‘It’s tough’: Las Cruces grocery store to close after 45 years due to declining sales, pandemic struggles

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - After nearly half a century in Las Cruces, Mountain View Market Co+op will close next month.

"It's tough," said Corinne Whitmill, who has worked at the natural grocery store for four years. "We have folks that are coming in that are lifetime members that actually helped found the co-op."

"I know customers by their first name," said Clair Campos, the store's general manager. "I've seen their children grow up."

Campos told ABC-7 that the board made the decision to close the co-op after two years of declining sales. She also said the pandemic made it difficult to do business.

"The competition that has been coming to Las Cruces since 2014 - it really hurts the small business," Campos said.

Sprouts Farmers Market opened a Las Cruces location in 2018. In recent years, Walmart has also opened several new locations.

"The big box stores - they have the lines," Campos said. "People are willing to wait for hours in those lines and truly, I don't understand why."

"I've been coming here since I was a small child," said Elizabeth Staffeldt, who has many fond memories at the store. "We would always get the peanut butter from the peanut butter machine. We would use the same jars every time."

Mountain View Market Co+op will close on December 5th, Campos said. Before the decision to close, the store employed 19 people.

"It’s difficult to talk about because, you know, we’re just a great big family here," Campos said.