Inventory to dictate closing date of Community Supermarket in Harrison

Inventory is starting to dwindle at Community Supermarket in Harrison.

The store, which has operated in the Heights Plaza shopping center since 2002, is expected to close by Oct. 31.

Joe Glaister of Brackenridge believes it might be sooner.

“I’m probably there three or four times a week,” he said. “It’s starting to look a little empty. One of the end caps that always had cheese curls stacked was gone yesterday.”

Glaister’s family has been shopping at the store since at least the 1990s, when it operated as a Shop ’n Save.

As Glaister suspected, inventory will dictate the final closing date, general manager George Sears said.

Perishable items will be restocked through Oct. 10, when a storewide 25% markdown begins.

“It really depends on what the store looks like mid-month,” Sears said. “The meat and deli will probably be gone.”

On Monday, hours will be cut to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Its decades of history is what’s leaving many township residents, especially those without transportation, in a crunch. The next closest store is Walmart, about 2.3 miles away. And the route isn’t entirely walkable.

Richard Lubkin, asset manager for plaza owner Benbrooke Development, previously said the company would seek a grocery store to fill the Community Supermarket space. As of August, there was no update from Benbrooke.

Lubkin did not return TribLive calls requesting comment.

Desiree Singleton, owner of Harvest Moon Coffee & Chocolates, which sits across the parking lot from Community, said she’s less concerned about the impact to her business than the hit the plaza will take with another vacancy.

“It doesn’t look good,” Singleton said. “I really hope something else goes in.”

Singleton said she believes some of her customers drop in for a drink and a snack after grocery shopping, but those stops don’t necessarily go hand in hand.

“I don’t foresee it being a huge problem, but, still, I wish it wasn’t closing,” she said.

Sears thanked the store’s customers. He said the decision by owners Howard Rosenberg and George Thimons was economically driven.

“For small stores, that’s just the way the landscape is,” Sears said. “It’s hard to survive.”

Home delivery offered

Community Supermarket in Lower Burrell will begin home delivery service to Harrison and surrounding areas to help cushion the blow of the Heights Plaza store closing.

“It might help a few people out that can’t get out,” Sears said.

Of the nearly 30 employees, about half have taken an offer to transfer to one of the company’s locations in Lower Burrell, Penn Hills or Bloomfield, or the company-owned Giant Eagle in Verona.

“Everyone that wanted to come has a place,” Sears said. “We’ve lost a few, and there’s still a bunch that haven’t decided yet.”

Glaister lamented the closing, saying the store was the right size to suit his needs.

“It’s closest to me, and I can be there and home in less time than it takes to check out at Walmart,” Glaister said.

He’ll drive the extra 10 minutes or so to the Shop ’n Save in West Deer’s Russellton neighborhood or dash to Giant Eagle in New Kensington, in a pinch.

“At least until they start working on the Tarentum Bridge next year,” Glaister said.