LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --Â Some south Louisville residents are frustrated and concerned after learning their neighborhood Kroger store will soon close its doors.
The Kroger location on South Third Street in the Wilder Park neighborhood is one of 60 stores the grocery chain is shuttering nationwide, part of a broader cost-cutting strategy.
For nearby residents like Joy and Shauntay James, the closure means more than just an inconvenience — it's a disruption to their daily lives.
"It's terrible. I mean, I love this store," said Joy James, who has shopped at the Third Street location for more than 20 years.
Shauntay James said they rely on the store's proximity, adding, "It only takes us like three minutes to walk, so it is real convenient for us."
Without a car, the pair said they'll now have to walk roughly 17 minutes to the nearest Kroger on Central Avenue.
Antowoine Pleasants, who lives nearby, said the closing will disproportionately impact people who don't drive.
"I could walk here and be in like five minutes as opposed to having to catch the bus to go to Central up the street," Pleasants said. "For people that can't get to the other Kroger or the other stores, it is going to be a challenge. What they didn't have to pay for, now they are ... transportation."
Jay Smith, who owns a pawn shop between the two Kroger locations, said the Third Street store simply didn't draw enough foot traffic in recent years.
"A lot of people who lived there for a long time have moved to different neighborhoods," Smith said. "It ain't like a community like it used to be."
Still, he expressed disappointment over the store's closure.
"I hate to see it go, I really do," he said.
Kroger said employees at the Third Street location will have the opportunity to transfer to other stores.
No timeline for the closure has been announced. It's unclear what, if anything, will take its place.
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