After four years in business, Vowell’s Market Place on North Hills in Meridian will close its doors Nov. 1.

Todd Vowell, president of Triple V, Inc. — the store’s corporate parent — said the 35-40 employees at the Northridge Plaza location will be sent to other Triple V stores in the area, including the Cash Saver on North Frontage Street in Meridian.

Triple V owns 13 grocery stores in Mississippi and six in Alabama.

The Northridge Plaza location opened in October 2013.

“It hurts to do it,” Vowell said. “We are very sorry for the inconvenience to our great customers and to our co-tenants.

“Unfortunately, after extensive lease negotiations with the property owner and their unwillingness to provide substantial property improvements, we had to make the very tough decision to close the North Hills location.”

Vowell said the landlord is based in New York City. Listed as HPA Northridge, LLC on the county tax rolls, no one from the company could be reached for comment.

The shopping center property is up for sale on Loopnet.com for $4.5 million. Jackson-based Shopping Center Group’s website also lists 44,512 square feet of grocery anchor space as “coming available” for lease.

Calls to both real estate offices were not returned.

Lauderdale County Tax Assessor chief deputy Whitney Hodges said HPA Northridge has owned the 10-acre property since 2007.

According to court documents, HPA Northridge, LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2016 in the Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York. Court records from January 2017 show that the property is “encumbered by a $2,579,000 deed of trust lien held by the SJ Trust and DJ Trust.”

“Based upon a previously received offer, the Property value is about $4,100,000,” court records say. “… The note matured on August 7, 2015. Since that time, the Debtor has tried to refinance or sell the Property. But the Debtor’s lease to Southern Family Markets, the Property’s anchor tenant, expires in about 9 months, and the tenant has until March 2017 to decide whether to renew. Until the anchor tenant provides notice, it is impossible to refinance.”

Managers at Anytime Fitness and the Corkscrew Wine and Spirits — both Northridge tenants — did not want to comment about the situation, but both indicated they were not aware of plans to close or relocate.

Vowell said the company would like to open another store in Meridian and is “actively seeking” ways to do so, “but unless and until that opportunity presents itself, we look forward to serving you at our Cash Saver location.”