Save Mart to close Bay Area Lucky supermarket

The Bay Area city of Larkspur is losing one of its only discount grocery stores with April closure of Lucky supermarket, The Save Mart Companies, which runs the grocery store, has confirmed. 

The company said in an email response to WGB that the long-time downtown grocery store at 570 Magnolia Ave. will soon close its doors.  

“The Save Mart Companies is committed to the North Bay market. By closing the Lucky store on 570 Magnolia Ave., we will be able to reallocate our resources and focus on the other stores in the area,” the company said in a statement. “We will be offering our store associates positions at our nearby stores. Lucky has been serving the community for decades and we will remain committed to serving the community at our full-service Novato Lucky store located at 1761 Grant Ave.” 

The San Francisco Standard news website reported that the grocer’s last day will be April 14.  

The Save Mart Companies, which was purchased by private-equity firm Kingswood Capital Management LP, on March 28, 2022, gave no other details about the store’s closure. At the time of that purchase, Save Mart CEO Chris McGarry said the Kingswood acquisition was an opportunity to grow the company.  

Alex Wolf, managing partner and founder of Kingswood, said last year that the firm’s goal "is to make good businesses even better, and The Save Mart Cos. presents us with a great opportunity to do so."  

"Their 70 years of history in the Central Valley provides a strong foundation for future profitable growth, and we look forward to working with Chris and the team to position these iconic grocery brands for the future," Wolf noted at the time of the purchase.  

The Modesto, California-based Save Mart Companies operates 200 stores—191 in California and nine in Nevada—under the banners of Save Mart (81 stores), Lucky California (66 stores) and FoodMaxx (52 stores), according to the company’s website.