SAV-MOR Foods, a discount supermarket that has been a part of south Redding for more than 15 years, will close in February.
Parent company North State Grocery Inc. announced Monday that the store will close Feb. 21.
North State Grocery President Brad Askeland said in a news release the decision was a difficult one, but as an employee-owned company they must make “business decisions based on what is necessary to protect and grow the equity held by our employee-owners.”
Askeland emphasized that the 45 employees who work at SAV-MOR Foods in Westwood Village will be guaranteed jobs elsewhere in the company.
North State Grocery, which is headquartered in Cottonwood, also owns Holiday Market. Holiday has locations on Placer Street in west Redding and in east Redding at Shasta View Drive and Hartnell Avenue, where a new Holiday supermarket will open in March. The company will relocate its current store on Hartnell across the street to the new location.
There also is a Holiday Market in Palo Cedro.
“We will need them to not only operate the new location but also our three other existing Shasta County locations,” Askeland said of the SAV-MOR employees.
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SAV-MOR Foods is North State Grocery’s “price impact” store that is similar to a FoodMaxx and Winco, Askeland said.
The company has other SAV-MOR locations in Colusa, Corning, Gridley, Orland and Quincy.
Askeland said the lease in Westwood Village had ended and the company had been on month-to-month terms with the landlord since the summer.
“The Sav-Mor location needed many upgrades to equipment etc., and we felt it was in our best interest to invest our resources and energy into making the new Holiday on Hartnell as successful as possible,” Askeland said.
In February 2019, heavy rains collapsed part of the roof of the Sav-Mor store in Westwood Village. The 12-hour downpour forced the evacuation of residents in neighboring homes due to flooding from the fierce rainstorm.
While SAV-Mor had been in the Westwood Village since 2009, the store opened in early 1980s in the shopping center as Holiday Market before it was converted to a SAV-MOR.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: SAV-MOR Foods in south Redding will close in late February
