JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Locked doors and empty aisles marked Main Street Wholesale Warehouse this week after inspectors ordered the longtime business to shut down earlier this month, putting dozens of small businesses that rely on it at risk.
For 17 years, the warehouse has supplied small retailers and families across Northeast Florida, allowing customers to buy single items rather than full cases, manager Marie Charlemagne said. Her husband bought the business over 15 years ago, but when things got hard, she stepped in and managed it.
“When the lady came in she told me that she was going to close me that day. She said, ‘I’m coming to shut you down,’” Charlemagne said. “She said it was food safety. I don’t have a food safety problem because I don’t have food.”…