Albertsons stores to lay off up to 2,500 in Nevada, California

All Las Vegas area Albertsons stores will soon lose employees.

The company Wednesday announced layoffs at all 247 Albertsons stores in Nevada and California, resulting in the loss of 2,200 to 2,500 jobs.

The grocer operates 35 Nevada stores, including those in Boulder City, Elko, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Pahrump. Layoffs are scheduled to begin the week of June 17 and should be completed near July 1.

"Everyone's going to feel it," company spokeswoman Lilia Rodriguez said.

As of Wednesday, Albertsons did not have store-specific layoff numbers, but if layoffs are executed evenly it works out to nine or 10 positions at each location.

The company downsized in February at its Fullerton, Calif., support center but the need for further changes was clear, Albertsons Southern California President Dan Sanders said in a statement. Albertsons suffered a decrease in customers and sales throughout the division and did not respond adequately to customer needs, he said.

The layoffs do not affect the chain's Intermountain West division or Albertsons' parent, SuperValu Inc., officials said. Albertsons is the largest retail chain in SuperValu's family of stores.

"A decision of this nature is never easy, but it is the necessary step for us to take to help improve our business and accelerate our turnaround," Sanders said.

Albertsons is working with the employee union, officials said.

"It's the largest single layoff we have had that I can ever remember," said Greg Conger, president of United Food Commercial Workers Local 324 in Orange County. "It's pretty devastating."

The union was contacted Wednesday morning, he said. The local will monitor the layoffs to ensure they are done by classification and seniority, as required by a collective bargaining agreement.

The chain was founded in 1939 and operates 445 Albertsons and Lucky supermarkets in Southern California, Southern Nevada, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

SuperValu Inc., with headquarters in Boise, Idaho, and about 130,000 employees nationwide, has estimated annual sales of $35 billion. It has about 4,300 stores, which include 1,102 traditional retail stores with 797 in-store pharmacies; 1,332 hard-discount stores (935 are operated by licensees) and 1,900 independent stores serviced primarily by the company's traditional food distribution business.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588.