~~~ especially with the fuel costs of today... Nobody wants to drive all over town looking for daily/weekly needs when they can find what they want at one location... and the quality/freshness of the foods they seek will determine at which of those stores they will shop.

Many neighborhood operations had the same choice as did the mega-stores that came into the area when it came to practicing quality control/offering freshness (especially with daily produce needs).

It's not any fun reading posts such as John's and those who have been cut...

Hope things get better... and soon, John.

Best of luck and good health above all.