Grocery war causes uproar in Carpinteria

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

For years, Carpinteria residents have enjoyed the benefits of having more than one grocery store in town.
When Albertsons runs out of their favorite brand of shampoo, they can pop over to Vons to pick it up. When Vons doesn’t stock eggnog for the holiday season, Albertsons is the place to go.
But that may all change soon, as Vons is in the process of taking over Albertsons, as well as the adjacent Rite-Aid — a move that had dozens of residents up in arms at Monday's Carpinteria City Council meeting.

“If Vons ends up as the only store in town, what control would there be on their prices?” asked Jayne Craven Caldwell, a 35-year Carpinteria resident who said she has boycotted Vons since it informed the city of its intentions in September.
“If the prices go up, I would be shopping at Scolari’s and Ralphs and my business would be taken out of Carpinteria.”
In a letter to Mayor Mike Ledbetter dated Monday, Vons spokesman Daymond Rice assured residents that Vons is not attempting to gain a monopoly in the Carpinteria area.
“This is not about creating advantage in any form,” he wrote. “Our company does not go to market in that fashion. Customers in Santa Barbara will pay the same as customers in Carpinteria.”
Holly Gamber, an 18-year employee at Albertsons, said she has grown attached to her customers and doesn’t want to see anything change in the small coastal town of 15,000.
“The customers that come through my line, they’re upset,” Gamber said. “…I like my customers. They mean a lot to me. I don’t want to work at another store.”
Others lamented the traffic and parking impacts that might result from Vons moving from its current location at 850 Linden Ave. to the Casitas Plaza Shopping Center. One resident described the shopping center’s parking lot as the most dangerous place in Carpinteria, a situation that would worsen with increased traffic.
“We are all at the mercy of people just backing out,” he said. “…The freeway is a pleasure compared to that parking lot.”
Ultimately, however, it appears that city leaders are limited in their ability to prevent the transaction from taking place.
“The city really has little to say about who you lease your property to,” Mayor Ledbetter said. “…The idea that the city is somehow complicit in this, or that we have any control over how these large corporations operate, is completely wrong.”
City Manager Dave Durflinger said the actions proposed by Vons are not considered monopolization, since other grocery stores are free to come to Carpinteria and set up shop.
The city’s options, he said, include exploring the possibility of a “big box” ordinance limiting the size of retail stores or requiring discretionary permits for any businesses that propose exceeding a square footage cap.
City leaders can also encourage other stores, such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or Lazy Acres, to set up a Carpinteria location, Durflinger said, a suggestion that drew cheers from the audience.
However, many in attendance, including Mayor Ledbetter himself, expressed concerns that Vons will take over Albertsons and maintain the lease on their current Linden Avenue location, preventing any competitors from taking over that prime downtown spot.
“Currently, no plans [for the Linden Avenue location] are in process until efforts to secure the new location are complete and without contingency,” Mayor Ledbetter said, reading from Rice’s letter. “I haven’t got the faintest idea what that means.”
Rice also wrote, “Pending a positive outcome, every consideration will be made with regard to a suitable tenant at the Linden location.”
City staff contacted both Vons and Albertsons, inviting them to send representatives to Monday's meeting, as well as the property owners at both locations, none of which showed up.
“We have invited the horses to the trough,” Mayor Ledbetter said.
Currently, the Vons on Linden Avenue covers 28,000 square feet. Combining Albertsons and Rite-Aid, each around 20,000 square feet, will give the Safeway-owned store a near 40 percent increase in space.
“Carpinteria deserves to have a grocery store that is on par with stores found in Santa Barbara and Ventura — a new larger store will create new employment, revitalize an old shopping center and provide synergy that will have a multiplier effect on the local economy,” Rice said.
He also stated that discussions between the landlord and Albertsons apparently ended with an impasse on terms for a lease renewal, leaving the facility open for the taking. But community members decried that notion.
“Albertsons wants to be here,” said one Albertsons employee. “…I know we want to be here.”
As city leaders took up the discussion, Councilmember Brad Stein pushed for an ordinance limiting the allowable square footage of retail shops. He also lamented the fact that none of the involved parties, save the letter from Vons, have engaged in a dialogue with the community.
“We keep asking and asking and not getting complete answers,” Stein said.
Al Clark echoed Stein’s request for a “big box” ordinance, prompting Mayor Ledbetter to ask city staff to place that issue on the agenda as soon as possible.
“A superstore is really inconsistent with our small-town image,” Clark said.
Until Vons submits a development application describing the renovations it intends to conduct at the Casitas Plaza Shopping Center, Councilmember Joe Armendariz said it is premature to make decisions and draw conclusions. However, he asked that staff look at incentives that might persuade Vons to stay at its current location and continue to encourage them to engage with the community.
As the discussion wrapped up, city leaders assured those in attendance that the Council will be following the matter closely and will take strong action, if permissible.
“I hope that you continue to express yourselves and this will work itself out,” Vice Mayor Gregg Carty told the audience. “We Carpinterians stick together.”