By Marla Sowards
It was a strange sight in the early 1960s: crews piled dirt into a giant mound, covered it with cement and dug out all the dirt under the hardened frame.
What remained became known as 'the turtle shell,' one of Provo''s most recognizable landmarks, and home to the Ream''s grocery store on 200 West in Provo.
But its days are numbered.
Last week, Demar Butterfield, Ream''s vice president of operations, announced that Ream''s will close its doors.
'Market conditions, combined with an older building, make closing the store the only viable option,' Butterfield said.
Since its opening in 1967, BYU students have frequented Ream''s because of its close proximity to campus.
'My parents shopped here when they were BYU students,' said Debra Turner, 20, from Modesto, Calif., a pre-nursing major who shops at Reams. 'They told me this was the cheapest place to go when they were here.'
Amber Jordan, 19, from San Diego, who has not declared her major, has worked at Reams for a year and a half.
' gave us the reason that we don''t get enough business here, and that''s why we''re closing,' Jordan said.
Jordan attributes the low shopper turnout to the building itself.
'I''ve heard a lot of people complain about the building,' Jordan said. 'It''s old and the roof leaks. They just don''t like going to a store that doesn''t look nice.'
However, not all students mind the building.
'It''s fine with me,' said Ream''s shopper Damion Faulkner, 24, from Seattle, a sophomore majoring in pre-med. 'As long as you can get your groceries and come back out, it''s fine with me.'
Ream''s shape is also not its only unique characteristic.
'They sell western clothes like cowboy boots,' said Nathan Williams, 21, from Salisbury, Md., a junior majoring in international relations and Arabic studies. 'That''s all right, because we''re in the West after all, but it''s just not my thing, so it''s not something that attracts me to the store.'
According to Butterfield, Ream''s will close its grocery department at the end of January but will remain open to liquidate its western clothing inventory during February and March.
Other Ream''s locations throughout Utah will remain open.