September 7, 2007

Closed

Several residents upset, surprised at Lunardi’s closing

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

A press release dated Aug. 24 quietly announced the closure of one of Evergreen’s upscale grocery stores, and just a few days later, Lunardi’s at Evergreen Village Square did just that, permanently closing its doors on Sept. 5.

Lunardi’s closed its doors on Sept. 5, citing economic reasons, but leaving several residents puzzled and upset about the decision.

While the closure was peaceful, the reaction to it was not, as neighbors voiced their opinions in emails and called their council member. One even started a petition.

Economic reasons
George Silvestri, Jr., attorney for Lunardi’s, told the Times the store was closing for “economic reasons,” but added that officials were in touch with “several others” to take over Lunardi’s lease. Silvestri declined to reveal the names of those businesses.

“Lunardi’s is acutely aware that they have a lease and that they have made certain commitments. We are trying to find a solution that will benefit all concerned…including hopefully a grocer,” Silvestri said.

Any actions toward litigation against the grocery chain by Shapell Industries of Northern California, owners of the Evergreen Village Square center, has not occurred, according to Kelly Eradi, Vice President of Shapell.

“There’s not been a filing of a lawsuit that I know of, and I would know of it,” said Eradi.

“We are aware that they [Lunardi’s] are trying to find another operator, but they have closed their doors and violated their lease,” Eradi told the Times.

If there is any way to work with Lunardi’s to find a solution, Eradi added, he was all for it.
“Our goal is to get another grocery store in there, if we are able to produce a replacement,” Eradi said.

Community meeting
In order to speed the pace, and in answer to a number of e-mails his office has received, Vice Mayor Dave Cortese’s staff set up a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in Suite 100 (off Michelangelo) at Evergreen Valley Square. The community meeting will include Eradi, San Jose’s Assistant Planning Director Laurel Prevetti and the city’s chief development officer for Economic Development, Paul Krutko, as well as Cortese and members of his staff.

Unfortunately, the city has no role in the day-to-day operations of retail stores in San Jose, Cortese said, after receiving calls and e-mails from constituents asking for intervention and help. He said he would like to be able to call on the Redevelopment Agency for help, but the area is not in the jurisdiction of that city agency.

While Cortese noted that he and his wife often shopped at Lunardi’s because it was in their neighborhood, its location didn’t really attract people.

“[Evergreen Village Square] is not on a major thoroughfare. It’s kind of unusual for a market to locate there,” he said. “This is just my personal opinion, and it would probably be better to get a professional to analyze the situation, but Lunardi’s was far off the beaten path when there are stores like Save Mart and Albertson’s/Lucky that can be seen from major streets such as Aborn Road and Capitol Expressway.”

Customer comments
Some regular customers were upset over the store’s closing, such as Rose Herrera, who got busy with some of her neighbors, started a petition, which as of press time had 3,000 signatures, and wrote a letter complaining about the loss to the San Jose Mercury News, which also did a short story on the closing.

“We wrote a petition to get another [grocery] store in the space and we have close to 3,000 signatures from Lunardi’s customers and members of the District 8 Roundtable, the Evergreen Educational Foundation and a Yahoo! group named Desai,” she said.

Her goal now is to get as many different groups together as possible because the closure not only harms the community, but businesses at Evergreen Village Square, she said.

“We don’t have a [grocery] store and we need one,” she said. “We need those services for people nearby, especially for the elderly and others who are unable to drive to a grocery store.”

She added that she is looking forward to the Sept. 12 meeting because she and others have a number of questions for “the people who can do something about this.”

Glenn and Suzie McFarren, who have lived in Evergreen for the past 28 years, said they shopped regularly at Lunardi’s for the past five years, and news of the store’s closing left them stunned. They enjoyed the store’s wine selection, and said the service was “outstanding” and friendly. Glenn McFarren said he also enjoyed the selection of marinated meats and vegetables available at the store, often saving him the trouble of coming up with a menu for dinner on any particular evening.

“Along with many, many of our friends and neighbors we are disappointed that Lunardi's, for whatever reason, is leaving our Evergreen community,” said Glenn McFarren. “We hope that they or some other quality grocery store establishes itself in the same area soon and will provide us with a comparable shopping experience like we had at Lunardi's.”

Evergreen resident Elaine Taylor’s reaction was similar. Taylor said she was pleased with Lunardi’s community involvement with local schools over the years, and that the store’s customer service was “friendly and efficient.”

Taylor noted that she’s concerned what effect the store’s closure will have on the rest of Evergreen Village Square.

“Lunardi's acted as an attractive ‘magnet’ to other stores to open in the Village, and I am now concerned that without it, the whole Village may suffer,” said Taylor. “We can only hope that another quality store like Trader Joe's could take over and draw even more customers.”

College site gone
As for a proposed grocery store on Evergreen Valley College land, which has been discussed for a couple of years, that issue is now dead.

At the Aug. 14 Evergreen Valley/San Jose City College Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees voted not to pursue the plan, according to Ed Abelite, owner of the Canyon Creek Plaza.

The board cited several reasons for ending the idea, Abelite noted. First, it would cost between $8 and $14 million to move the administration offices to San Jose City College, which has increased its enrollment, leaving little space for new offices. Second, Evergreen Valley College would have to move the police training facility, which contributes about $1.5 million to the college annually.

The trustees also felt that another grocery store in the area would infringe upon other food sales and bring in no new tax revenues while possibly destroying two other shopping centers, according to Abelite.