Safeway’s plan to close 10 Colorado stores sparks concern over access to groceries, job losses

Plans communicated earlier this week to close Safeway stores across Colorado in the next two months will impact more than workers and thousands of customers The news not only raised concerns about anticipated job losses but about reduced access to groceries for low-income residents the creation of food deserts and the negative impact the closures could have on Front Range neighborhoods and small towns on the Eastern Plains That disclosed particular Safeway customers The Post talked to this week acknowledged their neighborhood stores were old and needed work if they were to stay open Safeway informed the state in separate letters under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act on Tuesday that it would be letting go of a combined workers as a development of store closures along the Front Range The store is expected to close to the populace on Nov but associates could continue to work at the store to close operations for a period of time after that date wrote Heather Halpape director of communications for Safeway s Mountain West Division in a phrase repeated in all of the letters the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment received Halpape also stated the company hoped to find employment at other stores for particular of the workers being let go AURORA COLORADO - MARCH An employee a Safeway sorts produce on March in Aurora Colorado Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post The cities impacted include Englewood Northglenn Denver Aurora Fort Collins Loveland Colorado Springs La Junta and Lamar The largest layoff workers will happen at the store at S Murray Blvd in Colorado Springs and the smallest one workers will occur at the store at Cleveland Ave in Loveland On average workers are being let go per store This closure affects dedicated associates in Lamar and while Safeway has plans to place various into positions at other locations we recognize the deep impact this will have on these employees their families and our society as a whole wrote Lamar Mayor Kirk Crespin in a Facebook post Lamar is a small town in southeast Colorado on U S While this is a crucial loss Lamar is a resilient and strong neighborhood We will continue working closely with our economic advancement partners to recruit new businesses especially one that can provide similar goods and services to meet the requirements of our residents Even with a Walmart Supercenter only a short drive from the Safeway closing at E Olive St and Farmer s Country Territory close by Lamar is losing a valuable grocery store option Michael Hart city manager for La Junta also shared a similar sentiment with Lamar s mayor It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the news that our Safeway grocery store will be closing its doors permanently he explained on Tuesday to the region While this closure is challenging it is not the end of La Junta s story Our society is resilient We are already engaging with regional and national partners to explore new grocery options that will meet the demands of our residents and strengthen our local financial market La Junta also has a Walmart Supercenter on U S Crespin revealed that he was notified that the decision to close their Safeway was made because of lower sales the increase of expenses from the labor strike that happened earlier this year and the failed Safeway Albertsons merger with competitor King Soopers and City Arena UFCW Local which represents workers at eight of the Colorado stores set for closure mentioned in a declaration that they are also working to ensure that workers at all of the affected stores are given as a large number of options as workable to remain employed However the Union anticipates that the closures could development in hundreds of job losses We call on Safeway to rethink this disastrous approach to shrinking its corporate footprint and instead invest in Colorado communities with new and improved stores explained UFCW Local President Kim Cordova Grocery store closures can lead to long-term effects This isn t the first time a grocery store closure has prompted concern The Montbello society faced a similar situation nearly a decade ago when its only full-size grocery store also a Safeway closed its doors creating a important gap in food access and turning the neighborhood into a food desert according to Donna Garnett CEO of the Montbello Organizing Committee This instant afterward was what are we going to do Where are we going to shop Our region was and is still a society that is somewhat isolated she commented It was certainly a great concern to folks When sought about the immediate and long-term effects on a locality when a big-box grocery store or the only nearby grocery store closes Garnett reported it can have crucial impacts DENVER CO - January People shop at Safeway E th Ave in Denver Colorado on Tuesday January Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post These include reduced access to food difficulty obtaining groceries because of limited transportation job loss and even negative effects on a person s strength especially when the only remaining options are convenience stores You re sort of left with purchasing processed foods or not having access to fresh meats and fresh produce That begins to take a toll on the vitality and wellness of people she reported On Wednesday afternoon Safeway customer Mary Jo Bush called the news a sign of the times after learning the company plans to shut down stores across the state Yet Bush disclosed she saw it coming I m not really surprised it s an old store she noted of the Aurora location at E Mississippi Ave which she disclosed is notoriously unkept and dirty Nearby resident Sebastian Jones stated the closure kind of sucks as he takes the bus to get groceries for himself and roommates Jones stated Safeway has a inadequate cheap options however he doesn t expect the closure to significantly affect his daily access to groceries as there are several alternatives nearby Directly across from the Safeway in Aurora is GW Supermarket and just a six-minute drive down Mississippi Avenue shoppers can find a King Soopers Costco and Sprouts Farmers Territory Near the Denver Safeway at S Colorado Blvd other options include King Soopers Whole Foods Domain Natural Grocers and Target Another shopper Will who preferred to only share his first name revealed numerous people will lose their jobs as a conclusion of the closures and called it a management concern He also reported that new price increases have not helped the situation In Loveland customers of the store on North Cleveland Avenue not only worried about the impending impact on them but on the employees they ve gotten to know over the years All the cashiers the managers everybody in there they re wonderful people mentioned Tim DiNoia a longtime customer I don t want them to lose their job and hopefully they can absorb them into the other stores Garnett stated the most of impactful outcome of the closure in her neighborhood a decade ago was the locality s unified response to food insecurity This response led to the creation of the Montbello Sustainable Food Access Coalition a framework of nonprofits and school gardens committed to providing healthy and accessible meals to families in need It also led to Montbello s FreshLo Hub project a mixed-use expansion project aimed to bring affordable housing retail an arts schooling center mental wellbeing services and a nonprofit grocery store known as the Montbello FreshLo Fresh Food Sphere The area located near Peoria Street and East Albrook Drive is expected to open by mid next year covering square feet of grocery space that will offer grocery staples fresh produce and made-from-scratch prepared foods Related Articles Safeway to close stores across Colorado by November Safeway to close Lakewood grocery store by Saturday The vast majority of US adults are stressed about grocery costs a poll finds Silverstone Marketplace brings grocery store restaurants to growing town north of Denver Local-first online grocer PineMelon closes because of financial challenges Garnett declared they are very close to closing on the final financing that they need to build out the store and have it staffed by people from the population That was a area response to the fact that well are we just going to sit back and wait for somebody to come here and address our food necessities No we re going to take it on as a systemic issue and really build out a lot of threshold she commented Garnett noted the goal will be to open three stores starting starting in March with the threshold of building toward at least five stores total in the next two years in Denver While my focus started on Montbello it is understood that the need for access to affordable healthy wholesome nutritious food is not just a Montbello issue It is across this country she disclosed The following Colorado Safeway stores are set to close by Nov E Jefferson Ave Englewood E th Ave Northglenn S Colorado Blvd Denver E Mississippi Ave Aurora S College Ave Fort Collins Cleveland Ave Loveland N Academy Blvd Colorado Springs S Murray Blvd Colorado Springs W nd St La Junta E Olive St Lamar Loveland Reporter-Herald reporter Jocelyn Rowley contributed to this summary Get more business news by signing up for our On The Block newsletter