The Sun Fresh at The Shops on Blue Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri, closed permanently on Sunday, Oct. 25, after its nonprofit operator said declining sales and rising operating costs made the store unsustainable, KSHB 41 reported. Community Builders of Kansas City, which owns the shopping center and had run the store since June 2020, said it is working with 25 affected employees on severance and job placement.
The closure comes as a different East Side grocery is finding its footing. United Market KC, which opened in May in the former Linwood Sun Fresh space at Linwood Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, is averaging 1,000 transactions a day, owner Anthony Estrada told The Beacon. The figure is Estrada’s own count.
For households near Blue Parkway, the change is immediate. Shelves at the store had been sparsely stocked for months, and nearby worker Deborah Phillips called the closing “a hard blow to the neighborhood,” noting that shoppers could pick up groceries and catch a bus at the same stop.
Where Blue Parkway Shoppers Can Turn Now
The nearest new option is Chop More!, a discount format from Cosentino’s Price Chopper at 8700 E. 63rd St., which KSHB described as less than four miles from the Blue Parkway store along Missouri 350. The store held its grand opening Oct. 27…