February 25, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Bracing for change at Alma Plaza

by Jocelyn Dong

At Alma Plaza shopping center this week, one merchant is ready to call it quits and others are fearful of their survival following Tuesday's announcement that Albertsons -- the mall's anchor tenant -- will close in a month.

Albertsons spokesperson Quyen Ha said the store's poor performance, small size -- 13,323 square feet -- and failed attempts to expand it led to the decision to shut down operations as of March 24.

The announcement comes just three weeks after the grocery company sold the 5.6-acre outdoor mall to an investment group led by McNellis Partners, which is planning to redevelop the center.

"My biggest concern is staying alive and the morale of my staff. I'm feeling it already. ... They're fearing for their jobs," said Jacquie Knott, who employs a half-dozen workers at Jacquie's Sew and Sew. Her tailoring business will remain open, although she worried her customers will think it's closing as well.

Marcie Zacanti, owner of B.J. Bull, however, said she sees the writing on the wall. Holding out no hope for continuing her eatery during an expected rebuilding of the shopping center, Zacanti said this week she's ready to sell the B.J. Bull name and recipes for Cornish pasties and fruit pies.

"I'll tell them how to make a pie and the secrets" to a good crust, said the matter-of-fact shop owner, contemplating her retirement as she sat at one of the tables. She'll keep her restaurant open for awhile, maybe a few months, she said.

Grocery shoppers expressed dismay over Albertsons' departure.

"I'm going to miss them," said Virginia Marovich, as she packed groceries into her car. Marovich has bought food staples at the market for years, getting to know the clerks in that time. The available parking and Albertsons' "10 for $10" deal -- in which customers can buy a volume of items such as cans of tuna or cake mix for a dollar each -- have also been pluses, she said.

Marovich even appreciated the store's small size and questioned whether it was really the reason for the closure, noting Albertsons shut down a much larger store in Mountain View in 2001.

"I don't like a great big store" anyway, she said.

The news upset another shopper exiting Albertsons Wednesday. "I'm so mad, I can't even talk about it," said the longtime Charleston Meadows resident. "I'm sad for the people who come here, (including) the elderly, who can't afford to shop at Piazza's (a grocery store in Charleston Shopping Center)."

A "tiny" loaf of bread there costs $1.49, she said, her fingers forming a circle to show just how small it was.

"It's this selfishness that distresses me," she said.

But other neighbors sounded a hopeful note.

Jay Hammer lives on Ramona Street, behind the center, and opposed a plan to expand the market to 50,000 square feet. He said the closure provide a unique chance to "start from scratch."

"I envisage being part of a team consisting of (developer John McNellis) and his associates, city representatives and members of the neighborhood, so we can come up with a model that works -- financially, globally, (one that) fits the city as a whole and is attractive to residents who live here. My goal is to make it a place people want to go to," he said. "I'm hopeful the closure of this will pave the way to creating that complex."

Neighbors, he said, want issues of traffic, parking, noise and safety considered in the planning process so that the revamped mall doesn't place an "undue burden" on residents. Numerous children, for example, live on Hammer's street alone. Their safety needs consideration, he said.

He supports bringing in a moderate-sized grocery store -- such as 20,000 to 23,000 square feet -- and a complementary mix of mom-and-pop retail stores. Two other local neighborhood centers have grocery stores that range in size from 14,700 square feet (Piazza's) to just under 20,000 square feet (Midtown Safeway).

Far from its current reputation as a blighted mall, Alma Plaza could become the "crown jewel" of neighborhood centers, Hammer said, with retail shops of character and uniqueness. Growing enthusiastic about that idea, he imagined people's future opinions about the mall: "There's Charleston, there's Midtown ... but Alma Plaza -- man, wow, this rocks!"

Hammer and developer McNellis have not been in touch with one another, but Hammer hoped the opportunity would arise soon.

McNellis said Albertsons' closure presents a challenge for his group.

"The challenge is going to be finding an anchor to do a larger retail project," he said Tuesday. Although Palo Altans have long expressed interest in seeing a Trader Joe's move into town, McNellis said because Trader Joe's is "more of a regional operation," and already has locations in Mountain View and Menlo Park, it might be difficult to bring them to Alma Plaza.

Despite rampant community speculation, McNellis doesn't appear to have a frontrunner for replacing Albertsons at this point.

A previous -- and unrealized -- plan to redevelop the mall included housing, a possibility McNellis would not rule out this week. However, he said, his company specializes in developing retail, and that will be their main focus. Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.