The Cub Foods store in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood is set to close August 2, the company announced Monday. In total, about 96 employees are affected. Cub is the latest big box business to shutter in the retail agglomeration east of Allianz Field, after T.J. Maxx, At Home, and Herberger’s. The store has been open since 1995, an era when Midway was in a retail boom (remember Borders Books?).

Cub, a division of Rhode Island-based United Natural Foods, did not specify the reason for the closure, noting it closes stores “where necessary” to operate “efficiently and effectively,” and “all options were considered.”

Still, media reports are tying the decision to high rates of shoplifting and crime in the area. Media reports say the store had few if any shopping carts, which were repeatedly stolen. A visit to the store on Tuesday confirmed this. The Pioneer Press’ Fred Melo cited shoppers using plastic milk crates as a substitute. Security guards stand watch outside the store, but Cub’s policy (commonplace in retail today) is that they not interfere with shoplifting or other criminal acts.

Nearby grocery stores that remain open include the Midway Target and an Aldi at Lexington and University (Rainbow Foods operated at University and Snelling prior to the chain’s departure from the market a decade ago.) Cub also recently closed its Uptown Minneapolis store, it says temporarily, but with no stated reopening date. It too is in a location also rife with homelessness, drug use, and petty crime. Target closed its small-format store in Uptown in 2023.