Central Marin’s only Lucky grocery market, a downtown Larkspur fixture, plans to close after decades at the site.
Save Mart, the company that owns the chain, told city officials that the store at 570 Magnolia Ave. will close April 14.
“The company continually evaluates our business model and by closing this Lucky store, we will be able to reallocate resources and focus on other stores in the area,” the company said in an email to the city on March 15. “We have been serving Larkspur for decades and we remain committed to the North Bay community.”
The company told city officials it is offering employees transfers to other supermarkets. The two nearest Lucky stores are in Novato and Petaluma, with others around the Bay Area.
John Frahm, secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, the labor union representing Lucky workers, said employees are upset.
“They’re disappointed that the company chose not to invest in the store to make improvements,” he said. “They’re disappointed that a majority of them will have to transfer outside of Marin if they want to stay employed by Lucky’s.”
Frahm said the company has been closing stores throughout the region for the past several years. At the same time, the company chose to transform its Mountain View store into a tech-driven market designed to fulfill online orders and cater to third-party delivery services such as DoorDash.
“That seems to be the kind of business they want instead of taking care of customers,” Frahm said. “We are hopeful that spot gets filled by another one of our qualified union employers.”
In its email to the city, Save Mart did not say why it is closing the Larkspur store. In response to requests for comment, the company reiterated its statement made to the city and did not answer direct questions. Employees of the store said the company’s lease is ending.
The property is owned by Vons Companies Inc., which is part of the Safeway and Albertsons conglomerate. It has held the title since 2012, according to the Marin County assessor’s office.
Wendy Gutshall, a Safeway spokesperson, provided little information about what the company plans.
“We continue to evaluate our options for sublease,” Gutshall said. “It’s important to us to find the right tenant to serve the Larkspur community. It’s too premature to comment on a potential timeline.”
The shopping center at Magnolia Avenue and Doherty Drive was built in 1972, according to Larkspur Past and Present, a city history book. The site was a lumberyard between 1925 and 1970, and before that, it was the city’s informal baseball field.
Resident James Holmes said he remembers when the store operated under the Alpha Beta grocery brand.
“For over 50 years, it has been the go-to spot for local customers seeking merchandise at an affordable price,” Holmes said. “I really don’t believe anything in the area can substitute it. The closure will mean a significant increase in grocery bills for residents on modest means.”
Resident Laura Effel lives near the store.
“I will really miss it when it goes,” Effel said. “Not only is it close enough to walk to, it also has some of the lowest prices around and a selection that I like. I don’t like to pay more for ‘organic’ produce because it offers no health benefit but costs more. Lucky has been one of the few grocery stores in southern Marin to give shoppers a choice.”
Locals have been speculating that a more upscale grocery store might fill the vacancy, while others wonder if the site will be redeveloped into housing.
City Manager Dan Schwarz said officials reached out to Save Mart to seek more information, but received no reply.
“We received a call from a rep with Albertsons who confirmed that the company (through Vons) owns the property and that no specific plans have been made at this time,” Schwarz said in an email. “They anticipate engaging us after the closure of Lucky.”
Schwarz said the Central Larkspur Area Specific Plan, a city planning document, envisions that any redevelopment of the site would be mixed-use, meaning it would include commercial, retail and housing, with a preference for a grocery store.
The shopping center is divided into three parcels, each owned by different entities. In addition to the grocery store and adjacent pharmacy — which was closed last year after Save Mart was acquired by an equity firm — there is a strip mall and a gas station.
According to the city’s draft housing element for 2023-2031, the grocery site could accommodate up to 86 residences, the strip mall could accommodate up to 25 and the gas station site could provide another 24.
Although the sites could be redeveloped independently, Schwarz said, “full redevelopment of the shopping center will require participation of all the properties.”
“I am not a developer, but I have spoken with many developers over the years,” Schwarz said. “I think the way these parcels are aligned, it is much more attractive to a developer to combine the parcels and do something on a larger scale.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com