West Sacramento-based Raley’s this week disclosed plans to close two of its Nob Hill Foods locations in the Bay Area, saying the stores’ sales couldn’t support rising rents.
The Sacramento Business Journal reported that the closures of stores in Walnut Creek and San Ramon, expected to occur between March 15 and March 28, will impact a total of 94 workers.
The company said the impacted employees are union employees, and all will be offered a role in the company in some capacity comparable to their current position. The company added that because of the current employee shortage and retention problems, all workers are expected to find new positions within the company very quickly.
The two stores have been in operation for decades, the Business Journal reported.
“After leases expired for both locations, the company decided to continue operating the stores on a month-to-month basis to continue serving customers through the pandemic,” the newspaper stated. “However, with rising rents in the Bay Area and sales not being strong enough to support the rents, the company made the decision to close the locations.”
A representative said the company is looking for new locations, specifically in San Ramon. (Source: The Sacramento Business Journal, January 27.)
In other California competitiveness news:
Texas School District Has Large Influx of Students From California. In Central Texas, the Liberty Hill Independent School District has grown from approximately 4,000 students to more than 7,000 in three years, and the superintendent reports that “about 30 percent of our new families were moving from California.”
Another 30 percent of the growth is attributable to families moving to the area from other parts of Texas, the superintendent said. (Source: KXAN News, January 25.)