Food City closing Brainerd store

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Food city announced today that it is closing one of their Chattanooga locations.

The Brainerd Road store will be closed permanently on September 4th.

The store’s lease expires and the company says it has been unable to secure a suitable replacement location.

Customer Rob Chaousy was shocked by the news.

“I can’t believe Food City’s closing. It’s a great place that has a variety of different items but they’re always running sales, and their store is always neat, and tidy and the people are friendly, and I was just disappointed when you told me they’re closing.”

Store associates are being offered jobs at surrounding Food City locations.

“As one can imagine, this was a very difficult decision for our company to say the least.  One that was reached only after great consideration,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.

“For some time, we looked for a replacement store in the vicinity, but were not able to find a suitable replacement.  We are offering all of our associates positions at Food City locations in the surrounding area.”

But the company is not ruling out opening another store in the area in the future.

“As we continue to update and open new stores in the greater Chattanooga market, we will continue to look for locations to serve the community, including the Brainerd area,” says Smith.