What Happened to My Go-To Waterbury Grocery Stores?

It always shocks me when a business you imagine is too big to close does. I was so surprised when the news came out last week that the Shop Rite on Wolcott Street in Waterbury was closing permanently at the end of September 2022. How does a major grocery store, that was among the cheapest in town, just up and quit?

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Not only Shop Rite in Waterbury, I'm also scratching my head over my beloved Town Plot IGA on Fairfield Avenue. When I moved out of Waterbury in January this year, the grocery store was known as Key Foods. Today? It's called Banana Fresh Market. Here's a video the new owners posted to YouTube recently -

Town Plot IGA was our go-to grocery store as long as I can remember. The Schnaar's family ran that thing like a top from the early 1960's all the way until Fred retired and sold out to Key Foods a few years ago. From what I can gather, that's what's happening in the case of the Wolcott Street Shop Rite -  the owner had maintained a successful operation for decades, and now has decided that it's time to enjoy retirement.

What happens now to the prime real estate that Shop Rite is vacating on Wolcott Street? Who knows? I remember when it used to be Toys R Us, and Edward's was next door. I'd imagine that Stop & Shop isn't interested in moving across the road, Big Y is already in the suburbs of Waterbury in Naugy and Cheshire. Are they going to bring Price Chopper back? Or is Waterbury able to sustain an Amazon/Whole Foods or Trader Joe's?