Kids Corner Closed, Not in Acme's Remodeling Plans

Kids Corner, the free child care facility inside the  on Kent Road, closed today and one full-time and five part-time child care employees are out of a job.

Not only are six employees no longer working at Acme, but parents no longer have the option to have their children cared for while shopping for groceries.

"It's always sad for something to leave, but I hope shoppers are very excited about whats coming," said Acme Executive Vice President Jim Trout about the .

He added that all of the employees who no longer have a job through Kids Corner, may apply for a position at the grocery store.

Although the free child care service will no longer be offered, Trout said the store has "things to keep children engaged, we have something called Kids Bucks that we hand out as children shop and we're updating all the kids carts. We want to provide a great shopping experience for parents and children."

Trout called the decision to eliminate the Kids Corner "unfortunate" and said it was "disheartening to people who use it," but the choice was a business decision the company had to make.

"We are focusing all of our effort on providing a great store and great products for our customers," he said, adding Kids Corner isn't in the plans for the remodeling inside of the store.

Kids Corner is closed effective today and construction on the new parking lot and interior will begin just after Easter on April 25. Trout said he expects both the interior and exterior improvements to be finished by September.

According to the store's website, the only other Kids Corner location, out of 17 Northeast Ohio stores, is in North Canton.