Less than a year after opening a location in Kirkwood, Local Harvest Grocery is shuttering doors at the 6,000-square-foot shop and cafe, located at 12309 Old Big Bend Road. Co-owner Maddie Earnest confirmed that the last day of business at the grocery store will be Sunday, Aug. 11. Today marks the last day for the cafe. “If people want to eat here, they have until 6:30 p.m. tonight,” she said.
Earnest cited a lack of business as the reason for the decision and noted that while the choice to close was only made recently, “it has been something we’ve been discussing.” She added that the other Local Harvest locations – the grocery store in Tower Grove and cafe and catering operations in Tower Grove and downtown in the Old Post Office – are “doing well” and remain unaffected by the closure of the Kirkwood space.
Since Local Harvest first opened doors at a tiny space on Morgan Ford Road in 2007, it has been dedicated to helping customers make local, sustainable food choices. At its stores, it aims to source at least half of its inventory from within a 150-mile radius of St. Louis.
“It’s obviously sad,” said Earnest of the pending closure, yet she remained upbeat about what Local Harvest accomplished during its short run in Kirkwood. “Through our store, classes, talks … there are thousands of people who understand a little more how important local food is and how delicious local food is.” She continued, “There have been a lot of people we’ve met and formed relationships with out here who we hope will continue to want to support local food and the farmers.”
Beginning Thursday, Aug. 8, Local Harvest’s Kirkwood-based grocery store will reduce hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with discounts on remaining inventory.
— photo by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in August 2013.