West Oakland grocery store's closure leaves void, concerns of food desert
West Oakland grocery store's closure leaves void, concerns of food desert
At West Oakland's Community Foods Market, customers are filling their baskets for the last time. The store was the only full-size grocery store in the neighborhood for the last 40 years. Despite opening three years ago, it's closing for good on Sunday.
OAKLAND, Calif. - At West Oakland's Community Foods Market, customers are filling their baskets for the last time.
"It hurts me to see that it's closing right now," says shopper Monique Ussery. And staff is saying their final goodbyes.
"I'm just real sad about it because this is like my second home," says employee Sharon Rance.
And for the neighborhoods it served, this market filled a void. There had been no full-size grocery store here for 40 years.
And now less than three years after opening, it's closing its doors for good; a victim of terrible timing and of the pandemic.
"So we saw a simultaneous shrink in how much people were spending and how many people were coming in. And then of course supply shortages, labor shortages, unprecedented or 40 year inflation," says Brahm Ahmadi, CEO of Community Foods Market.
Ahmadi said it was just too much for a small business to withstand.
"And it just got to the point where the pressure of it all, the challenge of navigating through it and keeping operating just became impossible," he says.
Customers are devastated and worried about what this means for West Oakland.
"With this leaving, this leads to an incredible food desert," says shopper Steve Clemmons of Oakland. He adds, "When it comes to providing meals for families, that's what's really critical and that's what's being lost when we lose a store like this in this community."
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About a year ago, the market, located on San Pablo Avenue, launched a "Save Our Store" campaign hoping to attract more customers.
The CEO says he'd love to see another market move in here, but it's out of his hands.
Employees say the neighborhood will be worse off without one.
"We needed this store bad and it's a shame that we have to close. And to see all these people in here, where were you when we really needed you," says Rance.
Over the next few days everything in the store is 50% off. The Community Foods Market closes its doors for good Sunday evening.