Michael Davis walked into the Pick ‘n Save at 2355 N. 35th St. this week and walked out empty-handed five minutes later.
Davis had no clue his neighborhood grocery store was closing.
“I was here last week,” he said. “They didn’t have signs or anything.”
In June, Kroger, which operates Pick ‘n Save stores in Wisconsin, announced that it would be closing 60 stores nationally, five of which are located in Milwaukee.
The Pick ‘n Save at 2355 N. 35th St. in Metcalfe Park will close Friday, July 18, according to Kroger officials.
Davis lives two blocks from the Pick ‘n Save and said he usually walks to the store.
“I guess I’m gonna try to catch a bus somewhere else,” he said.
‘Nothing we can do about it‘
Although the shelves have been cleared and the store is almost empty, the parking lot on Tuesday afternoon was not.
Earline Mannery, who shops at the Pick ‘n Save, said she hates to see the store closing.
“It’s unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do about it,” Mannery said.
Linda Carter walks from Sherman Boulevard to the store weekly to get groceries.
“This is tragic because it’s the only grocery store in the neighborhood,” she said. “And people like me, who usually walk down here, have to reroute ourselves and further now.”
A good thing?
One resident thinks the store closing could be a good thing.
“The store is selling us overpriced poison,” said Elizabeth Brown, who lives a neighborhood over from the grocery store. “This could give us an opportunity to uplift the farmers and entrepreneurs in our community.”
Davis and Carter said they’re planning to shop at the Pick ‘n Save at 5700 W. Capitol Drive., a three-mile drive, hour walk, or nearly 30-minute bus ride away, according to Google Maps.
What’s next
Residents and others maintain hope that officials will change their minds about plans to close the store or at least keep it open longer. Residents are planning to march and rally outside the store from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, July 18.
“This shouldn’t happen quietly, ” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director and lead organizer of Metcalfe Parks Community Bridges, a resident-led organization.
Attempts to speak to representatives of Kroger regarding Pick ‘n Save were not successful.
After the rally, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is hosting a Mutual Aid Afterparty BBQ, where its members will hand out diapers and hygiene supplies and collect donated items from community members.
“We just want to support each other and help figure it out,” McCurtis said.
For more information
To get involved, you can follow Metcalfe Park Community Bridges or reach out at mmccurtis@metcalfepark.org.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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