SuperValu to close two Albertsons, four Lucky stores in valley

Grocery chain SuperValu announced Friday it would be closing two Albertsons and four Lucky stores in Las Vegas in February.

The Albertsons stores are at 2300 E. Tropicana Ave. and 6140 W. Lake Mead Blvd.; the Lucky stores are at 4801 W. Spring Mountain Road, 2021 E. Lake Mead Blvd., 2400 E. Bonanza Road and 1324 Craig Road.

"Albertsons and Lucky continuously evaluate their stores to identify opportunities to strengthen their overall business," Albertsons spokeswoman Lilia Rodriguez said in a statement. "While the decision to close a store is always difficult, given the impact on associates and customers, it is guided by what is best for the company's ongoing success and future growth."

Moving forward, Albertsons and Lucky's primary focus will be on taking care of their associates and customers, she said. Steps will be taken to assist displaced workers in finding future employment.

Albertsons has 520 stores in Nevada, California and the Northwest. It has 33 stores and about 3,000 employees in Las Vegas.

The company closed stores at Tropicana Avenue and Mountain Vista Street and at Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard in early December.

SuperValu reported retail food net sales of $7.9 billion in the third quarter, the same as the year-ago period, as new-store growth was offset by the impact of store closures and negative identical store sales of 0.5 percent, excluding fuel.

Total retail square footage at the end of the quarter was about 71 million square feet, a 0.3 percent decrease from a year ago.

Retail strip properties, as a whole, have been hurt by the current economic climate, and sellers of grocery strips have had to adjust their expectations, a quarterly report from LoopNet commercial real estate services said.

Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons acquired Lucky grocery stores for $12 billion in 1999 and changed the name of more than 400 stores in Southern Nevada and California.

SuperValu, which has more than 2,500 stores under a variety of names, acquired Albertsons in 2006.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.