Cub Foods closing Midway St. Paul store
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Cub Foods is calling it quits in Midway. Photo: Emilie Richardson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cub Foods will close its Midway St. Paul store on Aug. 2 and could lay off all 96 workers, parent company UNFI Inc. informed state and city leaders today in a required mass layoff notice.
Why it matters: The pending loss of Cub means Midway is losing a second large discount grocer in six years, as Walmart closed its neighborhood store in 2019.
Between the lines: The writing has been on the wall for a few years. The store has stopped stocking hand baskets, frequently ran out of shopping carts (citing theft), shut down self-checkout lanes and was often short-staffed at registers, according to the Pioneer Press.
Yes, but: Cub Foods has struggled in recent years, executives at Rhode Island-based UNFI have told investors. Promises to resuscitate the brand have not produced the desired results.
- Sales in the company's retail division, which is 70% Twin Cities Cub stores, have declined 2.1% over the last three fiscal quarters, according to an SEC filing.
- UNFI also abruptly closed its Uptown Minneapolis store in June and has not said when it will reopen.
What they're saying: "Like any food retailer, we're constantly working to optimize our footprint, which includes investing in stores — like our newly remodeled Cub in Burnsville ... as well as closing underperforming stores where necessary so we can operate as efficiently and effectively as possible," UNFI said in a statement.
Zoom in: With nearby Target and Aldi stores still open, the closure won't make Midway a food desert.
- But interim Ward 4 City Councilmember Matt Privratsky said it's unfortunate Cub didn't stick it out to benefit from the new hotel, offices and restaurants that are part of the latest phases of the new United Village development at that corner.
- Privratsky said he'd love to see a retailer like Mississippi Market open in the Cub space, because the neighborhood would like to shop at a grocer with union workers.
UFCW Local 1189, which represents 84 of the store employees, said the majority if its members have layoff protection and they'll be working to get them placed in other UNFI facilities.
- "We are deeply concerned about the sudden announcement of this closure and the effect it will have on our members, their families, and the surrounding community," union president Adam Evenstad said in an email.