Medford, Ore. >> C&K Market on Tuesday announced plans to close its Ray’s Food Place location in Clearlake, along with a store in Brookings, Oregon.
Employees at the Clearlake grocery were informed of the decision shortly before noon on Tuesday. C&K expects to shutter the property by the end of the year. The Medford, Oregon based company constructed the building and opened the store in 1995.
C&K executives evaluated its stores over the past year. They determined that a few stores, located on real estate the company owns, were not profitable enough to support rent. Executives decided it was financially more prudent to sell the property than continue to operate the stores.
“We track store profitability,” said C&K Market’s President Karl Wissmann. “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.”
Negotiations are underway with buyers for both locations. According to Dan Gustafson, Ray’s Food Place Advertising Director, a deal should be completed shortly for the Clearlake property.
Employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other stores. For those employees who do not want to relocate, C&K’s human resources department will work with state workforce agencies to help them find new jobs.
The Brookings decision was especially hard given C&K’s long history in the community. Wissmann did not refer to the Clearlake store in a press statement released by the company.
“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,” Wissmann observed.
C&K Market is an independently owned grocery retailer operating 42 grocery stores in Oregon and Northern California under the banners of Ray’s Food Place, Shop Smart and C&K Market.
C&K continues to assess its locations, real estate holdings, and potential new locations. The goal is to assemble stores that fit its emphasis on integrating natural and organic items with traditional groceries.
No additional closures are planned.
