by Alec Williams
Colorado Mesa University students will have to shop elsewhere come March 20 as the Albertsons grocery store on 12th Street will permanently close its doors. The only other remaining Albertsons in the Grand Valley, located in the Redlands, will be converted into a Safeway by Feb. 22.
Officials have confirmed that over 70 employees will be affected by the decision, some of which have been with the store since it opened over 30 years ago.
Kathy Holland, Albertsons-Safeway’s intermountain division communications and public relations manager, cited performance issues for the 12th Street location closure in an interview with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Holland did not attribute the issues to the new City Market grocery store, which opened last March a few blocks from the 12th Street Albertsons.
“While we know that the Albertsons name has a lot of history here in Grand Junction, it made sense for our Albertsons store and our Safeway stores in the Grand Junction area to be united under one strong brand,” Brad Street, Albertsons-Safeway’s president of the intermountain division, said in a press release.
Cerberus, Albertsons’ parent company, originally purchased Safeway for $9.4 billion in 2014. Since then, the company has been transitioning Albertsons locations across the state to Safeways. This recent company announcement has confirmed the last Albertsons locations in the Denver area will be absent as well.
CMU President Tim Foster recently attributed students as a major economic driver in the area, for Albertsons specifically. The close location, across the street from the campus, has given students a reason to shop at the store.
“It’s sad,” Abby Thompson, a CMU student and regular Albertsons shopper, said. “Albertsons is super convenient, and they have that deal on Fridays for 10 percent off.”
Thompson and Natalya King, also a CMU student, said they shop at the location “a lot.” Three to four times a week. Like many other students, they expect to shop at City Market once the Albertsons closes.
The property on which Albertsons resides, 1830 N. 12th St., is owned by the company and pays over $38,000 in property taxes annually. Holland told the Daily Sentinel that the company currently has no plans for the property. The last time a store was closed in the area, a Safeway closure in 2015, frustrated citizens took to petitioning after months of vacancy. The property is still vacant to this day.
CMU Director of Media Relations Dana Nunn said the university currently has no plans to purchase the property.
