Lowell's Costas Foods closes its doors

Times of Northwest Indiana staff

LOWELL | Costas Foods, a near west-end mainstay for more than three decades, has closed, a store manager confirmed Thursday.

Opened in 1976 by John and Tina Costas of St. John, the business has been for sale for $1.3 million since the end of July.

The 25,000 square-foot supermarket is located on 1 1/2 acres at 129 Washington St.

Neither John Costas nor Tina Costas could be reached for comment.

In July, John Costas told The Times that the decision to sell the store wasn't an easy decision.

"This is all we know," the 75-year-old said at the time.

John and Tina Costas married in 1972, and have worked together in the store for 32 years.

On Tuesday, all perishables were marked down 30 percent and there was no milk on the shelves.

"I hate to think that they're closing," Lowell's Director of Administration Sue Peterson said this week. "My mother-in-law is a staunch Costas person. It's a Tuesday ritual to shop there."

The Costas' always have been very generous to the community, she said.

Lowell has had only one other grocery, County Market.