Shoppers grocery stores to close in St. Mary's

St. Mary’s County residents will have fewer grocery shopping options after the recent decision to close three Shoppers stores.

The impacted stores are on MacArthur Boulevard in California, Mohawk Drive in Charlotte Hall and Merchant’s Lane in Leonardtown.

“We are thankful for the tremendous service our employees have delivered at these Shoppers locations and are grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to share in the lives and special events of our customers, vendors, community partners, and associates throughout these neighborhoods,” Shoppers Vice President of Operations Jeff Bleichner said in a news release sent to Southern Maryland News. “We understand the impact this decision has on our store teams and are committed to supporting them through this transition.”

A news release dated March 26 added the company spoke with staff members that day, and that the last day of operations will be April 27. The last day for employees will be May 10.

“Whenever local businesses close it’s not a good thing,” St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development Director Chris Kaselemis said. “We know there’s a lot of jobs out there, so hopefully [the employees] will be employed again soon.”

Referring to the California location, Kaselemis said he has spoken to the owner of the Patuxent Crossing and they hope to fill the space soon. Kaselemis said the 61,000-square foot building could even be occupied by two businesses.

On Tuesday, some of the shelves of the Leonardtown location were already bare. A manager referred an interview request to the corporate office and two customers leaving the store declined to be interviewed.

The release said Shoppers — whose slogan is “Low prices. Every day” — regularly reviews its operations to ensure it is generating sales and profits appropriate for each of its locations and that “the company has made the difficult decision to close three locations due to ongoing financial and profitability challenges.”

The California location has gone through rollercoaster-type changes over the last several years. A previous Shoppers location closed in 2018 and was replaced by McKay’s from 2020-2022, before Shoppers returned.

The store’s website lists a Shoppers location in Bowie and four other locations around Baltimore.

“While these decisions are never easy, we appreciate the hard work of our team members who have been committed to serving our customers and the local communities,” the release said.