former lucky's market store spaces may see reconfiguring

Just three months after the Niwot, Colorado-based Lucky’s Market announced it was closing more than two dozen of its stores nationally, plans are underway to reconfigure some those sites.

Known for its organic food offerings, Lucky’s enjoyed more than a decade of rapid growth, with stores opening in some ten states, primarily in the West and South.

The loss of financial support from the Kroger supermarket chain late last year prompted Lucky’s to drastically decrease its physical presence, eventually closing 32 of its 39 stores.

As part of a court-supervised proceeding, Lucky’s has now auctioned off 23 of its stores, as well as the company’s distribution center, to several different grocery store chains.

The company will keep running six of its outlets, including one in North Boulder and another in Fort Collins.

Bidders for the other Lucky’s sites include Dollar General; the Aldi Supermarket Company of Essen, Germany; and the Lakeland, Florida-based Publix Super Markets.
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Analysts say the process of physically reconverting the roughly 30,000 square foot Lucky’s stores in Longmont, Wheat Ridge, and South Boulder, Colorado could be underway by summer.

By  Garry Boulard

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