Employees at Fred’s in Clarksdale learned Friday their store is scheduled to close, but have not been given a date on when the downtown business will shut its doors.
“Employees are not allowed to talk about it,” said Byron Abbey, a Fred’s employee since 1999. “We have been told very little.”
Friday’s announcement listed 18 more Mississippi stores destined to close as the discount retail chain tries to stabilize a business that has seen sales plummet as shelves weren’t being restocked. Fred’s also suffered when the planned purchase of 865 Rite Aid pharmacies and a merger with Walgreen’s, fell through.
The Clarksdale Fred’s employs about 20 people and two contract pharmacists.
The Clarksdale Fred’s was also the victim of a brazen smah-and-grab burglary last month where robbers broke glass to gain entry to the building and apparently had the combination to the safe. The thieves and the money were gone when police responded to the burglar.
