‘It was like someone punched us in the gut,’ customers say after beloved Trader Joe’s rival abruptly closes

The grocery store closure left many Americans without a place to buy food.

Binghamton residents, new York community are living without a grocery store after a Weis Market in the area closed and they are outraged.

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People in Weis’ neighborhood learned the market would close in March, just a month before it closed permanently, local news network WSKG reported.

Residents who have lived near the retailer for years have even found themselves without a car because Weis has always been nearby.

Like Nicole Daniels, who lives in a housing project in Binghamton’s Southside neighborhood.

“It was really everything you needed, from soup to nuts,” Daniels shared.

“If you want to have a barbecue, you can do that. If it was really cold and there was snow on the ground, you could go there and get salt.”

Now that the retailer is closed in her area, she has to travel 40 minutes each way to another Weis.

“It was a tremendous blow,” Daniels emphasized.

“It was like someone punched us in the stomach.”

The trip she will have to make now involves two bus trips.

“Sometimes you wait 40, 45 minutes for a bus,” Daniels said.

“And if you don’t come by a certain time, you’ve already lost.”

There is also a limit to how many grocery bags residents can take on the bus, according to WSKG.

That said, the county’s transit agency has announced that it will try to accommodate extra bags on buses now that one of the Weis Markets in Broome County has closed.

“It was a tremendous blow. It was like someone punched us in the stomach,”

Nicole DanielsWSKG

The Weis location that was closed was located on Conklin Avenue on the south side of Binghamton.

“Many Southeast residents rely on public transportation, pay for private transportation or walk to Weis on Conklin Avenue,” said one Binghamton resident. WBNG.

“Many are disabled, it will be even more burdensome for them to travel to a different location.”

Residents of the city’s south side shopped at the supermarket for 60 years before it closed.

Weis Markets took over the location in 2009 after it came under the ownership of Binghamton-based Giant Markets.

Then, in February 2024, Weis suddenly announced that he was closing the store. In a statement to WSKG, Weis declined to specify the reason for the closure, but said the decision was made “after careful consideration and review.”

When a supermarket closes when it is a neighborhood’s main or only access to groceries, it creates a “food desert.”

A food desert occurs when a large percentage of residents, typically low-income residents, no longer have access to fresh, healthy food.

About one in 10 families in New York state has struggled with food insecurity, a 2023 report from the New York City comptroller’s office found.

Lack of access to nearby grocery stores can worsen food insecurity for families, according to studies.