C&K Market closing 2 stores, selling headquarters

C&K Market said late last week that it would close two of its Ray's Food Place stores and has agreed to sell its former corporate headquarters in moves the company said "made financial sense."

The Ray's stores in Brookings, Ore. — the company's original location — and in Clearlake, Calif., will close by year's end. Negotiations are underway with potential buyers for both store locations. C&K said the closing stores were not profitable enough to support rent payments.

“Though we have an historical connection with Brookings, we concluded that the financial advantages of selling the real estate were just too strong to pass up,” C&K Market President Karl Wissmann said in a statement. "Both closures make financial sense, but the Brookings decision was especially hard given C&K’s long history in the community."

C&K also said its former headquarters building in Brookings would be sold to Curry Community Health. C&K moved its operations from Brookings to nearby Medford, Ore. when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2014.

Following the store closures, C&K will operate 40 stores under the Ray's, C&K Market and Shop Smart banners in Oregon and Northern California. In June, C&K closed a Ray's store in Hoopa, Calif., saying it was unable to come to terms on a long-term lease with with the store's landlord.

C&K had estimated sales of $291 million in 2015, according to SN's Top 50 Independents. Employees at the closing locations will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other stores, C&K said. C&K said no additional closures were planned and that it was continuing to scout potential new locations.

“We track store profitability,” Wissmann said. “We see that some store locations are performing better than others. It’s normal for a healthy, profitable grocery chain to close some stores and open others. We actively evaluate each store’s performance on a regular basis. Our goal is to increase profitability of every store, so we create a stronger organization."