Neighborhood left without grocery store after closing

The signs on the front of the former Food City store on East 23rd Street.

CHATTANOOGA. Tenn. (WDEF)- The closure of a grocery store in a Chattanooga neighborhood is leaving some of its neighbors frustrated.

The Food City on East 23rd Street closed its doors Monday evening.

The building has been home to several different supermarket chains since 1982 according to Hamilton County property records.

This leaves the neighborhoods surrounding 23rd Street without a full service grocery store.

Residents we spoke with, including Felix Lopez who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years, say this will be an issue. 

Lopez said, “I’m going to miss it, cause there’s nothing close around here. This is my shopping place… I think a lot of people are going to miss this store because a lot of people shop here… A lot of people walk to shop here, so it’s going to be hard for those people.”

This could make this neighborhood a food desert, which according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a neighborhood where at least 100 homes without access to a vehicle are more than a half mile from a supermarket.