At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Kroger in Lakeland Plaza closed its doors for the last time.“It is very sad, because it’s very convenient,” said Valerie Jenkins, who’s been a regular shopper at the store since it opened in 1990.“Every time I have come in here, it has been packed,” she said. “I have never seen it not packed, so I really don’t understand why it’s closing. But I’ll miss it.”It’s closing, Kroger spokesman Glynn Jenkins said, because sales declined over the last several years.“Closing is never easy, but certainly this particular location has experienced declining sales and a negative profit for over a period of time and we certainly had to make some decisions to operate more efficiently in our region,” he said.There are several other Kroger stores in the area, including on Bethelview Road and Freedom and Peachtree parkways in Forsyth County, and a new location slated to open today in nearby Sugar Hill, just across the Chattahoochee River on Hwy. 20.All 80 associates at the Lakeland Plaza store were “offered gainful employment at our other Kroger locations,” Jenkins said.