Retail, Industrial, & Investment Property Advisor

As reported by San Ramon Patch over the weekend, Sprouts Farmers Market will be taking a portion of the Lucky’s grocery store on Crow Canyon Road. Lucky will be closing their doors for good on September 28th after a 30 plus year tenure at the location.

As previously mentioned here on the Storefront, Crow Canyon Commons has plans for a facelift and cosmetic changes to the center. In addition they have rounded up a slew of new tenants in recent years such as Panera Breads, The Habit, and most recently Panda Express.

The Tri-Valley has been no stranger to emerging grocery stores in the past few years. Grocery was a huge trend during the market downturn but has tapered off since rents have risen and the market became more saturated. New grocers include New Leaf in Pleasanton and of course Wal-Mart Grocery. Prior to this we saw the expansion of Grocery Outlet in Dublin and the first Sprouts location in Dublin. Add to that the multiple Fresh and Easy Locations that popped up around 2010/2011 and that is a lot of grocery diversity in the past few years. Rumor has it one more Wal-Mart Grocery is in the works for the Tri-Valley.

What are your thoughts on the new addition and closure of Lucky? Do you think the small scale grocers (i.e. Trader Joes, Fresh and Easy, Sprouts, ect.) have put a hurt on the traditional big box retailers such as Lucky and Safeway? Is trend for fresh, local, and more nutritionally sound food changing the way consumers shop? Finally, are big box grocery going to be a thing of the past or is the small scale grocer just a trend? Use our comment section below to tell us your thoughts.