San Francisco Lucky supermarket to close after years as neighborhood staple; “There’s no other alternative”

By CBS Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Another San Francisco grocery store is shutting its doors next month, leaving shoppers worried about where they’ll buy groceries and prompting concerns over whether the space will become one more vacant storefront.

The Lucky supermarket on Fulton Street in the North of the Panhandle neighborhood will close in mid-September. Its parent company, Save Mart, says the location has been losing money for years. 

The site was a Petrini Plaza supermarket from the 60s and later an Albertsons. It was purchased by Save Mart’s parent company in 2025, saying it planned on operating under the Lucky banner for the long term.

District 6 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who represents the area, called the planned closure “a serious loss for this neighborhood” and says constant theft at the store was a factor. 

“I have been told that their decision is final after years of financial underperformance and ongoing retail theft. Not only are 48 workers impacted, but many families, seniors, and students will be affected who relied on this grocery store,” Sherrill said in a statement. “We have made real progress on public safety by working closely with Mayor [Daniel] Lurie and SFPD, but the work is far from over, especially when retailers continue to tell us that theft and operating costs threaten already-thin grocery margins.” 

A spokesperson for The Save Mart Companies did not mention retail theft as being among the reasons for the closure, first announced in March in a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice, instead citing long-term unprofitability.

‘We routinely assess the performance of all of our stores to ensure they meet business standards, and after an extended period of underperformance, we made the difficult decision to close this location,” said Phil Keene, Save Mart’s senior director of communications and government affairs.

For many NoPa residents, the store is more than just a place to shop.

“A lot of people depend on this place because it’s the only, like, big market in the area,” one shopper said. “It’s very convenient; it has everything I need. People are going to miss it for sure because there’s no other alternative for it.”

Customers who walk, bike or take public transit to get their groceries say the closure will hit especially hard.

“I’ve always shopped here,” said another customer, Yondome Cade.

Shoppers say they don’t see another option nearby that can replace it. Some worry the closure could create a gap in access to healthy, fresh food in the area.

“Gonna be a food desert,” Cade said.

The concern is especially acute for seniors and people with mobility challenges.

“The closest one will be Trader Joe’s, but it’s up the hill, which is pretty far from here,” the other shopper said.

Residents say they hope the space doesn’t sit empty, pointing to a wave of high-profile grocery closures across the city. Word of the latest closure comes about nine months after Save Mart closed another Lucky supermarket in San Francisco’s Bayview District.   Last year, Safeway closed its Fillmore District location about a mile away, citing theft and safety concerns. 

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood says preventing vacancies like this one is exactly what he’s been trying to do. He scrapped an earlier version of his “Affordable Groceries Act” after pushback from the mayor and fellow supervisors. That version would have asked voters to approve a tax on long-term vacant storefronts while offering incentives to attract new grocery stores.

“It was blocked by a minority of my colleagues on the board who don’t believe corporations should be held accountable for the vacancies and zombie stores they allow to persist,” Mahmood said in a statement to KPIX.

Mahmood says he’s now pushing a new ordinance focused on incentives to get more grocers into vacant buildings as quickly as possible.

“I pray that they open up another store. I pray that it’ll bring more jobs for people,” Cade said. “This was a huge staple.”

Sherrill said his focus was making sure the site does not sit vacant.

“I am actively working with Save Mart, the property owner, community and city partners, and other prospective grocers to secure another full-service market, remove unnecessary permitting barriers, curtail retail theft, and protect grocery access in this neighborhood,” Sherrill said.

Keene said Save Mart was engaged with the on the closure process, consistent with a city ordinance that requires supermarkets that are closing to work with the community to explore other grocery options, among other rules. 

“After closure, we will continue to pay rent and upkeep the property until we find a replacement for this space,” Keene said. “We are working to sublease the space to another grocer.”

Keene also said that the company would transfer as many of the store’s affected employees as possible to other nearby Lucky locations, based on availability and seniority. Two other Lucky stores are located at 1515 Sloat Boulevard and in Daly City at 6843 Mission Street.