When the issue was brought before the council at its April 1 meeting, no one came forward to address the item during the public hearing. Less than a minute later the council members voted unanimously to allow the Mission Square Shopping Center, located at the corner of Bird and Minnesota avenues, to rezone from "commercial pedestrian" to "commercial neighborhood."

The San Jose Municipal Code defines a commercial pedestrian zone as retail stores operating within the character of nearby residential neighborhoods, but commercial neighborhood zoning indicates primarily commercial uses.

A spokesperson for Albertson's said that the company is looking into upgrading services in many of its stores.

The Mission Square Shopping Center Albertson's already has a full-service bakery and delicatessen but could conceivably expand its operations to include a pharmacy, dry-cleaner and video rental store.

That sounds like good news to nearby residents, but merchants, especially the owner of center's pharmacy, the Medicine Shoppe, aren't sure what to expect.

"We've heard about this for years," Richard Kitajima said.

The pharmacist has been in the shopping center for 20 years. For many of those years, he's heard talk of the grocer expanding, but nothing came of it. The rezoning is just another step in something inevitable yet too far in the future to worry about, he said.

"The reason I'm so laid back about it is that this has been a long time coming," Kitajima said. If Albertson's expands, it may encroach into Kitajima's parcel.

"No one has approached me yet about moving," Kitajima said, "so I'm not sure what to do yet."

But if he does need to move, he'll try to find another location within Willow Glen.

"I enjoy what I do, and I have a lot of great customers," Kitajima said. "But right now it doesn't look like there's anyplace to go."

Nancy Lerwill, a lifelong Willow Glen resident who lives on Bird Avenue across from the shopping center, said she's looking forward to a full-service Albertson's.

"I only go over there if I need something quick to fix for dinner," Lerwill said. "But the selection is so limited I normally have to drive over to the Safeway."

The Safeway on Hamilton Avenue opened a few years ago, but prior to that, Lerwill remembers, the parking lot at the Mission Square Shopping Center would be packed on weekends.

Vernon Avenue resident Phuong Malkin, who's lived in the area for seven years, said she's a regular Albertson's patron.

"I think it's a great idea," she said about the grocery becoming a full-service store. "We need a bigger store; there's just not enough room there now for everything we need."

The store's manager, Fred Lee, declined to comment until he learns more about what corporate headquarters plans for the store.

Whatever Albertson's or the shopping center plans to do, center merchant Yama Zodi would like for it to happen soon.

"We'll just have to go with the flow," said Zodi, who recently handed ownership of the center's Fast & Quality Pizza shop to his business partner. "But generally I don't like it."

Zodi said that talk of renovating the center has been just that—talk. He said that too many years of talk and no changes has been discouraging.

"If something's going to happen, it should happen soon," Zodi said. "We shouldn't have to wait much longer."

Mission Square Shopping Center Ltd. bought the four-acre property in 1973. The current Albertson's site was previously occuped by Lucky, and prior to that, Alpha-Beta.

As a shopper, Lerwill has always found the store limited in what it could supply, and she attributes it to the market's smaller size.

"That's always been a problem," Lerwill said. "There's so little shelf space and less selection."

But if the store expanded, customers like Lerwill would welcome the additions and nearby convenience.