The City of Erie will lose its only grocery store at the end of this month when the current owner's lease expires.

The Erie Market has been operated by River Grocery for the past year, but recently notified staff that the store will close at the end of August, when the one-year lease is up. River Grocery took over operations of the store that was purchased by the City of Erie in 2020 in an attempt to maintain a local grocery store. The closure will leave Erie residents with few choices when it comes to groceries, with local options being the Dollar General store and a Pete's convenience store. The other option is to drive to Parsons or Chanute.

The City of Erie maintains ownership of the store but it is unclear what steps it may consider in light of the announcement.