Campus Market will likely be closing in the next few months, after months of speculation that its business has suffered with the opening of the Freshgrocer at the corner of 40th and Walnut streets last spring, according to a manager at the grocery store.
The convenience store, located near 39th and Walnut streets, has been a long-time establishment on campus. It has been under the same management for the past four years.
While employees of the small convenience store are not completely certain of its future, they believe that it will be closing soon, although no definite date could be given yet.
"We're getting ready to close," said Kwang Park, assistant manager of Campus Market.
"It's not 100 percent certain that we will be closing," Park added. "We were supposed to be getting ready to close at the end of December, but it didn't work out that way."
While Park declined to state his suppositions as to the reason that their business was declining, he willingly said that "business was not going well at all."
Campus Market has been steadily decreasing its hours of operation over the past few months.
"Business just isn't profitable enough for us to stay open at this point," Park said.
Park believes that the closing will take place within the next few months, but he said that it is still uncertain.
"I don't really know for sure," said Park. "Justin [Lee, the current owner of Campus Market] keeps changing his mind."
Lee has owned and operated the store for the past four years. Lee was unable to be reached for comment last night.
In the event of closure, Campus Market management is not aware of a replacement retail operation at this time.
University officials were also unable to be reached last night to comment on the future of the space, which is owned by Penn.
Many students did not seem surprised to learn of the impending demise of the small store.
"I haven't been there since [the Freshgrocer] opened," College senior Abby Chiverton said.
"The Freshgrocer is much less expensive and there's way more variety," she added. "And there's prepared food, which is really easy."
And Chiverton said she is not worried that the store's closure will have a negative impact on students.
"I don't think [the closing of Campus Market] would affect students at all," she said.
College senior Sam Chamovitz speculated that the small store's lack of advertising for itself led to its current situation.
"The Campus Market is not as well known," Chamovitz said. "The Freshgrocer is right there, and they're always advertising."
And some noted that the relatively small size of the store made it virtually impossible for it to compete with the much larger Freshgrocer.
"I'm not surprised," College sophomore Jed Feldman said. "The Campus Market seems to be losing a lot of business. Everyone expected it."
"There was really no way that they could compete with the Freshgrocer," Feldman added. "They have a much greater selection than the Campus Market ever did."
Wharton and Engineering sophomore Rachel Wish thought that the likely closure of Campus Market was "inevitable."
Campus Market "is kind of overpriced," Wish said. "I haven't been there in a while, but even when Freshgrocer wasn't here, they were kind of expensive."
Upon hearing that the store may be closing, College senior Scott Kaplan thought the closure would only cause "a minor inconvenience."
"I'll occasionally go [to Campus Market] for some Miso soup, but otherwise I shop at the Freshgrocer," he said.
But Kaplan did note some advantages to Campus Market, most notably the store's short lines.
While many students were not upset by the possibility of Campus Market closing, others said they would miss the small store, known for its deli meats and sandwiches.
"I go to the Campus Market for lunch all the time," College sophomore Lauren Latpadais said. "I love their sandwiches."
But for groceries, Latpadais said Freshgrocer is the better option.
Some students remained hopeful that the campus institution will not have to close its doors at all.
"Maybe they should try and salvage it," Feldman said. "They make good sandwiches; they have a great sandwich business going. They could probably do a good business as a deli alone."
