Last month, Urban Market's café and bar shut down.

Now, the lone downtown grocery's beer, wine and snacks section soon will close, too, consolidated into the store's main floor space, officials say.

And a $1.1 million infusion of subsidies – half from Dallas City Hall, half from the private sector – dried up last summer.

But operator Charles Acklen insists Urban Market "will not close anytime soon." This, despite the market hemorrhaging cash since it opened nearly four years ago in the renovated Interurban Building's storefront to much fanfare from city officials who considered such a facility critical to downtown growth.

The market, Acklen explained, was just about to turn its first profit late last year when the national economy soured and the spike in downtown residency rates – the market's financial lifeblood – flattened.

So Urban Market will persist, albeit with "more limited offerings that reflect the times," in hopes that the economy will turn later this year, he said. Expect the grocery's cleaning products and beauty and toiletries offerings, for example, to diminish.

"We intend to keep the whole thing viable," Acklen said, noting that he will not ask the city for additional public subsidies. "Do I think I need to? Yes. Do I think we can get any more help from the city? No – I don't think there's any more water in that well for us."

Karl Zavitkovsky, Dallas' economic development director, said Acklen is correct: City Hall will offer no bailout, finding itself in a dreary financial situation of its own as it grapples with a massive budget deficit.

The private sector could prove more helpful in shoring up Urban Market's financial position.

Maybe.

"We're trying to evaluate what needs to be done in terms of assistance," said John Crawford, president and chief executive officer of the DowntownDallas business association. "The Urban Market continues to be an important part of downtown. We need to have some source of providing food services. But at what point do you stop subsidizing something long-term? That's a question we need to answer."

Steve Shepherd, president of the Downtown Dallas Residents Council, said Urban Market is a hub of activity for the several thousands of people who call the high-rise apartments and condos in the innermost center city home.

"When the grocery opened, it changed our lives down here," Shepherd said. "We need it."

Acklen offered one signal of immediate hope for the market: He said he plans to sign a contract this week with an established Dallas restaurateur to reopen Urban Market's café and bar in July.

"We have a firm handshake on it," he said, "and the lease will follow."