Oberlin residents fear closure of IGA

Speculation about the Oberlin IGA grocery store's future has circled for weeks. As community members have walked the aisles of the Lorain Street grocery store, they've said they have noticed the bare shelves and dwindling supplies. Some have suggested and feared that the store is on the verge of imminent closure — no longer a question of if, but when. "A lot of people are upset and disappointed in the store," said Kristal Purnell, an Oberlin resident who lives near and frequents the Oberlin IGA. "We'd like to save the store. But, you know, I don't know if there's really anything that you could do." Beyond the amount of produce that is now on the store's shelves, the Oberlin IGA is facing financial pressure. According to property records from the Lorain County auditor and financial records from the Lorain County treasurer's office, the owner of the Oberlin IGA — listed as Seble and Abate Properties of Mason, Ohio — owes $67,508.13 in taxes. $16,445.31 of the total amount is due to "penalties and delinquencies," records show. The store manager for the Oberlin IGA was not available to comment Thursday, nor were messages returned from GG and GA Enterprises, which was listed with the same address as the grocery store, according to the Lorain County treasurer. No representative of the Oberlin IGA responded to questions regarding the future of the grocery store, not its financial situation. The Oberlin IGA was sold to Gurmukh Singh in 2022. The Singh family is from the Cincinnati area. At the time, Singh said he was "a big believer in keeping independent stores alive, because a lot of communities are becoming food deserts." A food desert is a geographical region where access to food — primarily fresh produce like vegetables and meats — becomes lower. Singh pointed to larger chain grocers, such as Kroger or Walmart, that have made it difficult for smaller, neighborhood stores to stay in business. Records from the Lorain County treasurer also show that none of the taxes billed for the grocery store in 2024 have been paid, for either the first or second half of the year. According to a section of notes in the treasurer's records, a letter was sent on March 20 to get the grocery store "back on plan by April 15th. After the 15th must pay full year." For years, the Oberlin IGA has stood as a smaller, neighborhood grocery store that local residents could walk to, Purnell said. "I've lived in the town for 15 years and … I would say it's kind of been a little staple in the city," Purnell said. "Everybody loves the store, everybody shops there." But now its current state is concerning, residents said. "Honestly, it's just been sad going in there," Purnell said. "It's just always been a nice little store to shop at, especially if you just need a couple of things." If the Oberlin IGA were to close, more than just local residents would be affected, officials said. Earlier this year, when grocery stores closed in LaGrange and Lorain, Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, reflected on the impact it could have on those communities. "Those stores in neighborhoods, when they disappear, it becomes that much harder for people to access food in those neighborhoods," Chase-Morefield said at the time. "And then their options become those corner convenience stores, where food prices are much higher, where the selection of food is much less." Just to the east along Lorain Street is Oberlin Community Services — an organization that addresses needs in the community, including food access. The Oberlin IGA is a grocery store that is "in the middle that a lot of people have access to," said Suzette Sanchez, food programs coordinator for Oberlin Community Services. "People have access, they can walk to it, they can pick up last-minute things. It's close to the students, too." If it were to shutter, Sanchez said "it will be hurtful to the community. … It limits the access to fresh food for a lot of people that live really close by," Following the closures of other nearby grocery stores, including the LaGrange IGA that closed in August, Jason Hawk, communications and development coordinator for Oberlin Community Services, said the Oberlin IGA's future could affect more than the local neighborhood. "I think it's safe to say that a lot of grocery stores are having trouble keeping their doors open because of economic conditions — especially smaller ones, and that's a dangerous sign," Hawk said. "Anytime you have a grocery store go dark permanently, that's a danger for the community that surrounds it." Contact Garrett Looker at glooker@chroniclet.com.