The letter arrived by certified mail Wednesday. A large yellow sign with black letters informing, “Store Closing” was hung on the storefront this week
Lofino Food Stores, which owned the three Cub franchises, did not respond to questions about the closing.
Cub Foods is the largest grocery in Trotwood’s jurisdiction at about 65,000 square feet, although there is a Foodtown on Main Street and several discount stores that have increased their grocery sections, including Target and Big Lots. There is also a Kroger store nearby on Siebenthaler.
“We’re not anticipating much growth,” said Jim Davis, who owns the 18,000-square foot Foodtown store. “Hopefully, we’re wrong, but when they closed the other stores, it didn’t do much for the other groceries.”
Davis did say he’s trying to obtain some brands Cub carried that Foodtown does not.
“We’re in the process of trying to fill that need,” Davis said. “I was given three items to see if I could get them, but our warehouse carried only one.”
“We’re sad to see them closing,” city manager Mike Lucking said. “We had a good relationship with them. They were a strong city supporter. The reality is, Cub was competing against a giant Kroger.”
An even bigger issue for Lucking is what’s left of Consumer Square, where the largest remaining retailer is Office Depot.
“Consumer Squre is a concern, period,” Lucking said. “There is new ownership, but they have not revealed themselves. They’re an LLC out of Las Vegas. There is 200,000 to 300,000 square feet. It’s a viable product, but we have not yet been able to contact the owners to find out what they intend to do.”
Trotwood director of planning and zoning Carl Daugherty said, “Retail grocery in this area is fiercely competitive. Groceries are getting hit on both sides. They have big box retailers on one side, and discount, hybrid retailers on the other.”
While the closing of Cub Foods is a high visibility setback, it’s part of a two-way trend in the city. In the past year, Best Buy has closed and K-Mart has announced it is closing, along with Cub. Going the other way, Trotwood has converted three empty restaurants in the Salem Ave. area into new restaurants, opened a new auto parts store and expanded a used car establishment at the old Mel Zappia Chrysler/Jeep and brought in a new owner for one of its largest apartment complexes, Squirrel Run.
“I’m optimistic with a new owner of Consumer Square,” Daugherty said. “Big box stores are transitioning to other uses, and there’s a lot of space there.”
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