READING - Rising energy costs, increased competition, and a willingness of some customers to shop elsewhere. Those three factors combined to create a situation that has led to the decision to close a local family-owned supermarket after 86 years in downtown Reading.

Reading residents are still coming to grips with the reality that the Atlantic Food Mart, a local landmark, will close for good some time in December.

"It's a sign of the times," said Atlantic Food Mart President Arnold Rubin.

"We've been here since 1922 I think, and it was a very, very difficult decision to make. The rising costs, of electricity particularly, the loss of some volume - we've maintained most of our volume, but we've lost a significant part of it. That incremental loss of volume, in particular, has made it very difficult to continue."

While the fact that the Atlantic has been in Reading for over 80 years gives it a permanent place in the minds of residents, the age of the facility and the equipment in it helped contribute to the financial situation behind the decision to close the store.

"Everything is rising - the cost of food, the cost of electricity, the cost of gas, and we don't have an energy efficient equipment that a new store might have," said Rubin. "Such that our energy use is disproportionate to our sales. We've kept up our equipment, we've added to it and maintained it, but it isn't built for energy efficiency like the new pieces of equipment."

Rubin's grandfather, George, opened the Atlantic in 1922, setting up shop on Haven Street in a building that was home to a meat shop, Atlantic Butchers of New England, a meat shop that was part of a local chain that was going out of business.

Rubin began working at his father Sid's business in 1953 at the age of 16, and became president in 1978, a title he has held over the last three decades.

The Atlantic means a lot to Rubin, and the decision to shut its doors wasn't an easy one.

"We tried, but every week that went on, it was just more bleeding," said Rubin. "I don't have to tell you, we love this town. We love it, and we love the people. We've been sponsors of events like the tennis tournament, and we've done it because it's a wonderful town. They were not just customers. They are all friends of mine. I see them every day, and we would stop and talk. It was a business, but it was also a gathering of friends every day.

"The customers got to know our associates, especially the ones who have been here for years and years and years."

"I've been getting calls and emails, and people say they feel like it's the death of a close relative, and I feel the same way," continued Rubin. "We tried to make it work. My hope was that piece of volume that we lost would come back, but with two additional competitors, it wasn't coming back. Some of it came back, but not enough. Every time a competitor, some people choose, for whatever reason, to go with the competitor. When two come in, well that's just that much more that you have to deal with."

When opened...

When it opened, the store was 1,500 square feet, but in the 86 years since it has undergone seven remodeling and expansions jobs (the latest in 1998), and during better days employed roughly 200 people, many of them local residents.

Rubin said that despite some of the stories that have been floating around town regarding the closure, he is not filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and that long-term employees are being taken care of.

"We are not going into bankruptcy - that is not going to happen," said Rubin. "All the suppliers are being paid. Everyone will be paid every nickel they are owed. We've managed to come up with a severance for our associates, most of our associates - the people who have been here five years or more with us are getting a severance package."

Even just a year ago, Reading had just one supermarket within its borders, Atlantic. There are now three, with the addition of Stop & Shop on Walkers Brook Drive and Market Basket on General Way.

Over the years, Reading has been served by as many as six grocery stores, according to the town's published history, "At Wood End". The markets were located at sites currently occupied by Massbank on Haven Street, the Venetian Moon in the Square, the Registry of Motor Vehicles on Salem Street, Home Goods on Main Street and the Brooks pharmacy on Bolton Street.

The added competition certainly hurt sales at Atlantic, but the store was able to retain over 80 percent of its customer base after its competitors opened, according to Rubin. It was that 20 percent that began shopping elsewhere, combined with rising energy costs, that sealed the store's fate.

"When you have five, six, 10 or 20 supermarkets, you can look at one that isn't performing as well as the others and say that's okay because the others are performing," said Rubin. "This is all I had, and this is all I ever really wanted. I never wanted multiple stores. We had a store in North Reading, but we consolidated ourselves here, and it worked very well. Nowadays, I think that a lot of people are not as concerned with quality and service as they are with price. We built our business on quality and service, and we maintained better than 80 percent of our customers. But it was that 20 percent that, for whatever reason, chose to go elsewhere that really made the difference. Even that may have been sustainable, but the rising cost of energy....you just can't pass a $300,000 electric bill on to customers. You can't pass the increases in paper bags, plastic bags, laundry- everything on to them. It just wasn't sustainable. I had been funding it personally for awhile, and I just couldn't continue to do that."

So what will become of the building that houses Atlantic at 30 Haven Street?

There was no concrete date given for when the store will ultimately lock its doors, but Rubin says his ultimate goal is to sell it.

"We're going to try and hopefully sell a small part of the business," said Rubin. "I had talked to people who I thought might be interested in buying the business as a whole, so that we could maintain a presence here. We'll try to sell off a small portion of the business, and as far as the building itself, we don't have anything concrete yet but we are looking to ultimately sell the building. But I will be maintaining an office here, myself and my comptroller will be here for at least a year, and after that we will likely get an office in Reading somewhere. Doing what? I haven't thought about it really, but I have other interests here, not business interests, but other interests. I haven't really thought about it too hard."

Rubin stated that the store will remain fully stocked through Thanksgiving, and looks forward to seeing longtime customers over the last few weeks.

"We certainly hope that people will continue to come in," said Rubin. "It would give me a chance to say goodbye to people."