Johnson City Supermarket Closing as Neighborhood is Redeveloped

A grocery store in Johnson City is shutting down as the face of the village's downtown district continues to evolve.

The Save-A-Lot store at 200 Main Street is expected to close its doors on Saturday.

Roberta Douglas, who has operated the business with her husband, said they recently were advised that the building was being sold and their lease would not be renewed.

The owners, employees and customers of the discount grocery store have been concerned about its fate for several years.

The property was put on the market in early 2017. It was sold later that year for $608,000 to an entity based in Chenango County.

The new owners then tried to sell the site as redevelopment driven by Binghamton University's Health Sciences Campus on Corliss Avenue drove up property values.

The most recent real estate listing showed an asking price of $1,150,000.

Douglas noted many of store's most loyal customers no longer resided in the neighborhood because they lived in apartment buildings that were torn down after they were acquired by Binghamton University.

She said the closing will pose a hardship for many people who still live nearby because they don't have cars to travel to other places to buy groceries.

The Save-A-Lot store employed six people.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.