YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – With a new grocery store coming to Boardman, residents in Youngstown are voicing their concerns as to why a new grocery store is not coming to the city.

Other than the three Save-A-Lot locations, and a Sparkle Market in Cornersburg, there is no other major grocery store in the city of over 60,000 residents. This means people have to travel to the suburbs to shop.

First News has spoken to some residents about their concerns and since we announced the new Boardman location of the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, many Youngstown residents have taken to social media to share their frustration.

Nikki Posterli, the director of Community Planning and Economic Development, said the city was never an option for the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market’s new location.

“This store is nothing familiar to us. It’s not something that, the owners have not approached us, we have not gone out to seek any partnership with this store at all. So no, it’s not something that was on our radar,” Posterli said.

But, Posterli says the administration is actively working on bringing a grocery store to the city.

“Right before the pandemic, we had reached out and sought the support of retail strategies to kind of give us an idea of what we can do differently,” Posterli said.

One of the issues, she says, is the number of dollar stores in the city. Posterli says that because these stores sell some food and produce, bigger grocers look at them as competition. She says the administration is looking into possibly limiting the number of dollar stores that can be opened in the city.

“We have not stopped looking. We have not stopped talking to our partners,” Posterli said.