Garden Fresh store in Mt. Prospect to close in June

Wheeling-based Garden Fresh will close its Mount Prospect store in June, affecting about 50 workers, a company executive said Monday.

Stiffer competition from a nearby Wal-Mart that added an expanded food market and "issues related to the landlord" of the shopping center contributed to the closing, said Garden Fresh General Manager Golan Mor.

"It's always difficult when letting go of people. No one wants to do it," Mor said.

Those workers will be laid off because there are no available openings at the company's five other grocery stores in Naperville, Round Lake Beach, Mundelein, Northbrook and Wheeling.

In March, Garden Fresh also closed its store in Arlington Heights, which affected about 70 workers. at that time. Mor said the remaining 5 stores are "performing strongly" and will remain open.

The Mount Prospect store, near Central and Rand roads, is close to residential housing and senior housing complexes, providing convenient shopping for local residents, said longtime customer Mary Matthews.

"There are just so many homes in the area, I cannot imagine there's not going to be a grocery store there anymore. It's going to be tough," said Matthews. "It's going to leave a big void."

The company also filed documents with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity about the impending layoffs.

Garden Fresh opened its first store in 1980 in Skokie. Others opened later, including the Mount Prospect store, at 1145 Mount Prospect Plaza in 2006. The company closed a store on Belmont Avenue in Chicago in 2010, the website said.