The Mars Super Market in Aberdeen was scheduled to close its doors for good around May 1, which Mars company officials announced this year, but the store closed up earlier than expected Sunday after officials re-evaluated their timeline for closing three stores around Harford County and Baltimore.
Mars is headquartered in Rosedale and operates stores throughout Central Maryland. The company's Bel Air store, which was in the Bel Air Plaza shopping center off Baltimore Pike, closed in January.
Company officials initially planned to close the Aberdeen store, which opened in 1993 and is in the Aberdeen Marketplace off Beards Hill Road, around the same time as two other stores outside Baltimore, but "upon further evaluation in the subsequent weeks, our operations team determined that staggered closings leading up to May 1 would be the most feasible option," Mars Chairman and CEO Chris D'Anna said in a statement Tuesday.
The Baltimore-area stores are still scheduled to close by May 1, according to D'Anna.
A sign posted on the doors of the Aberdeen store indicated the supermarket was closed as of Sunday.
"All of us at Mars are proud to have served this community for over 21 years, and we appreciate your business," according to the sign. "We hope you will visit us at the many Mars locations that will remain open."
D'Anna stated that Mars' 13 remaining stores in Maryland will remain open after May 1 "and will continue to provide the quality selection and service that customers have come to expect from 'The Friendly Food People.' "
Aegis reporter Bryna Zumer contributed to this report.