ST. LOUIS, MO – September 28, 2026 (STL.News) A longtime chapter of Central West End history has ended.
Straub’s Markets closed its grocery store at 302 N. Kingshighway Blvd. on Friday, Sept. 25, ending a 78-year run at the prominent Kingshighway and Maryland Plaza intersection.
The closing drew emotional reactions from customers who made final visits to a store that had served the neighborhood since 1948. For generations of St. Louis residents, Straub’s was more than another place to buy groceries. It was a family-owned neighborhood institution that survived dramatic changes in the grocery industry and in the Central West End itself.
“I’m heartbroken,” customer Janice White-Brown told First Alert 4 on the store’s final day.
The closure does not mark the end of Straub’s Markets. The family-owned St. Louis grocer continues operating its other three stores in Clayton, Webster Groves and Town & Country.
But the closure ends Straub’s nearly eight-decade presence in one of St. Louis’ best-known neighborhoods.
Customers Say Goodbye to Straub’s
Customers arrived at Straub’s on Friday knowing it was their last chance to shop at the Central West End location.
For some, the closing came as a surprise.
White-Brown told First Alert 4 that she traveled from South County specifically to shop at the Central West End Straub’s. She praised the store for its convenience, employees, and fresh food.
Other customers were concerned about what the closing would mean for people living within walking distance of the grocery store.
Michael Abron said he was surprised by the closing and described saying goodbye to one of the employees. He also said he was relieved to learn the employee would continue working at Straub’s Clayton location.
Another customer, Mary Chapman, raised a practical concern for neighborhood residents who do not own vehicles. She said some of her friends relied on Straub’s because they could walk there for groceries rather than pay for transportation elsewhere.
That concern underscores an important difference between a grocery store and many of the restaurants, bars, and entertainment businesses concentrated throughout the Central West End.
A neighborhood grocery store provides an everyday service to residents.
What eventually replaces Straub’s could therefore affect both the commercial character and walkability of the surrounding neighborhood.
Straub’s Opened in the CWE in 1948
Straub’s history in St. Louis stretches back considerably further than its Central West End location.
William A. Straub opened his first grocery store in Webster Groves in 1901.
According to the company’s history, Straub traveled door to door collecting customers’ grocery orders, then returned to the store to fill them and delivered them later in the day by horse and buggy.
The business expanded gradually.
A larger Webster Groves location opened in 1926. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Straub family expanded into Clayton, Brentwood, Richmond Heights, and the Central West End.
Straub’s current Clayton location opened in 1948.
Approximately one month later, Straub’s took over an existing grocery store in the Central West End and opened the location that would remain part of the neighborhood until September 2026.
That means the Central West End Straub’s operated through extraordinary changes in both St. Louis and the American grocery business.
It witnessed the postwar expansion of St. Louis County, the rise of large suburban supermarkets, the development of national grocery chains, changing population patterns within St. Louis, the emergence of big-box retailers and, more recently, online grocery ordering and home delivery.
Through those changes, Straub’s remained a relatively small, family-owned St. Louis grocer.
The company celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2026.
Kingshighway Property Was Listed for Sale
The future of the Central West End location became uncertain months before its final day.
The Straub family confirmed in June that the Kingshighway property had been listed for sale.
At the time, the owners did not publicly provide a specific reason for selling the property and initially said the grocery store would continue operating while they pursued a sale.
Commercial real estate firm CBRE marketed the property for $3.25 million.
CBRE’s current marketing information describes 302 N. Kingshighway as a 22,489-square-foot property positioned at what the firm calls a gateway to the Central West End.
The commercial listing identifies several potential future uses, including continued retail use or redevelopment into multifamily housing, mixed-use development, medical offices, hospitality, or senior living.
The property sits along one of the city’s major north-south corridors and is near Forest Park, the Washington University Medical Campus, BJC HealthCare, and other major employment centers.
The site also includes something increasingly valuable in a dense urban neighborhood: redevelopment potential at a highly visible corner.
As of publication, however, STL.News has not independently confirmed a completed sale, the buyer’s identity, or a final redevelopment plan.
Straub’s said when announcing the September closing that it was selling the building.
The distinction is important.
Until a transaction or redevelopment plan is publicly confirmed, speculation about what will replace Straub’s should not be presented as fact.
Straub’s Had Invested in the CWE Store
The closing is particularly notable because Straub’s made a substantial investment in the Central West End location approximately a decade ago.
In 2015, Straub’s invested about $1.5 million to renovate the Kingshighway store as competition in the surrounding grocery market increased.
Whole Foods was preparing to open nearby.
The investment showed how much Straub’s valued its longtime Central West End presence.
The renovation modernized a store that had already operated in the neighborhood for more than six decades.
Eleven years later, however, the location has closed.
Straub’s has not publicly disclosed a specific financial or operating reason for closing the Central West End store.
The family put the property on the market in June, initially planning to keep operating while seeking a sale, and announced in September that the store would close as the building was being sold.
Prime Central West End Property
The property’s future is now likely to attract considerable attention.
According to CBRE, the site contains 22,489 square feet of building space and is being offered for $3.25 million.
Commercial marketing materials emphasize the site’s proximity to major employers and institutions, including BJC HealthCare, Washington University Medical Campus, and SSM Health.
Forest Park is nearby, as are restaurants, retail businesses, apartments, hotels, and other Central West End attractions.
CBRE describes the property as suitable for adaptive reuse of the existing building or redevelopment.
Potential uses mentioned in the marketing materials include multifamily residential development, a hotel, medical offices, senior living, mixed-use development and retail.
Those are potential uses rather than announced projects.
No particular redevelopment scenario should be considered final unless and until a buyer or developer announces plans for the property and obtains any necessary government approvals.
Closing Raises Walkability Concerns
The disappearance of a grocery store can affect a neighborhood differently than the closure of a restaurant or specialty retailer.
The Central West End remains one of the St. Louis region’s major restaurant, entertainment, medical, and residential districts.
But people living in dense urban neighborhoods also depend on businesses that provide routine necessities.
Chapman’s comments on Straub’s final day highlighted that issue.
Some neighborhood residents do not have cars, she said, meaning Straub’s closing eliminates a grocery option they could reach on foot.
That doesn’t mean the Central West End is without grocery options, but losing a longstanding neighborhood market changes the retail mix immediately surrounding Kingshighway and Maryland Plaza.
Customers interviewed on the store’s final day hoped whatever eventually replaces Straub’s will provide something useful to residents rather than simply adding another restaurant.
For developers, the site represents valuable Central West End real estate.
For nearby residents, it represented something much simpler: a place to buy groceries.
Straub’s Continues With Three Other Stores
Although the Central West End location is gone, Straub’s Markets remains in business.
The company’s other three stores are located at:
Clayton: 8282 Forsyth Blvd.
Webster Groves: 211 W. Lockwood Ave.
Town & Country: 13414 Clayton Road.
Those locations represent different periods in the company’s long history.
The Clayton store dates to 1948, the same year Straub’s entered the Central West End. The current Webster Groves store opened in 1962, near the company’s original 1901 location. Straub’s opened its Town & Country store in 1966.
Straub’s remains family-owned and operated.
According to the company, members of the third, fourth, and fifth generations of the Straub family have continued participating in the business.
That longevity has become increasingly unusual in an American grocery industry dominated by enormous regional and national chains.
Straub’s Marks 125 Years
The timing of the Central West End closing has an unusual historical symmetry.
Straub’s celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2026.
The company began in 1901 with William Straub operating a neighborhood grocery business in Webster Groves.
By 1948, Straub’s had expanded to Clayton and the Central West End.
Seventy-eight years later, one of those two 1948 locations has disappeared while the Clayton store continues operating.
Straub’s President and CEO Jack W. “Trip” Straub III acknowledged the significance of the Central West End closing when the company announced it earlier this month.
“For nearly eight decades, generations of customers have welcomed Straub’s into their lives at this location,” Straub said.
He thanked the Central West End community, generations of customers and the employees who had served them.
“Saying goodbye to this store is not easy,” Straub said.
Customers’ reaction on the final day suggested the feeling went both ways.
End of an Era on Kingshighway
St. Louis neighborhoods inevitably change.
Businesses open and close. Properties are sold. New developments replace old buildings. Retail habits evolve, and companies decide where and how they will operate.
But longevity gives certain businesses significance beyond the physical property they occupy.
Straub’s had been part of the Central West End since 1948.
People who shopped there as children could return decades later. Employees became familiar faces. Customers developed routines around the store. Generations of residents watched the neighborhood transform while Straub’s remained at Kingshighway and Maryland Plaza.
That continuity ended Friday.
The property may eventually become another grocery store. It could remain retail space. It could be redeveloped into apartments, medical offices, a hotel, or a mixed-use project.
For now, none of those outcomes have been confirmed.
What has been confirmed is considerably simpler.
After 78 years, Straub’s Central West End store is closed.
For customers who made one final trip through its doors, the closing wasn’t primarily about commercial real estate or redevelopment opportunities.
It was about saying goodbye to a neighborhood institution.
And for the Central West End, it marks the end of an era.
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