O'Malia's closing northside Indianapolis market after 33 years

Cory Schouten, The IBJ

cschouten@ibj.com

The O'Malia's Food Market near 56th Street and Emerson Avenue will close for good this weekend after a 33-year run.

Parent company Marsh Supermarkets Inc. decided to close the store near Cathedral High School because it did not meet the company's "requirements regarding sales, location and/or future growth potential," spokeswoman Connie Gardner said in a statement.

The closure leaves only four locations for the homegrown O'Malia's chain, which was founded in 1966 and had eight stores when Marsh acquired it in 2001. Marsh converted some of the stores, including one at 320 N. New Jersey St., to Marsh locations, and it closed another at 86th Street and Township Line Road.

Marsh is controlled by Florida-based Sun Capital Partners, which bought the local chain in a 2006 deal valued at $325 million including debt.

O'Malia's opened the store at 5550 Fall Creek Parkway N. Drive in 1976. The store is offering 25 percent off remaining merchandise and will close after normal business hours on Saturday, an employee said.

The nearest grocery stores are a Kroger at 46th Street and Arlington Avenue, an Aldi at 52nd Street and Keystone Avenue and a Marsh at 53rd Street and Keystone Avenue.

"While it was a difficult decision, the Marsh management team is committed to improving our operating results and strengthening the company's competitive position in the marketplace," Gardner wrote.

The remaining four stores that carry the O'Malia's name are along 126th Street in Carmel, North Meridian Street in Carmel, South Meridian Street in Indianapolis, and College Mall Road in Bloomington.