One of the last remaining small grocers in downtown St. Paul will be closing its doors this month.

Rivertown Market, at 437 N. Wabasha St., will close come Feb. 28. Its equipment has already been put up for bid on an online auction site.

The grocer, which sits under dozens of apartments and serves residents in the northwest corner of downtown, opened under a previous owner in 2000.

That owner, Gene Will — known for personally greeting just about anyone who stopped in — sold the store in 2013 to a Savage couple, Matt and Yolette Atana.

The Atanas could not be reached for comment Monday.

The Atanas said in 2013 that they had originally been looking for an investment that wasn’t hands-on — but Yolette Atana, who had recently received a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu College, was excited at the thought of running a grocery, and experimenting with its deli.

Matt Atana, who at the time ran an IT consulting firm, since built a website for the business and established an online ordering service. The couple also retained many of Will’s existing staff.

But Matt Atana noted, after he purchased the business, that he hadn’t been aware of the massive new Lunds & Byerlys grocery that would soon open six blocks away in the new Penfield apartment complex at 10th and Robert streets.

“That’s not something that was considered during the evaluation process,” he said in a 2013 interview.

Some employees speculated this week that the Lunds & Byerlys — though catering to a wealthier demographic — likely hurt the business. Additionally, the nearby Walgreens expanded across the street with a large food section.

“I hear people all the time saying they want more retail where they are,” said St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker, who added that she believes Rivertown may be the last small-size full grocer in St. Paul’s downtown, which is her district.

Aside from the Lunds & Byerlys, El Burrito Mercado on the West Side is the closest grocery store, and that’s a specialty market, Noecker noted.

“It’s a shame. … It’s really a desert,” Noecker said.