BIDDEFORD — After about 18 years in business, Shaw’s will close its Biddeford supermarket in about a month.

Brian Dowling, a spokesman for Shaw’s, confirmed in an email Wednesday that the grocery store, which employs 90 people, will close by July 4. He cited underperformance as the reason for the closure.

“Like all retailers, we are constantly evaluating the performance of our portfolio of stores,” said Dowling. “Closing an underperforming store is always a tough decision, but we are focused on growing our business by being the favorite local supermarket, and running great stores where people love to shop.”

Shaw’s opened on Alfred Street in Biddeford in 1997, he said. It now sits just one mile from Market Basket, which opened in the Biddeford Crossing shopping complex about two years ago, and two miles from the Hannaford supermarket on Elm Street.

Employees at the store, including the store manager, declined to comment on the news Wednesday, except to say they knew about it.

“The people it’s going to affect most are the people in the area,” said Saco resident Katherine Milliken, before entering Shaw’s at about noon on Wednesday. “The people at the hospital, they run over for lunch, want to get their groceries before they go home.”

Although she said she only shops at the store about once a month, Milliken said the company she works for ”“ a health care facility on Barra Road ”“ buys cakes for its employees’ birthday parties at Shaw’s, so now they will have to go elsewhere.

Although Dowling wouldn’t say if competition is what led to poor business at the location, Lindsey Heard, of Kennebunkport, speculated that might be the case.

“With Market Basket opening I’m not surprised,” she said as she exited Shaw’s on Wednesday. “I tend to stop here when I’m getting on or off the turnpike because it’s close if I need to get something quickly. I guess it’s sad but I’m not terribly surprised. … I do my big shopping at Market Basket or Hannaford to be honest.”

Dowling said the Biddeford location is the only one in the area that will be closing.

“We are working to place our Biddeford employees in nearby stores,” he added. Shaw’s also operates stores in Sanford and Saco.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or averzoni@journaltribune.com. Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells contributed to this report.