“My mom loves to walk down here and she’s 92 years old, so I know she’s going to miss it.”
Marianne Myers' mom isn't the only one.
Hawthorne Road's only grocery store, Food Lion, is closing its doors in less than a month. It's a regular stop for many people on their way to or from work to get groceries. And without this store, they say they have very few options.
Thomas Coward worked to improve East Gainesville while he was in office as a County Commissioner. He says closing the Food Lion can only hurt the people of the area.
“Many of them don’t have transportation," he says. "And it puts a hardship on them because they don’t have transportation. Many times they have to use the bus system, and if they use the bus system they have to pay the bus fare.”
For some, that's too much to pay.
“It’s gonna make a difference with no transportation at all," agrees Shamika Carter, a student and mother.
She and her daughter walk to Food Lion three times a week from their home on Lake Road. They will have to go two more miles to the nearest supermarket located on Waldo Road.
“So it’s gonna be heartbreaking that they move, that they’re going out of business and we’ll have to find another way to the grocery store.”
Coward goes further than that. He says it puts a hardship on all of East Gainesville.