Bel Air's Woodland supermarket will stay open after all, part of what Raley's officials on Friday called a "temporary moratorium" on store closures as it gears for final negotiations with grocery workers.
The supermarket, which anchors the Gibson Plaza shopping center at East Gibson Road and Pioneer Avenue, was slated to close in mid-October along with a Raley's store in Pittsburg.
But officials at Raley's headquarters in West Sacramento said a new lease agreement with landlord Sequoia Management Co., and the success of its new customer loyalty program "Something Extra," have given the supermarket chain needed breathing room.
Raley's "has been able to work out a new lease with its landlord that enables it to keep the store open and maintain its presence in the community," officials said in a statement.
"It's good for our community and good for our tenants," said Sequoia president M.L. Morris. Morris said the lease agreement was finalized Thursday. Morris would not discuss the terms of the deal.
About 70 employees work at the Gibson Plaza location. After news this week of 300 layoffs at Comcast's Natomas call center and the announced closure of south Sacramento's venerable Campbell's Soup plant, word that Bel Air will stay open in Woodland was met with relief.
"This is great news, especially when you look at Comcast and Campbell's Soup," said Steve Roberts, an employment services specialist at Yolo County Department of Employment and Social Services.
The Raley's chain has struggled to fight off competition from retailers and other grocery chains and continues to tussle in union negotiations.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Darrell Smith
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.