Polish Market in Hamtramck to close

Polish Market in Hamtramck abruptly announced it will be closing on Monday, leaving eastside residents with one less grocery store option but also marking the latest in demographic shifts in the Detroit suburb once a settlement for generations of Polish immigrants.

A sign posted on the front door’s entrance states that the closure is due to “circumstances beyond our control” and encourages patrons to visit its Troy location, while a cashier says today that there “just wasn’t enough business.”

Employees of the Hamtramck location can move to the Troy location if they choose, the cashier said.

The store's closing follows the December closure of Glory Supermarket on Joseph Campau Avenue, Hamtramck’s main street. But it also is symbolic of the declining Polish population in town, something Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski acknowledged in a recent piece published in Politico.

Though Hamtramck has long been known as an Eastern European immigrant stronghold, Yemeni and Bangladeshi residents have poured into the city in recent years while Polish descendants have moved into northern suburbs.

Polish Market had been open in Hamtramck for about a decade near other Polish strongholds, such as Srodek’s Campau Quality Sausage Co., Stan’s Grocery, Polonia Restaurant and Polish Village Café.