Retail and grocery options continue to dwindle

It's not getting any easier for residents of Albany's South End. On Monday, the Times Union reported that the Family Dollar at 418 South Pearl Street will close permanently in May. 

The shut down of the Albany location comes as the retail chain expects to shutter over 1,000 stores nationwide. It's parent company, Dollar Tree, purchased Family Dollar back in 2015 and has been struggling to make a profit. 

The former McDonalds at the corner of South Pearl and Madison Ave was converted into a grocery store in 2022 as a means to provide fresh produce, meats and other necessities to south end residents, but it closed in 2023.  

A city spokesperson who reached out to Family Dollar's corporate headquarters said the final day for the South Pearl Street store will be May 25th. 

feature photo: Mike Mozart, Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0 DEED) Changes made: cropped, resized