Gelson's Markets, Encino, Calif., said it plans to be the anchor tenant in an urban village being built in the civic center of Pasadena, Calif. The center will include about 75 retail stores and restaurants, a multiplex movie theater and a 400-apartment complex. The 37,000-square-foot store will offer the upscale chain's regular features -- hand-stacked produce; service departments for meat, seafood, bakery and delicatessen; natural and organic foods; a floral department and carryout service, plus the chain's first indoor seating area with a fireplace adjacent to a coffee bar and bakery section. According to the company, the average annual household income in the area surrounding the store is $68,000. Gelson's, a division of Arden Group, Los Angeles, operates 13 stores, with a 14th unit under construction in Irvine, Calif. The company did not indicate when the Irvine or Pasadena stores will open.
-- contrary to speculation in at least one other industry publication. A company spokesman told SN the company is not in discussions with any potential buyers at this time, nor has it had discussions with anyone in the past year for either its food service or nonmembership warehouse store assets.
Grand Union Co., Wayne, N.J., said its common-stock listing has shifted to the OTC Bulletin Board, effective last Friday. The company said it was informed last week that Nasdaq would delist the stock because it did not satisfy the minimum bid price requirement of $5 per share for listing on the Nasdaq National Market nor the minimum of $1 per share for listing on Nasdaq's Small Cap Market. Grand Union stock was trading last week at about 25 cents per share, down from 38 cents the previous week.
