APOPKA, Fla. (FNS) -- Gooding's Supermarkets here plans to shut four Brevard County, Fla., stores near the Kennedy Space Center at the end of this week.
8 square feet) and Palm Bay, Fla. (54,890 square feet). The closings would leave Gooding's with 14 supermarkets.
Acquired from Kroger Co. in 1988 -- when the Cincinnati-based chain exited Florida -- the four stores represent less than 15% of Gooding's total sales and have never been profitable, according to Michael Garlich, spokesman for the upscale chain.
"Brevard is a challenging market," Garlich explained. "Other supermarket retailers will also say that. The space industry has continued its decline there over the years."
Employees at the four stores slated to be shut can transfer to available positions at Gooding's other stores in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia counties, Garlich said. He declined to say how many positions would be cut. According to local published reports, the closings would eliminate about 260 jobs. Gooding's declined to confirm that number.
Earlier this fall, Gooding's opened a new store in Walt Disney World's Celebration community in Orlando, Fla. The chain adds a store about every two or three years, Garlich said, adding that in the late 1980s the company expanded more rapidly.
The remaining Gooding's locations are profitable, Garlich said, and company officials are not interested in selling the chain. "There is absolutely no sale," he noted. "This is a family-owned business, and the employees own a portion of it."
