Fewer than three years after Robert Ryan opened the doors of the Farmer Robert’s store to customers, he will be shutting the store down permanently – and looking for a business that wants to rent the space off Quartz Road.

“It’s never been financially viable,” Ryan said in an interview Monday afternoon.

He spoke shortly after announcing the April 28th closure on social media.

The focus of the store was on selling locally made goods, meat and produce, along with a complement of organic goods from Outside.

A lunch counter inside the store also provides a number of noon-time options made with the goods the store sells.

Ryan said the concept of a store that focused on selling local goods from area farmers and others is one he thought would be embraced more than it has been.

While the store has its share of loyal customers to whom Ryan is grateful, he said it’s just not enough to keep things going.

The store’s been good at “scraping by” for about 18 months, he said.

In February, a flood that swept through the store from a nearby broken water main saw the store shut for 10 days.

Ryan said that’s not the reason for the closure, but “probably the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

As he noted, with the exception of the store’s local eggs that other businesses agreed to sell for him, the store was without any cash coming in for those 10 days.

Perhaps more importantly, it also caused him to take a closer look at the finances, and finally conclude it was time to close the doors.

Though he fully recognizes the city played no role in the store’s closure, he criticized city officials for not sending anyone to speak with him directly about it.

It would have been nice to have received some support from the city, he said.

He did draw support from owners of neighbouring businesses who let him to use their parking areas and sold eggs from the store for him.

As well as the flood, Ryan noted the opening of another major grocery chain since Farmer Robert’s opened also likely had an impact on business.

“They’ve watered down the market,” Ryan said.

More of the major stores have started carrying more local products since his shop opened, he pointed out, and that wasn’t largely available previously.

Ryan said it’s positive to see local goods more widely available.

For his shop, however, he wasn’t able to achieve as much as he wanted to getting the products to go further.

He noted there seems to be a difference as well in those who buy local and those who purchase organic goods.

Some customers were also looking for specific products. They weren’t interested in buying other items there, and that too had an impact.

He noted that because local products are not mass-produced and are of a higher quality, the cost is higher, and many don’t seem to understand that necessity, Ryan said.

He acknowledged as well that his skills are not in managing a grocery store as was required. That makes it difficult to compete with the larger chains.

“That’s one of the failings of the store,” he said, noting he is more of an entrepreneur than a manager.

Opening the business as a way of providing a year-round place where local farmers could sell their goods meant a lot of additional work as well – creating an egg grading station that needed to be federally inspected, for example.

With a staff of four, Ryan said, he’s grateful for those who have worked at the store, noting they have been “incredibly supportive” and understanding about its demise.

As the store heads into its final month of business, Ryan said he’s hoping faithful customers will visit and say hello.

While his focus is on the closure and selling off the store’s equipment, he noted he will eventually rent the space and decide what other endeavours he might pursue.

On social media, many Whitehorse residents are expressing disappointment with the closure.

They’re noting they will miss picking up some of their favourites at the store – lunch time soups, eggs, local quality produce and more.