CENTRAL IOWA, Iowa — Two central Iowa grocery stores are closing their stores, leaving 1,500 people with a half-hour commute to their closest grocer.

The Dayton Community Grocery announced June 12 that they would be closing, saying despite months-long efforts to save the store, it wasn’t enough.

“Despite all efforts and more, we have found ourselves at a crossroads. The store is just not able to compete with big-box stores to generate the income necessary to keep going at this rate. The board doesn’t want to be any further in debt than we currently are, and we feel like the responsible thing to do is to go out debt-free,” the Dayton Community Grocery Board released in a statement.

The store officially closed its doors on Tuesday after several days of closing down sales. Pieces of the store have already begun to be torn down and dismantled.

10 miles east of Dayton sits the Stratford Food Center, who say their closure was heavily influenced by Dayton’s closure.

“The nail in the coffin for us as a recently, though, was the Dayton Grocery Store closing. At the time we were sharing a truck with them from the supplier. And when they closed, that left us without the ability to get a truck of our own to bring food,” said Stratford Food Center Board Member, Angela Neperey.

The store announced its closure on Thursday. The manager says the truck, rising goods costs, and the cost of needed equipment repairs outweigh the ability to fundraise their way to stay open.

Cheri Moore has lived in Stratford and had her children work at the store. She says she will lose quick access to necessities.

“The store means a lot. Very much. I don’t have to go very far when I have to look for a store. If I need something little or something, I can come up here at any time. I wish it was still going to be here. I don’t want it to go anywhere,” said Moore.

Once the Stratford store closes, the closest options for the towns are Boone and Jewell, both of which are about 30 minutes away.

Jewell has faced grocery troubles; a few years ago, the store was forced to close. The store recently reopened after the community held fundraisers and changed what was offered to better suit the town’s 1,200 residents.