Government-run grocery store in Kansas City forced to shut down thanks to rampant shoplifting and empty shelves
The Sun Fresh Market abruptly shut its doors on Monday, August 12, with a handwritten sign taped to the entrance, reading: 'Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we are no longer able to serve residents at this time.'
Emmet Pierson Jr., the group's CEO, has repeatedly said that relentless shoplifting and crime in the neighborhood have driven away customers.
Just last month, images at the grocery store shared online revealed mostly bare shelves and coolers as well as empty meat, produce and deli departments.
Shoppers said the store once held the fresh items they needed, but that it has been mostly empty for the last three months - and that some of the products available appear to be expired.
'The milk, I am scared to buy some,' shopper Michaelle Randolph told KMBC at the time. 'Even the dates, they may have a few days over. I don't want to buy that.'
'It's a rancid odor. I think something is dead or something's gone bad,' added shopper Jon Murphy.
The store opened in 2018 in Kansas City as part of a project to bring life back into the city's embattled east side, which did not have a grocery store before.
Meanwhile, residents of the area told The Washington Post they are scared to go to the store because of the rampant drug dealing and vagrancy both inside and outside the store.
Surveillance cameras inside the store have caught several concerning incidents at the shopping center, including a naked woman walking through the store, a person urinating and a couple fornicating on the lawn of the library in broad daylight.
According to local media, the store has received $28,997,400 in taxpayer money through bonds, loans, ordinances and subsidies.
But the closure is a major problem for local residents, who have long struggled with limited access to affordable groceries.
The next closest options, including Happy Food Center, Family Market, Aldi, and Save A Lot, are all at least a mile away.
Ryan Beal, who worked at Sun Fresh, told KCTV the loss will hit the community hard.
The the store once held the fresh items they needed, but that it has been mostly empty for the last three months
'We got elders here. We got grandmas taking care of grandkids here. Some people that come from other places cuz they don't want to shop at stores in their neighborhood. This is gonna be a deadzone too.'
Longtime customer Jill Beuford said the store's closure will make daily life far more difficult for many residents.
'I really hate to see really leave the area because so many people, they live around here,' she told the outlet. 'Walking distance where they can come to a store that's close to the community to where they can get to.'
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