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Charn Konrath of Maumee, with her grandchildren Joel Skiver, 14, left, and Morgan Skiver, 12, leaves The Andersons General Store in Maumee. Ms. Konrath said Monday she is very disappointed that the store is closing. She added, ‘It’s like the death of a friend.’
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Shoppers shocked by Andersons store closings

THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY

Shoppers shocked by Andersons store closings

The Andersons’ decision leaves cities fretting about job losses

Charn Konrath just kept shaking her head in disbelief as she helped load her purchases into her vehicle under a gloomy sky spitting scattered droplets of rain on Monday.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Never in my wildest dream did I think The Andersons, I mean, this is history,” the Maumee resident said while being assisted by her two grandchildren, Joel and Morgan Skiver.

Her shock, and that of many other shoppers on Monday was about The Andersons’ announcement Sunday that it would close its two local general stores and two stores in Columbus by this spring.

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The Monclova Township agribusiness is exiting its money-losing retail business, which will cost 1,050 employees their jobs.

Reactions by shoppers at the company’s Maumee store ranged from denial to almost funereal.

“I was in shock when I got the text on my phone that they’re closing,” said Julie Cody of Monclova Township. She said she felt stunned and perplexed by the announcement and would help organize a protest if that could help in some way.

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Joe Beckler of Waterville, an Andersons shopper for 45 years, said he hoped a retail white knight might swoop in and take over the stores — even though officials of The Andersons said they tried, but could not identify any likely buyer for the stores.

Said Ms. Konrath: “It’s like the death of a friend. A longtime family member friend.”

She said she has shopped at the company’s Toledo store on Talmadge Road for 13 years before moving to Maumee and making its Illinois Avenue location her “go-to” store the last 16 years. She expressed the importance of the store, similar to what other residents said.

“It is family. I shop here for everything,” she said. “My husband passed away, and he always used to say, ‘What do you want for Mother’s Day? Oh, let’s go get flowers at Andersons.’ What am I going to do for Mother’s Day now? It’s just unbelievable.”

Ms. Cody, an Andersons customer for 40 years, said, “Everybody’s upset. If you need last-minute tools you can just run over here and get them. I don’t know. It’s just a more family-oriented store than a big store. I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s any place like this elsewhere.”

After exiting the Maumee store with merchandise, Mr. Beckler said, “I always get all my birdseed and wild animal feed here. All the time. We probably spend $1,500 on flowers and plants and seed each spring. We’re just very hopeful that someone steps in.”

Ms. Konrath said she’s never set foot in a Meijer store but, “I guess I’ll go see what they’ve got, but it’s just not going to be the same. It’s sad.”

Andersons executives said the decision to close the stores had to be made. The stores, generating just $140 million of the company’s $4.2 billion in revenue in 2015, have lost money for the past eight years, totaling a $20 million loss.

The stores, always a small part of the company, which also has grain, rail car, ethanol, and plant nutrient units, have generally broken even or lost money for many years. The stores began in 1952. The company was founded in 1947.

Pat Bowe, chief executive officer of The Andersons, said: “We’ve been hoping we could get a turnaround. ... We just didn’t see a path to get that turned around for us.”

It isn’t just customers who will miss The Andersons. The stores were important financially to both the cities of Toledo and Maumee.

Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said she could not provide information on the loss in income tax revenue generated from employees working at the Toledo store because city offices were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

“I am more concerned about the loss of income for the people who are working in the stores,” she said. “We are saddened to learn that The Andersons’ traditional retail operations will no longer be available here.”

Maumee Mayor Rich Carr said his city will suffer a loss of income tax revenue, and it already stands to lose about $450,000 annually because of The Andersons move in October to a new headquarters in Monclova Township. But the tax losses are secondary to job losses for employees, he added.

“We are very disappointed for the employees and their families,” he said. “All of us in Maumee grew up with The Andersons store and regularly went there to shop. That part of it will be gone. The disappointment for me is the job loss for employees. That is the primary thing. We will survive the loss of income taxes.”

The company has plans to dispose of the four retail properties that it owns. It also has a plan to dispose of its Mower Center at 1220 Ford St. in Maumee.

The 17-acre, 162,490-square foot store at 4701 Talmadge Rd. in Toledo will be sold along with the two Columbus stores. The 19-acre, 159,000-square foot store at 528 Illinois Ave. in Maumee will be closed, but the company will keep the building and acreage for future use. The Mower Center, which is a John Deere dealership, will be sold to a competitor.

Pete Shawaker, a commercial Realtor with the Reichle Klein Group in Toledo, said there would be significant interest in the Talmadge Road property, but the building likely would be demolished and the property redeveloped.

Deb Crow, a spokesman for The Andersons, said on Monday that the company has fielded inquiries from interested buyers.

“The store at Monroe and Talmadge, that’s a very marketable site,” Mr. Shawaker said. “The retail market is as strong as it’s been in 30 years, so 2017 is one of the best years in 30 years to have that property on the market.”

Developers “will clamor over that site to buy it,” possibly spurring a bidding war, he said. Local commercial real estate experts indicated it’s possible the site would be purchased, the store demolished, and a new shopping center would be built.

But it’s unlikely, Mr. Shawaker said, that Kroger, Meijer Inc., or Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would want the site. It’s too far from Kroger’s desired location of Monroe and Secor, where it has access to thousands of residential shoppers. “Also, Kroger would not want to fight [Franklin Park] mall traffic,” he said.

Meijer prefers to “ring” a community with stores, Mr. Shawaker said. And, “Wal-Mart has a store at Central Avenue and Holland-Sylvania [Road], so it’s too close.”

Steve Serchuk of Signature Associates’ Toledo office said it’s possible a warehouse club operator like Sam’s Club, which doesn’t have a presence in West Toledo and once wanted a Monroe Street location, might want the site.

Ms. Crow, the spokesman, said The Andersons retail officials were busy Monday working out the logistics of an orderly closing of its stores and accompanying job losses.

The company won’t start running liquidation sales until after March, and until then it plans to keep the stores stocked with perishables and some other items, such as the planned spring lawn and garden plants and related merchandise. Other items may not be restocked once supplies run out.

The stores stopped selling gift cards Monday and is encouraging customers with gift cards to use them soon.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published January 17, 2017, 5:00 a.m.

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Charn Konrath of Maumee, with her grandchildren Joel Skiver, 14, left, and Morgan Skiver, 12, leaves The Andersons General Store in Maumee. Ms. Konrath said Monday she is very disappointed that the store is closing. She added, ‘It’s like the death of a friend.’  (THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY)  Buy Image
Julie Cody of Moncolva Township puts her purchases in her trunk outside The Andersons General Store in Maumee. Ms. Cody, an Andersons customer for 40 years, said, ‘Everybody’s upset. ... I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s any place like this elsewhere.’  (THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY)  Buy Image
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