Although the Store's shelves are becoming empty of essential food items as the market has stopped restocking, customers said there has been no attempt to notify them of the closing. Most were surprised when told of the shutdown, and expressed disappointment about having to make longer commutes for their grocery shopping.

"It's disrespectful of people," said Lorna Shapiro, a shopper who had not heard of the shutdown. "When were they planning to tell us? The only reason people would know is because the racks are empty."

Asked where she would shop after November, she said, "Beats me."

Wanda Rivera, a store register worker hired on October 6, said she was told of the closing only after she started work. "They said they were going to place us at other stores" she said.

But Mary T. Powell, a Huron Towers resident and 30-year Stop and Shop customer, said she had suspected the shutdown.

"I had a sense lately that something was wrong," said Powell. "There are fewer registers and longer lines."

Powell, who has seen the price of apple pie at the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop rise from $0.39 to $2.29, was one of the most upset customers at the store yesterday.

She is one of the many elderly people who have relied on the Fresh Pond Stop and Shop for over three decades, and who now faces a longer commute for food.

"I don't know how they can do it," said Marion B. Rocci, a Huron Towers resident who relies on a shuttle bus to bring her to the supermarket. "A lot of people are upset. It's a shame...I depend on it."

Many shoppers say they will switch to the Porter Square Star Market. According to customers, although Star is considerably farther and sometimes more expensive, the market is in better condition than the Stop and Shop.

Some shoppers are glad to see the Fresh Pond store go, saying it had deteriorated over the past months.

"It's disgusting. The meats are dirty, the fish is disgusting. If something better is going to take the place of it, why not?" asked Cindy Bray, a Cambridge shopper.

Vandewater said that although she hoped shoppers would go to the Medford, Arlington and Memorial Drive Stop and Shop branches, she expected Star Market and other stores to get considerable amounts of their business.

"I hope they'll go over to Medford," said Vandewater. "But its unrealistic to say that some business won't be lost."

Still, shoppers unable to get to those stores or others in the area may be left in the lurch until the plans for a new Fresh Pond supermarket materialize.

"This is a big loss," said Helen Mahoney, a 25-year Stop and Shop customer who take the shuttle from Belmont every Tuesday morning. "It's a pleasure to shop here. Everything's here. I'll have to adjust."