ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Since 2017, the Highland Market on South Avenue has provided the community with a convenient place to grab groceries or other items. But now that the family-owned South Wedge staple is closing, many in the neighborhood are left without a place to eat, meet, and shop.

The current owners of the Highland Market say they can’t afford to stay open.

“The cost is too high to be here, and the business doesn’t support the lease that we signed,” said owner Stephanie DeBlieck.

And so the owners of the market are being evicted. DeBlieck and her husband bought the place last fall. She says they thought, based on conversations with the previous owner, who is their landlord, that they would have more profit than they have.

“We didn’t know going into it we were going to take on a significant debt for the purchase price of the business. … We thought we accounted for that in there, but there were a lot of other numbers that weren’t adding up once we got in here,” she said.

DeBlieck says after taxes, they were paying up to $8,500 a month. They stopped paying rent in March, hoping to get the landlord to renegotiate to $4,000 — what they consider fair. She says the landlord did offer to reduce the rent — but it wasn’t low enough, and they made the decision to close.

“That’s the part that hurts the most, is the guilt that I feel to the people that depend on this place on a day to day for their either essentials or just for grabbing something on the fly when they need it. And I’m grateful that I’ll still get to see my community, but I feel bad about it,” she said.

Darlene Parker is one of many customers who frequents the store.

“This is like one of the only stores in the area that sells everything. So I don’t know. It’s going to be out of my way to go to a different store. But the people here are really nice, so I hate to see them go,” Parker said.

Parker isn’t the only one who will miss the shop. Karrie Laughton, co-chair of the Business Association of the South Wedge Area, is not only a frequent shopper, but an advocate for more shops in the area.

“So I know the owners and they’re very nice. … I just hope that something else can go in there that really represents the neighborhood and that can bring something cool that the people want. … That’s too bad that they couldn’t stay. We’re really, really going to miss them,” Laughton said.

Highland Market’s official last day is Thursday.

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