*THREE RIVERS* — A longtime grocery store staple in the Three Rivers community is closing its doors next month, leaving the city with only big-box options for full-service grocery shopping.
A sign posted on the entry door of the Harding's Friendly Market store at 808 W. Michigan Ave. announced that the store will close on Sept. 10. The sign also stated that the store will no longer accept bottle and can returns as of now.
A store manager for the Three Rivers location declined to comment on the closure on Monday, referring the Commercial-News to the store's corporate offices. Phone calls and emails to the corporate office this week were not returned before press time.
The closure will leave Three Rivers with a handful of full-fledged grocery stores, including Meijer, Walmart, and Aldi. Harding's has operated in the Three Rivers area for several decades, at a couple of different locations over the years, offering groceries, household items, meat, vegetables and more. The store has been in its current location at 808 W. Michigan Ave. since the early 1990s.
At Tuesday's Three Rivers City Commission meeting, First District Commissioner Pat Dane eulogized the store, calling it the "last non-big-box store" in Three Rivers. She said she had heard that employees were only notified of the closure late last week, though that has not been confirmed by Harding's management.
"I really think the city owes them some recognition before they leave, because they are the last non-big-box store to leave Three Rivers, and I'm really sorry for that," Dane said. "A lot of people do depend on them because they can't walk through the big box stores to get their groceries, and this is the only other place they can go."
Prior to the closure, Harding's had approximately 31 locations throughout southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. The next-closest Harding's locations to Three Rivers are in Schoolcraft and Colon.