Syracuse, NY (WSYR-TV) - Open since 1970, the Wegmans on Pond Street in Syracuse closed its doors for the last time on Saturday afternoon.
Wegmans announced the closing earlier this month.
More than 140 people who worked at the grocery store were offered jobs at other Wegmans locations.
The only remaining original Wegmans in Syracuse, it was the heart of Cathy Phelps neighborhood.
"Some of the people that come here, it’s like their getaway. When they want to get out of the house a lot of customers come here three, four, five times a day just to get out of the house and I think it's devastating to a lot of folks - not just myself," said Phelps.
And with that sadness is concern. Many people who live in the area are senior citizens or people without transportation who depend on the Pond Street Wegmans for their grocery needs.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do because the other places around are very expensive and I'm on a limited income as most others in this neighborhood," Phelps said.
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s office told NewsChannel 9 that the city would prefer that Wegmans sell the property to another grocery store to help out people living on the north side.
Wegmans said it will be open to hearing proposals from all types of businesses.
"Wegmans really tries to do what we can to support our community and typically our policy is not to sell our facility to a competitor, but based on this situation and wanting to support the north side community we are considering all proposals," said Evelyn Carter, Director of Community Relations for Wegmans.
Neighborhood activists are working around the clock to make sure another store gets in the Wegmans building.
"Wegmans told us they had a proposal that was not from a grocery store,” said Diane McGuire with Northside TNT. “All we're asking is that Wegmans sell it to a grocer. We need a grocer in this neighborhood.”
Items left in the Pond Street Wegmans will be donated to local food pantries.
