MARKET LOSSES

Many shoppers in North Cambridge have not noticed yet, but the shelves at the local Stop and Shop have started to look a little bare.

The store, the last supermarket in the area, will close its doors November 14, leaving neighborhood residents without a large and relatively inexpensive place to shop.

Local residents, especially low-income shoppers from the nearby Jefferson Park and Huron Towers housing developments, may have to turn to more expensive, local convenience stores for their food supplies.

Prices at these less comprehensive shops are often much higher than those at larger supermarkets like Stop and Shop. These higher costs may put a strain on local residents with low or fixed incomes.

"It's less expensive here," said Ray R. Hill, a Belmont resident who has been shopping at the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop for 15 years. "I'm not happy about its closing."

The move has left many with nowhere nearby to shop once the Stop and Shop closes. Residents without cars will be forced to find alternative means of transportation, making a mere shopping trip a challenge for some.

"I think it's terrible," said Bernice V. Taylor, a Fresh Pond resident and frequent Stop and Shop customer. "It's the only shop in the area."

High operating costs combined with fierce competition from larger supermarkets have forced the Fresh Pond store to shut down, according to Stop and Shop officials.

"It's increasingly difficult to operate smaller, older conventional stores when there are other...fresher, crisper stores around," said F. Terry Vandewater, manager of public relations at the Stop and Shop Supermarket Company in Quincy, Mass. "And it was not feasible to improve this one."

The City Council discussed problems the store's closing may bring to the community at their meeting earlier this month. Councillor Sheila T. Russell, who lives in North Cambridge, said the members had urged the company not to close their Fresh Pond branch, but added that the council has no jurisdiction over the matter.

"We expressed our concern," said Russell. "But that probably doesn't mean a hill of beans to them."

The store's lease runs out at the end of the year, according to Sema Magzelci, manager of the Fresh Pond Mall. While the mall has some prospective tenants, no plans have yet finalized, she said.

But Russell said that other supermarkets have probably made offers. "Everyone's hoping it will be DeMoulas, but we don't know," she said.

In the meantime, Stop and Shop officials are looking for a large enough area with ample parking space to open a Super Stop and Shop in the Fresh Pond neighborhood.

No Notification To Customers

Although the Store's shelves are becoming empty of essential food items as the market has stopped restocking, customers said there has been no attempt to notify them of the closing. Most were surprised when told of the shutdown, and expressed disappointment about having to make longer commutes for their grocery shopping.

"It's disrespectful of people," said Lorna Shapiro, a shopper who had not heard of the shutdown. "When were they planning to tell us? The only reason people would know is because the racks are empty."

Asked where she would shop after November, she said, "Beats me."

Wanda Rivera, a store register worker hired on October 6, said she was told of the closing only after she started work. "They said they were going to place us at other stores" she said.

But Mary T. Powell, a Huron Towers resident and 30-year Stop and Shop customer, said she had suspected the shutdown.

"I had a sense lately that something was wrong," said Powell. "There are fewer registers and longer lines."

Powell, who has seen the price of apple pie at the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop rise from $0.39 to $2.29, was one of the most upset customers at the store yesterday.

She is one of the many elderly people who have relied on the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop for over three decades, and who now faces a longer commute for food.

"I don't know how they can do it," said Marion B. Rocci, a Huron Towers resident who relies on a shuttle bus to bring her to the supermarket. "A lot of people are upset. It's a shame...I depend on it."

Many shoppers say they will switch to the Porter Square Star Market. According to customers, although Star is considerably farther and sometimes more expensive, the market is in better condition than the Stop and Shop.

Some shoppers are glad to see the Fresh Pond store go, saying it had deteriorated over the past months.

"It's disgusting. The meats are dirty, the fish is disgusting. If something better is going to take the place of it, why not?" asked Cindy Bray, a Cambridge shopper.

Vandewater said that although she hoped shoppers would go to the Medford, Arlington and Memorial Drive Stop and Shop branches, she expected Star Market and other stores to get considerable amounts of their business.

"I hope they'll go over to Medford," said Vandewater. "But its unrealistic to say that some business won't be lost."

Still, shoppers unable to get to those stores or others in the area may be left in the lurch until the plans for a new Fresh Pond supermarket materialize.

"This is a big loss," said Helen Mahoney, a 25-year Stop and Shop customer who take the shuttle from Belmont every Tuesday morning. "It's a pleasure to shop here. Everything's here. I'll have to adjust."