Smith’s to open 2 stores in Las Vegas by mid-June

Smith’s will open two new grocery stores in the Las Vegas Valley by mid-June.

One of the stores replaces the longtime independent grocer Glazier’s Food Marketplace.

Glazier’s, formerly at Warm Springs Road and Durango Drive, announced its close earlier this year.

The other new store will open at the Skye Canyon community in the northwestern valley.

The store at Skye Canyon, which recently ranked among top-selling communities nationwide with 315 homes sold last year, is the first Smith’s in Southern Nevada to sell clothes, dishes and home goods.

Both stores will open gas stations as well, company spokeswoman Aubriana Martindale said Thursday. Each store will have gas stations with 18 fuel pumps.

A Smith’s planned for the Cadence master-planned community still has no opening date set. Cadence, located in Henderson, also ranked among top-selling communities with 456 homes sold.

Incorporating technology

The new stores come at time of high competition and investment among grocery brands.

Smith’s Southern Nevada investments include the ScanBagGo app for shoppers to track digital coupons. The app works at the store near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Hualapai Way. The app is expected to roll out at five other local stores by July 31, according to a company statement.

Earlier this year, Smith’s started a meal kit program of recipes that feed two adults for at least $14. Those kits are available at about 25 Southern Nevada stores.

Such programs are becoming popular among grocers. Meal kit seller Blue Apron went public in June and wants to sell kits in stores. The Albertsons grocery chain bought a New York meal kit company last year. Meal kit company One Potato started selling in Nevada earlier this month.

Smith’s, owned by The Kroger Co., has applied for tax abatements on a Henderson distribution center that would supply dry goods to all 40-plus Nevada Smith’s store and some stores in Southern Utah and New Mexico.

The company should employ around 180 full-time employees at an average hourly wage of $22.76 in its first year of operations.

Distribution to Southern Nevada for now is handled by a warehouse in Tolleson, Arizona. A warehouse in Layton, Utah, distributes to Northern Nevada.

Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4602. Follow @wademillward on Twitter.