NBC-11: Lunardi's Closure Upsets San Jose Neighborhood (Not the Chickens)

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http://www.nbc11.com/news/14043620/detail.html

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Dozens of people lent their signatures Tuesday to an

effort to save a popular San Jose grocery store, NBC11's Daniel Garza

reported.

 

Shoppers said they began to hear by word of mouth about the closure just

days before Lunardi's in the Evergreen Village Square would shut its

doors at the end of the Tuesday business day.

 

Some customers said they were disappointed they had not received a

warning.

 

" The consumers here are being left high and dry, " said shopper Rose

Herrera. " We have a lot of elderly; a lot of disabled folks that use

this store. " A very big cross section of the community uses our store. "

 

" Why is it closing? Well we have not been able to get a lot of detail

about that, " said San Jose Vice Mayor Dan Cortese. " The speculation of

course is that there are not enough customers. "

 

The upscale grocery store blamed the move on poor business.

 

There was no immediate word that there would be a replacement, Garza

reported.

 

Part of the problem, Cortese said, was that owners of Lunardi's

convinced the city to oppose the construction of a Safeway-type store

nearby in 2006.

 

" So what I feel burned about is these folks who were involved in this

who had the proprietary information, who knew what the number crunching

looked like, should have been more candid, " Cortese said.

 

Community members spent much of Tuesday asking the public to sign a

petition in the hopes of keeping the store.

 

Petition organizers said they had about 2,000 signatures that they

planned to present to the San Jose City Council.

 

Community members expressed hope that the city could help the shopping

center keep the store.

 

They said the future of the Evergreen Village Square could be in doubt

without the presence of the center's anchor tenant.

 

People gathering signatures Tuesday said it was very important that if

Lunardi's had to be replaced another high-end store could be brought in.

 

Shopping center owner Shapell Industries said it will work hard to find

a replacement, Garza reported.

 

Shapell said Lunardi's made the decision to close in violation of their

lease agreement.

 

The store's general manager did not return phone calls made by NBC11.