Eddie Stanley and Dick Roberts, regular customers at the Jr. Food Store at U.S. 31-W By-Pass and 10th Avenue in Bowling Green, were in for a surprise when they stopped in the store Thursday.

“When I first walked in, I said, ‘Wait a minute. Something’s wrong,’ ” Stanley said.

Shelves that would normally have been filled with grocery items and snacks were nearly bare. Soft drink and beer coolers were being cleaned out by vendors. And the drink dispenser that Roberts uses to refill his large plastic foam cup didn’t have his flavor of choice.

The store that has been a staple on that corner for more than three decades was preparing to shut its doors for the final time.

Dion Houchins, executive vice president of Jr. Food Stores’ parent company, Houchens Industries, confirmed in an email that the store will close Friday afternoon. Employees at the store said they were going to be transferred to other Houchens-owned stores.

Customers, meanwhile, were preparing to deal with a loss of convenience.

“I guess it’s just part of Houchens economizing,” said Roberts, who lives in Briarwood but regularly stops at the Jr. Food Store on his way to Western Kentucky University’s campus.

It’s a slight disruption of a routine for Roberts, but the store’s closing could be a much greater inconvenience for people living along 10th Avenue within walking distance of the store.

“I don’t think it’s going to be good for the neighborhood,” Stanley said. “A lot of people depend on the convenience of not having to go three or four miles down the road just to get gas. A lot of people in the neighborhood are going to miss it.”

Houchins said in his email that Houchens Industries, a diverse company ranked by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce as the largest employer in southcentral Kentucky, has “no current plans for the property.”

Customers and employees alike speculated Thursday that the closing could make way for something bigger and better, maybe another Houchens-owned Crossroads IGA similar to the ones that have opened on Three Springs Road, Nashville Road and other areas in recent months.

“If they’re wanting to turn it into an IGA that’s more modern and bigger, that would be good for the area,” Stanley said. “But how soon will that happen?”

Crossroads IGA stores, which are larger than the Jr. Food Stores and often built with a companion fast-food restaurant, have experienced explosive growth. There are now more than 60 of the stores across seven states, according to the Houchens website.