VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The last Farm Fresh grocery store in Virginia Beach — and the second to last on the Southside — is closing.
The store will close for good March 6, WAVY’s Brett Hall reports.
Employees say they found out about the closure on Friday. Attempts to reach owner Kumar Bhavanasi were not successful.
“The owner has decided to not renew our expiring lease due to increased competition over the last 2 years that has resulted in declining sales,” said store director Emmett Saunders. “We currently have 34 associates. Many have already started new jobs or are in the process of filling out applications and interviewing. Grocery competitors nearby have reached out to me to assist in placement of associates that have not found work as of yet.”
At this time two years ago, there were nearly 40 Farm Fresh stores in Hampton Roads.
According to the Virginia Farm Fresh website, there are only two left in Hampton Roads: Portsmouth and Newport News.
The decline of Farm Fresh in Virginia began in 2018 when Supervalu Inc., the owner of Farm Fresh, announced it would sell 21 of its 38 stores for $43 million.
10 of the stores were purchased by Kroger Mid-Atlantic and eight by Kroger’s Harris Teeter brand. Three other locations will be converted into Food Lions.
The remaining Farm Fresh on the Southside is located at 4000 Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth.
