MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A longtime independent grocery store in Memphis is calling it quits, and COVID is partially to blame.
High Point Grocery in the High Point Terrace neighborhood is closed for business.
Owner Charles Shirley said it’s been a tough few months.
“I am 71 years old. It’s time for me to give it up,” he said.
Since 1950, the grocery in High Point Terrace had been a beloved mom and pop store that still had the personal touch. The store has been owned by Shirley’s family since 1971.
“They had their own butcher shop, their own butcher that did their own meats and stuff, which is hard to find nowadays you know,” Shirley said.
But with the fallout from COVID, Shirley said his thoughts of retirement got pushed up.
First, like just about all other companies, they made the decision to close April 6 after the pandemic struck to keep everyone safe.
“My employees, it was dangerous for them to be working,” Shirley said. “They said the next two weeks was going to be worse.”
When he did re-open, Shirley said the store shelves were constantly depleted and distributors were slow to put out products.
Their warehouse was depleting their stock trying to fill all the grocery stores up and couldn’t keep up, Shirley said.
“I was selling two and three times as much and I couldn’t replenish, and it was wearing me out,” he said.
His lease is up July 31 and he doesn’t plan to renew. He’d like to sell the business to someone with experience running a grocery store.
Shirley said he already has people interested in buying the store, and those who have come to love this place hope it doesn’t lose the very thing that makes it special.
“What else is going to go there that is going to be as positive for the people in this neighborhood?” asked Tyson Stack at High Point Pizza, which is located in the same neighborhood shopping center. “Everybody needs a little mom and pop grocery store.”
If you want more information about the closing, you can email support@highpointgrocery.com.
