A Shop 'n Save grocery store that opened in East Liberty with some fanfare last year will be closed by October.

A portion of the store, located in the Village of East Side shopping center, will be replaced by a Staples office supply store in early 2007, according to an announcement from developer East Liberty Station Associates.

The grocery store had been among several in the Pittsburgh area operated by Minnesota grocery distributor SuperValu. The East Liberty site, opened in early 2005, served as an experiment in featuring local merchants and brands.

But SuperValu announced last year that it would sell about 20 corporate stores in the region and instead concentrate on supplying the independent operators who ran the majority of Western Pennsylvania's Shop 'n Save and Foodland grocery stores.

"While it is unfortunate that the Shop 'n Save store is closing, the arrival of Staples is a reflection of the economic viability and the potential of the surrounding small business community in East Liberty," said Lori Moran, vice president of real estate development for East Liberty Station Associates, in a prepared statement.

East Liberty has become a sort of mecca for supermarket shoppers with natural and organic grocer Whole Foods Market drawing crowds, Giant Eagle recently converting a nearby store into a special format designed to please foodies and upscale discount grocer Trader Joe's announcing plans to put its first Pittsburgh-area location into the Wheeler Paint building on Penn Avenue, not far from the Shop 'n Save.