It’s been nearly two months since the Taylorville grocery
store Kroger was closed down due to the mishandling of
asbestos. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a seal order for the site on July 29. There has been no reopening date announced.
The shutdown lasting this long has had an impact on residents in Taylorville and its surrounding communities. This is exacerbated by the fact that the Kroger in Nokomis (a small town roughly 20 minutes south of Taylorville) closed back in January 2021,
leaving that town without a grocery store option.
Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry says even employees of
grocery store competitors want Kroger back open.
“I was out at Wal-Mart and a couple of workers there,
even they’re hoping that Kroger would get reopened.
They’re overwhelmed, because you know, we have four
grocery stores in Taylorville. I think we need all four. They
all four hold a special place for a lot of people.”
But Barry also said the business needs to be safe before re-
opening.
“I think safety’s the number one priority. The question
seems to be...the company has been involved
in remediation processes in the past and what were they
doing there, that they’re not doing at this local Kroger?"
"I think that is for the state to figure out, the EPA, and go on
from there," he said. "I personally shop at Kroger a couple of times
a week and we’re really wanting to get it reopened.”
After the closure, Kroger announced employees would be offered work in Decatur.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office said in a statement
that Kroger has submitted a plan to remediate the Taylorville store that is now under review by the Illinois EPA. Kroger did not respond to a request for comment.
