People in the community of Cornwallis in the Annapolis Valley will lose their only grocery store at the end of the month.

Alex Morrison, the municipal councillor for the area, hopes Annapolis County can find another operator.

The Graves family has been operating the Cornwallis ValuFoods for five years. They've rented space in a building owned by the Annapolis County.

According to a Facebook posting, the owners have never made a profit. The family blames both the highly competitive grocery industry and the high costs of rent and power.

Morrison said it's the only grocery store for 18 kilometres in all directions, so the closure will have a major impact.

"There are a lot of people who depend on that grocery store, either because they don't have transportation or because some of them are fairly old. They like the convenience of being able to shop close to home," he said.

Morrison said a meeting already planned for Wednesday is now more important then ever. It'll focus on ways to make the county-owned building in Cornwallis as energy efficient as possible.

"People have talked about the solar panels, and that would give it another advantage to folks who might want to come and operate a retail food store," he said.

Morrison hopes the county will put out an immediate call for a new grocery outlet.

The ValuFoods is set to close on Sept. 27.