When the Ralphs supermarket on Grossmont Boulevard closes its doors Feb. 1, its 85 employees won’t be left on the shelf, with no job.
According to Kendra Doyel, spokeswoman for Ralphs in Southern California, the company was able to “transfer or find positions for all [85] employees that work at this store.”
Asked what the specific reasons were why the lease at 8800 Grossmont Blvd. was not renewed, Doyel said that there were “a host of reasons, but we will not go in to greater detail.”
Doyel added: “We do not have plans at this time to open a different location nearby, but those things are always subject to ongoing review.”
She also did not say whether the opening of Walmart Neighborhood Market in October in the same shopping plaza had anything to do with the closure.
So what becomes of the space?
According to Mike Morris of Morris and Campbell, a commercial real estate brokerage in San Diego, plans are already being made for another tenant to take over the space.
“The center is going to be redone and it’ll be better than ever,” said Morris. They’ll knock down the Ralphs building and put new tenant in there and couple smaller tenants on either side and pad out front.”
Morris didn’t offer what tenant would be coming in, but said that “it’s a major tenant, with stores all over the county.”
See also: Grocery stores in La Mesa and Spring Valley
He said that the deal was approved in December, and that the lease has been drafted, but nothing will be marketed until the new lease is signed. Ralphs lease ends in February.
Even after announced, the space probably will not be open for at least another year.
“It will take three months to design, three months to entitle, and six months to build,” said Morris.
La Mesa-Mount Helix Patch attempted to contact Mike Holmes, president of Sunbelt Management Co., which owns the property, but he did not respond to our queries at the time of publication.
