Bashas' to Close More Underperforming Stores

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Bashas' here said last week it plans to close "a handful" of underperforming stores.

"It's something we need to do," Rob Johnson, a chain spokesman told SN. "It's not a sign of more things to come — just a strategic move to strengthen our operations going forward. Though we are a people-centric operator, the economic situation is forcing us to make tough decisions that, in better times, we might not have to make. But it's the stores that are underperforming, not the people, and we hope to place as many of them in other stores as we can.”

Local reports put the number of closings at between five and 10, but Johnson would not specify a number. He said the closings do not mean Bashas' will not be opening new stores, citing a store in Fountain Hills, near Phoenix, that opened with strong sales earlier this month; a remodeled unit in Scottsdale due to open May 20; and a ground-up store in Goodyear, Ariz., scheduled to open in November.

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