MELBOURNE, Fla. – Luck ran out Tuesday for Lucky’s Market in West Melbourne.
Mayor Hal Rose said management at the organic grocer received word the store will be closing, after all, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
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The news came two weeks after reports the West Melbourne market would be one of seven across the country to remain open as the Colorado-based chain filed for bankruptcy.
“The store manager, Mike Klenotich, called me and told me the news,” Rose said via email. “The closing sale will begin this week. He has told his employees and is very concerned about them being able to find new jobs quickly. He loves the community support that has been shown and is sad that they will be closing.”
According to a release from company spokeswoman Krista Torvik, Lucky’s Market, the natural foods chain, announced today that it has entered into sales agreements with Southeastern Grocers, Seabra Foods and Hitchcock’s Markets for seven Lucky’s locations. The Southeastern Grocers agreement includes stores in Naples, Fort Meyers, Gainesville, Lake Mary and West Melbourne. Southeastern Grocers includes Winn Dixie, Bi Lo, Fresco and Harvey’s Supermarket.
The Seabra Foods agreement includes the Hunters Creek store and the Hitchcock’s Markets agreement includes the St. Petersburg store.
Torvik sent a release last week saying a group led by Lucky’s Market founders Bo and Trish Sharon planned to buy the seven remaining Lucky’s stores in West Melbourne, Traverse City, Michigan; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Columbia, Missouri; and North Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado.
That agreement has since been amended to exclude the West Melbourne store, Tuesday's release said.
Agreements were previously signed with Aldi for five leased store properties and the purchase of one owned property and Publix Super Markets for five leased properties.
The stores set to be sold to Aldi include Coral Springs, Oakland Park, Sarasota, Vineland, Colonial Landing (Orlando), and Venice. The stores included in the agreement with Publix include Naples, Neptune Beach, Clermont, South Orange (Orlando) and Ormond Beach.
Lucky’s Market announced Jan. 21 that it would be closing most of its 39 stores, including 20 in Florida. West Melbourne’s was one of seven to remain open.
Last week, rumors spread that the store actually was closing after a Notice of Facility Closure filed with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity became public. The notice was required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which helps ensure workers receive advance notice in cases of qualified closings and mass layoffs.
At the time, Lucky's officials said the WARN Act notice was a formality because the company was filing for bankruptcy.
“Mike, along with his staff, are getting their resumes together and will be looking for new jobs in the community,” Rose said. “The City of West Melbourne is sad to hear of the closing as Lucky’s Market, as they were great community business partners. I even enjoyed strolling throughout their store.”