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Albertson's may expand, but not for a couple of years
Nearby businesses uncertain about what future holds
By Kate Carter
A Willow Glen grocery store is considering a possible expansion, but nothing is likely to change for at least two years.
Some small storeowners in the same shopping center, though, say they don't want to wait that long, to know if they will get to stay or leave.
Albertson's spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said the company is "investigating its ability to expand" on the corner of Bird and Minnesota avenues. If the store is expanded, she said, it would remain an Albertson's store with more full-service departments, such as a florist or bakery. She said she wasn't sure which additional services would be included.
The store's manager declined to comment.
The Albertson's is located in the Willow Glen Village Shopping Center. The mall is owned by the Mission Square Shopping Center California Limited Partnership and is managed by Asset Management Group in San Diego, said Asset Vice President Ted Peterson.
Peterson said the store was a Lucky's last year. Albertson's bought the company that owned Lucky's, American Stores Company and the store was converted.
Peterson said the property owner had discussed expanding the Lucky's there for several years. He said they are still uncertain about how the expansion would affect the other existing stores.
They have stopped renewing or extending leases at the center, Peterson said, because of the uncertainty of what will happen. He said some stores want assurances that the Albertson's will remain, something that the property owners can't predict. A unit at the center that is for lease will remain empty in case a store needs to move into it to accommodate an expansion at Albertson's, he said.
Center storeowners said they don't know what is planned for Albertson's or the center, and they're having difficulties planning for their futures.
One nearby store owner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he is interested in selling his business but can't because the property owner won't give a new lease to the potential new owner.
"There are a lot of store (owners who) have put their lives on hold right now," the store owner said. "It's hard to go month-to-month for two years."
Richard Kitajima, owner of The Medicine Shoppe pharmacy, said the situation is "kind of leaving everybody in limbo. It's kind of out of our hands."
He said his store has been put on a six-month lease. He said that Albertson's could buy his store, because it's directly next to the grocery store, and the store's expansion could include a new pharmacy of its own.
Sandra Covington and Dennis Perry, owners of nearby Kids Hairstyling 2000, said rumors about the expansion have been going around for about a year. They said it's also rumored the center will be torn down to make way for a housing development.
Covington said the grocery store would benefit from an upgrade that it "really needs" and added that an improved Albertson's could increase business for the other stores, such as their own.
"The expansion could be positive for Willow Glen," she said.
But Perry said, "I don't know if it'd be good for us."
Perry said he's concerned the owner may buy their business to use the location for the Albertson's expansion. He said their 2-year-old business has a 5-year lease and has been adding new clients to their large client list every month.
"They could buy us out," Perry said, "but it's not going to be cheap."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
