Klein's Food Center to close its doors
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
By COLLEEN KENNEY / Lincoln Journal Star
Klein’s Food Center, a family-run grocery store that’s been a heart of its Near South neighborhood for three generations — and whose 11th and G location is marked by city street signs as “Klein’s Corner” — will close its doors Saturday.
Duane Klein, grandson of the founder, says accountants told him and his dad they cannot turn the business around financially.
“I’m sorry for the bad news,” Duane Klein said Tuesday. “My dad and I knew in our hearts that it was inevitable.
“We don’t have what a lot of other stores have that a lot of customers want. We basically just sell groceries. Other stores, they sell everything from photo to floral. They have a bakery, a deli.
“Customers want one-stop shops, and I tell you, we can’t compete against that.”
And they can’t compete against the mega-stores like Wal-Mart, he said.
“I remember 25 years ago, when I got into this business, there were at least 10 to 12 other IGA stores like ours,” he said. “And one by one, they disappeared.
They put up a closing sign Sunday, thanking customers for all of the years.
They are having a liquidation sale — up to 50 percent by Saturday. Duane Klein doesn’t know what will occupy the building after they leave.
Customers are sad, he said. Some almost act mad, he says: How can you close?
He’s been explaining to them how they’ve been losing money the past year, he said.
His 80-year-old dad, Wes Klein, still works seven days a week but hasn’t received a check for at least a year.
Wes’ dad started a bakery on the corner in 1928. The grocery opened in 1941.
“My dad, he’s running around like a chicken with his head cut off,” Duane Klein said. “He doesn’t know what to do. He feels — even though we’ve been here all these years — a little pride issue. He feels like the neighborhood doesn’t need him anymore, or is going to forget him.”
The low-income neighborhood is a culturally diverse mix of people. There are many elderly and disabled people, many college students.
Dave Hoffman, a 69-year-old who lives in a nearby apartment, says the closing will affect him and others in the neighborhood who don’t have cars.
He has walked to the store for the past 15 years. Now, he says, he’s going to have to walk eight blocks farther, to the Russ’s at 17th and Washington.
Hoffman works downtown. In the dead of winter, he said, he’ll probably shop at the downtown Walgreens for his TV dinners and other staples.
Klein’s workers delivered groceries to people in the neighborhood who couldn’t get to the store, Hoffman said — for free.
“It’s a really big loss,” Hoffman said. “I bet it’ll probably devastate the old man, Wes. Duane, he’s obviously been aware it was going to happen. But Wes, he still finds something to do around there.
“I’m going to miss them.”
Reach Colleen Kenney at 473-2655 or ckenney@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.