DAYTON, Ky. — Residents are hoping the financially-strapped Riverside Marketplace will stay open now that the city is stepping in to help broker a sale.
Customers like Laura Long feared the worst when many of the store’s shelves went empty. Many customers typically walk to the store and say the next nearest grocery is 2 miles away.
“I shop here pretty often. A lot,” said Long. “It’s right in everybody’s neighborhood and it’s within walking distance.”
And she’s not alone.
“Whether you have a car or not, you can walk here,” said Joyce Santos. “It’s always been here. There’s always been a store for people to walk to.”
“We’ve got other stores to go to, but not that much,” said Donald Reese.
Owner Nick Vaghela told WCPO the store is struggling with sales down nearly 50 percent in the last year. But Vaghela said it’s not closing, at least for now.
“We are still open. We don’t close,” he said.
City administrators say they are actively working to keep the store open. Officials met Wednesday with Vaghela and a third party interested in buying the store.
They’re optimistic an agreement will be reached and the store will remain open.
Santos, for one, is keeping her fingers crossed.
“It’s just more convenient for seniors who have no other way around,” she said. “It’s just really sad. It’s sad that everything’s just going almost big business.”
