Alicia Goings, a Chicago Heights resident, said she depends on the Country Squire grocery store when she doesn’t have time to drive to cheaper stores out of town.

But Country Squire, which has served the community under several names for 67 years as others like Ultra Foods have closed, is one of the few options left for her aunt, who lives on a fixed income and has no transportation. To reach stores such as Walmart, her aunt must either find a ride or pay for an Uber, Goings said.

Goings lives in one of several south suburban areas where grocery stores such as a Walmart in Homewood or a Save-A-Lot in Richton Park closed in recent years, and municipal officials say they struggle to attract grocery stores, making it harder for residents to access fresh, healthy and affordable food.

Nash Laghman, who bought Country Squire Foods in Chicago Heights last March, said it has been hard to open a grocery store in food insecure area. The area’s infrastructure has aged, and he spent more than $300,000 fixing old equipment for the 15,000-square-foot store.

He also said residents are older and less affluent and have less spending power, compared to young families that consume the most at grocery stores.

As people and other grocery stores leave, it’s hard to bring in foot traffic, he said.

Independent grocers

Laghman said as an independent store he is willing to settle for a lower profit because he is not held by corporate requirements. He said he wants to see his efforts through because he is passionate about providing affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, and he promised local officials he could do that.

“That’s probably why I ended up spending so much money, because I really didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” he said. “The community has been very helpful and they were patient with us. They were kind to us, and no one gave us a very difficult time.”

An area without a grocery store that offers fresh affordable food within a one-mile radius, such as several areas in Harvey, is usually defined as a food desert by public agencies and municipal officials, said Michael Mallon of Mallon & Associates, who conducts grocery feasibility studies.

“It’s a matter of convenience,” Mallon said.

Grocers aim to generate sales and profit, which means consumers have to be able to shop and generate enough sales and traffic at the grocery store, Mallon said.

One advantage of Country Squire, Laghman said, is that the store, not including its previous company names, has been around since 1975, and his customers revere the store. Several customers have told him stories of shopping with their grandparents growing up, and now they bring their own grandchildren.

Nash Laghman, owner of Country Squire in Chicago Heights, spent more than $300,000 fixing old equipment and purchasing new freezers after buying the store in March. (Addison Wright/Daily Southtown)

Economic struggle

In areas without the nostalgia advantage, some officials struggle to attract grocery stores.

Richton Park officials said this week they are optimistic about bringing a full-service grocery to a 15,000-square-foot vacancy at 3736 Sauk Trail, which previously housed a Save-A-Lot.

The Richton Park store closed in 2024 due to high property taxes, according to the property owner Yellow Banana, a grocery company owned by a Cleveland-based investment firm. The company owned several other Save-a-Lot stores in the Chicago area that have closed due to financial issues.

The site is attractive due to its proximity to the Metra Electric Station and to neighborhoods within walking distance, as well as other retail and services, according Brandon Boys, economic development director for Richton Park.

Ben Armstrong, of Park Forest, said in 2024 he shops at Save-A-Lot in Richton Park about every other day because he rides his bike to the store. He expressed his concern with the store closing. (Alexandra Kukulka/Daily Southtown)

In Park Forest, Sterk’s Super Foods closed in 2007 and Country Squire Foods closed, said Sandra Zoellner, the Park Forest economic development director.

Local grocery store hours are usually limited and not conducive to work hours, Zoellner said, and several plans to bring a new grocer to the area have failed.

Zoellner said a three-year plan to bring grocery store Jet Foods to a barren 35,000-square-foot building on Orchard Drive failed because the owner did not have the funding capacity or determination to operate a grocery store in the area.

She said the property itself did not have enough drive-by traffic to warrant a grocery store, and the building is now sold to tenants to use for other purposes.

The village was also close to attracting an Aldi in 2022 along 375 Sauk Trail, an area Zoellner said had higher foot traffic, but Aldi withdrew its offer, even after agreeing to site plans and local incentives. Plans for a Hispanic grocery store operator near 2560 Western Ave., also never materialized due to tax issues, Zoellner said.

“We are always looking for grocery store opportunities,” Zoellner said.

She said Park Forest had trouble attracting grocery stores because the village’s layout is no longer conducive to where people shop, which she said is why several grocers have left. For example, the large shopping center, she said, is tucked away and is no longer near high car traffic, where people drive to work or other destinations.

A “coming soon” sign hangs in December 2020 outside the proposed location of Jet Foods in Park Forest. (Jerry Shnay/for Daily Southtown)

Successful grocery stores need to be near highways that bring in both Park Forest residents and other travelers, she said.

“Food is fuel for your body, and food is the first medicine,” Zoellner said. “The better quality food you have now, the less reliant you’ll be on other ways to stay healthy in the future… so it’s really important to us that people have access to quality foods to maintain their health.”

Pantries filling void

In Harvey, an Aldi abruptly closed last year, and a nearby Super Walmart in Homewood, which residents used, closed in 2023.

Karen Vrdolyak, who has worked at a food pantry in Harvey for more than 28 years and is the vice president for development & administration at Restoration Ministries, said residents from Harvey and the surrounding areas wait overnight for the pantry to open Saturday morning. It serves about 250 people every week in partnership with Greater Chicago Food Depository, Vrdolyak said.

These residents are worried the pantry will run out of valuable items and want to be up front in line, as it can get long, she said. About 60 Harvey residents also walk or find rides to get to the pantry, she said.

Vrdolyak said she often hears that residents go to corner stores, dollar stores, liquor stores and a new butcher shop along the 15900  block of South Wood Street for groceries. Patel Navin, who works at PM Food and Liquor at 263 E 159th St., said residents come in for groceries like noodles, beans and cereal.

Despite the barriers to attracting grocery stores, officials in Park Forest and Richton Park are still working on several solutions.

Zoellner said Park Forest officials reached out to the operators of the area Dollar General about updating the store to be a Dollar General market, offering fruits and vegetables.

She also said the village is working with a specialty grocer between 3200 and 3290 Lincoln Highway, which she said has high traffic counts close to 32,000 cars a day.

The Park Forest-Richton Park Neighborhood Network also identified a food pantry operator and is working on acquiring a building space in Park Forest, she said.

PM Food and Liquor, along 263 East 159th Street in Harvey, on Sept. 29, 2025. (Addison Wright/Daily Southtown)

The Park Forest Environment Commission is working with a cooperative aggregator to establish a community supported agriculture, said Zoellner. The commission has a lease in the works for a space downtown in Park Forest, she said.

In Richton Park, Boys said the village is seeking proposals for construction on village-owned properties near the Interstate 57 interchange at Sauk Trail, which he said may be suitable for a major supermarket chain due to high traffic and accessibility to the area.

The Walmart Supercenter already located near the interchange shows that the area is attractive to stores, he said.

The interchange is also near high schools, and students walk to the area businesses, Boys said.

The village is also focusing its conversations with existing independent grocery stores in the region that would consider expansion, Boys said.

awright@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/10/food-deserts-harvey-chicago-heights-richton-park/