UNION CITY – Kirby and Lori Sutton and Josh and Shala Urlage had hoped for more when they expanded to the Union City community with their Sutton’s Foods grocery store in September 2017. Two years into the venture, the ownership put up a notice on social media Monday evening declaring their intentions to close the store at the close of business on Friday, July 26, 7 p.m.
Sutton’s received praise from community members and village officials for filling a void left when Marsh Supermarket closed their store. There also was a lot of optimism with having a family-owned business back in the community.
The notice posted to Facebook on Monday stated:
“To all our loyal Sutton’s Union City Customers,
Unfortunately, due to matters beyond our control we have made the decision to CLOSE our Union City location on Friday, July 26, 2019 at 7 p.m. We would like to thank all our loyal customers from the past 2 years. Please accept our sincere apologies for not being able to sustain our business in this great community. May God continue to provide blessings for all in Union City!”
Sutton’s employed 40 people at the store when it opened.
Josh Urlage, president, explained the reason for the closing. “The Sutton’s family understands that there are a lot of rumors swirling around about our decision to close. The decision to close the store was based solely on performance of the store. The store was closed for three months before Sutton’s could get the store back open in 2017. Sometimes new customer habits are formed, and are hard to break. Sutton’s was never able to win all the customers back that are needed to support a small business.” Urlage continued, “Small businesses around the world are struggling with large multi-billion dollar organizations growing at staggering rates. These corporations can offer things that the ‘small stores’ can’t.” He stressed, “There are so many more things a ‘small store’ can offer that sometimes get over-shadowed. Small businesses are the back bone of our country.”
Urlage expressed the Sutton’s family sentiments regarding their employees, “We are beyond sad for all our employees in Union City as they are part of our family. This decision was made after three-months of solid work with numerous organizations, and experts in the grocery industry.”
“The Sutton’s family did everything in our power to make the store in Union City sustainable,” said Urlage.
The Arcanum location recently adjusted its hours to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Sutton’s Foods was founded in 1934 by Roy and Nola Sutton.