keeping the store open just not making fiscal sense.
The Richland location closing follows the company shuttering its Tazewell, Virginia location just two years ago, per SWVA Today. The only remaining Grant Supermarket locations in nearby areas include Bluefield, Virginia, and Smithers, Princeton, and Oak Hill in West Virginia.
The Richland location's final day of operation will be Saturday.
