Straub’s Market in Ellisville to close this month

A total of 42 years passed between the time that the owners of Straub’s Market decided to go from having four to five locations in the St Louis area. But now that Straub’s fifth unit and flagship store, located in the new lifestyle center in Ellisville, is closing by the end of October – just less than a year from when it opened in December 2008.

Trip Straub, vice president of Straub’s Markets, on Oct. 13 released the following statement regarding the closing of the Ellisville location:

“The Straub’s store at 15830 Fountain Plaza Drive in Ellisville, Mo., will close Sat., Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Straub’s opened the store on Dec. 3, 2008. Despite the best efforts of our staff, the Ellisville store never rose to the sales level that it needed to be sustainable. We were very excited to open this one-of-a-kind store here in Ellisville. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t cooperate as the economy bottomed out and competition in the area grew.”

The 40,000-square-foot store was three times the size of the chain’s next largest location.

“This experience and this new store design enabled Straub’s to provide innovative and creative products and services to our customers that up until then hadn’t been done in this market,” the statement said. “We will take what we’ve learned and incorporate the very best of the experience into our other four stores.”

The Ellisville-based, family-owned gourmet store affects approximately 50 employees.

Jim Dougherty, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655, said that the Straub’s store closing is very sad news for West County.

“(The Straub’s in) Ellisville was a brand new store concept, and everything there was so great,” Dougherty said. “But it’s a tough time for retail businesses all the way around to compete in this current marketplace. Straub’s took a chance, and unfortunately, the overall circumstances didn’t work out to their favor.”

He said the union would be losing about 35 members from the Ellisville store location, with 50 overall employees affected.  Most of the employees from the Ellisville store are expected to be placed in other Straub’s locations in Clayton and Webster Groves, he said. 

“About 25 employees within Straub’s stores company-wide eventually are expected to lose their jobs, based on those who were with the company a year or less,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty said the Straub family always has been a good employer who pays solid wages, insurance and pensions.

“We (the union) typically have our annual softball tournament in Ellisville, and Straub’s usually has three or four teams,” Dougherty said. “Jack Straub always comes out to support the store’s employees. This is obviously a difficult development for the Straubs, and a huge loss for the area.”

News of the store closing surprised Lori Kelling, executive director of the West St. Louis County Chamber of Commerce, who has been working closely with Straub’s for a variety of business and community events.

Kelling said she is very interested and concerned about future plans for the Ellisville Farmers’ Market.

Lori Willis, director of communications for Schnucks Markets, said their plans have not changed to construct a store at the intersection of Clarkson and Kehrs Mill Roads, just down the street from the Straub's. The Straub's is located in Ellisville; the planned Schnucks is located in Ballwin.

"We continue to work toward improving the intersection, and bringing Ballwin-area customers a new food and pharmacy store in 2010," Willis said.

Because Straub’s has existed in the St. Louis area since 1901, the news of a location closing within Fountain Plaza shocked many people.

Some local residents, such as Donna Kelly, of Ballwin, and Debbie Besancenez, of Wildwood, decided to drive to the store on Oct. 14 after they heard it was closing, to shop there for the first time. They said they could believe that high-end grocery stores would have a challenging time during the current economy.

The Ellisville Straub’s showcased a cafe, bar and lounge, wine cellar and cooking school. Some area families have taken “field trips” to Straub’s, especially when relatives are visiting.

One Chesterfield couple, Lois and Marv Chait, said that they are sorry that they will have to do without their weekly lunch at Ellie’s Café located inside the store.

“We’ll miss it terribly because the atmosphere is so nice,” Marv said.

Lois said she buys certain foods, particularly soup and produce, at Straub’s because they always are fresh.

“And after the first time I asked the sandwich maker here not to put butter on my bread, I never had to remind them again,” Lois said. “When they saw us, they automatically fixed it the way I liked. That’s great service.”

Owners and employees of other businesses within Fountain Plaza are concerned about potential decrease in consumer traffic.

Jermaine Jackson, general manager for Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant, said Straub’s closing is very upsetting in that they often had shoppers who deliberately stopped by after picking up their groceries.

“On nights when the Farmers’ Market is going, we also pick up a lot of customers,” Jackson said. “What will happen to that?”

Jackson said they always appreciated Straub’s because their businesses worked hand-in-hand, being in a close proximity.

Please return for updates to this story.