Steven Latimer

The automatic doors to Ukrop's Grace Street will open and shut to Richmonders one last time on Saturday, May 10, 2008 as Ukrop's closes their Grace Street location. I learned of this today when I was at Ukrops. My bagger, Sebastian, said the reasons Ukrop's decided to close the store were due to "low income" and "the economy."

This won't be on the front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, but for me, this is big news.

Let's hope for a curtain call. On behalf of all VCU students, they deserve one.

(DISCLAIMER: I do not know for certain when Ukrop's opened this location; because the Richmond City Office of the Assessor lists 2002 as the last date the property underwent a transaction, I can only assume Ukrop's Grace Street opened then.)

This leaves Kroger as the only major grocery store in the VCU area. Kroger is kinda out of my way, so it looks like I may need to purchase a larger meal plan next semester.

I am generally pretty knowledgeable as far as what's happening around campus. Because I just learned this news today, I can only assume Ukrop's made this decision just recently.

I'll miss Ukrop's. They've been fun, convenient, and by my side. I'm sure this will be a big loss for the VCU community, but we'll get over it. I wonder if anyone's buying the building Ukrop's currently is in. Whoever buys it will shell out a lot of coin; the land and improvements are valued at over 3 million dollars.

UPDATE (17 April): I was wrong. I just found out they opened in 2003.