Three years after buying into the Richmond grocery scene by gobbling up Ukrop’s, Martin’s Food Markets is closing a location in the West End.
The Martin’s grocery store at Gayton Crossing shopping center will be shut down by Oct. 26, the grocery chain announced Monday.
The 38,000-square-foot store, which sits back-to-back with a Kroger store, wasn’t hitting the numbers set by Martin’s and its Dutch parent company Ahold, the chain said.
“As with any business, we have goals that are put in place for each of the stores and of course we feel it’s very good business practice to continually evaluate our store base,” said Martin’s spokesman Chris Brand. “In this case, it was a very difficult decision, but in the end [the Gayton location] was not achieving those goals.”
Martin’s was the region’s top grocer over the past year, according to a report released in June by Food World, a trade publication. It found Martin’s controlled 16.6 percent of the local market share.
Brand said Martin’s does not release store-specific sales figures.
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