Many shoppers in North Cambridge have not noticed yet, but the shelves at the local Stop and Shop have started to look a little bare.

The store, the last supermarket in the area, will close its doors November 14, leaving neighborhood residents without a large and relatively inexpensive place to shop.

Local residents, especially low-income shoppers from the nearby Jefferson Park and Huron Towers housing developments, may have to turn to more expensive, local convenience stores for their food supplies.

Prices at these less comprehensive shops are often much higher than those at larger supermarkets like Stop and Shop. These higher costs may put a strain on local residents with low or fixed incomes.

"It's less expensive here," said Ray R. Hill, a Belmont resident who has been shopping at the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop for 15 years. "I'm not happy about its closing."

The move has left many with nowhere nearby to shop once the Stop and Shop closes. Residents without cars will be forced to find alternative means of transportation, making a mere shopping trip a challenge for some.

"I think it's terrible," said Bernice V. Taylor, a Fresh Pond resident and frequent Stop and Shop customer. "It's the only shop in the area."

High operating costs combined with fierce competition from larger supermarkets have forced the Fresh Pond store to shut down, according to Stop and Shop officials.

"It's increasingly difficult to operate smaller, older conventional stores when there are other...fresher, crisper stores around," said F. Terry Vandewater, manager of public relations at the Stop and Shop Supermarket Company in Quincy, Mass. "And it was not feasible to improve this one."

The City Council discussed problems the store's closing may bring to the community at their meeting earlier this month. Councillor Sheila T. Russell, who lives in North Cambridge, said the members had urged the company not to close their Fresh Pond branch, but added that the council has no jurisdiction over the matter.

"We expressed our concern," said Russell. "But that probably doesn't mean a hill of beans to them."

The store's lease runs out at the end of the year, according to Sema Magzelci, manager of the Fresh Pond Mall. While the mall has some prospective tenants, no plans have yet finalized, she said.

But Russell said that other supermarkets have probably made offers. "Everyone's hoping it will be DeMoulas, but we don't know," she said.

In the meantime, Stop and Shop officials are looking for a large enough area with ample parking space to open a Super Stop and Shop in the Fresh Pond neighborhood.

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