BALTIMORE — The Food Depot in Northeast Baltimore is set to close at the beginning of next year. This is according to a Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification posted last week on the Maryland Department of Labor website.
WATCH: Food Depot in Northeast Baltimore to close after decades in business
According to the post, this would impact 80 employees, and the closure date is set for January 31, 2026.
Food Depot is located in the Belair-Edison neighborhood and is owned by B. Green & Company.
The Belair Road location opened in 1996, and a second store opened in the Westside Shopping Center on Frederick Avenue in 2008.
That location was sold to Tiger Mart earlier this year.
We reached out to the Mayor's office about the closure and they said in a statement, "“This is another disastrous consequence of Donald Trump’s big, hideous bill that cut SNAP by $186 billion. Mayor Scott has made fighting food insecurity a key priority of his administration and will continue advocating to bring more grocers to Baltimore, supporting nutrition programs like B’More Fresh, and ensuring that those impacted by SNAP cuts and the ongoing shutdown receive the support they need.”
Representatives from the Mayor’s Office, BDC, and Department of Planning met with the owners of the Food Depot earlier this year.
WMAR also spoke to a current employee about the impending closure, "I've been here for 4 years, and it's sad and I gotta look for a job immediately, you know, and it's depressing, you know, it hurts, and it hurts the community too, really hurts the community, but they,if they can't afford it, they can't afford it."
Baltimore City Councilman Antnoio Glover released the following statement about the Food Depot in his district closing:
Howard Arnberg, the owner of the commercial property where Food Depot is located, first reached out to Councilman Glover’s office on June 26 to inform us that the current operators of Food Depot were no longer interested in continuing to run the business. The operator had expressed an intent to possibly sell the business as a turnkey operation in January 2026.Since then, the operators of Food Depot have been in communication with potential buyers interested in taking over the business. Councilman Glover and Mr. Arnberg have also discussed alternative solutions, including identifying other potential grocery operators to ensure continued access to food services in the community.The operators previously expressed concerns regarding high overhead costs, and to our knowledge, negotiations with prospective buyers may still be ongoing. We recognize that the closing of the food depot could devastate the community, and we will do everything in our power to make sure we keep a grocery store in that area.
