| The Palo Alto History Project |
| Alma Plaza 3147 Alma Street |
| 2006 |
| Alma Plaza & The Supermarket Size Limit Things have changed a lot down at the local market. Grocery stores used to be the basics --- produce, frozen foods and a few aisles in between, but in the past ten years Albertsons and Safeway have really put the super into supermarket. These days, when you push your cart down the aisle, you are likely to find international food sections, full service delis and bakeries, and an endless number of brand names in everything from soft drinks to salad dressings. Even more recently, Starbucks, sushi, salad bars and sandwich counters have increasingly become the norm. In Palo Alto, however, owning a supermarket franchise can be a tricky business. The city has long had caps on supermarket size in an effort to protect neighborhood scale --- as well as smaller grocers. But the caps have also essentially frozen Palo Alto grocery stores in the 1950s. The 20,000 square-foot size limit on supermarkets certainly drives residents to shop in other locales. According to one survey, as many as 40% of Palo Altans do their grocery shopping outside Palo Alto. On the other hand, the limits do allow smaller “boutique” and neighborhood grocers to survive. There are a number of smaller markets doing well in the city, including Piazza’s on Middlefield Road, Mollie Stone’s on California Avenue, JJ&F on College Avenue and Andronico's at the Stanford Shopping Center. Striking a balance between keeping Palo Alto food shoppers in the city and protecting the small grocer has been a City Council goal (and constant headache) over the years. In the past ten years, shoppers have become increasingly accustomed to the products and services that the big markets offer --- and two neighborhood shopping centers that were anchored by diminutive Albertsons stores have paid the price. At Edgewood Plaza near the 101 Freeway, the local Albertsons had long been looking to expand from its 17,000 square foot size (A regular-sized chain grocery store is between 50,000 and 60,000 square feet). When its expansion plans were denied by the city, the company’s directors closed down the store, leaving a half dozen smaller shops to fend for themselves. Currently, the shops are dwindling as talk swirls about a new plaza owner starting from scratch. Similarly, in 1997, Lucky’s proposed rebuilding their antiquated 13,000-square-foot grocery store at Alma Plaza near Meadow Drive. They felt their store could not compete with larger markets in Menlo Park and Mountain View. Originally, Lucky’s proposed restructuring their store at 50,000 square feet, but neighbors had major objections. Lucky’s later asked for 44,777 square feet and then just 37,489. By 1999, Lucky’s was no more, but the new store, Albertsons took up the reverse bidding at 29,000 square feet, plus an umbrella-covered outdoor gathering area to get around the size ban. The plan was approved by the Planning and Transportation Commission, and support from the public (77% in a Palo Alto Weekly poll), but just as it was about to become reality it was held up by traffic concerns. Albertsons, by then in dire financial shape, bailed out, closed the store and sold the property. Today the plaza looks like a ghost town. Once the Albertsons pulled anchor in March of 2005, the other stores slowly gave way, including Fandango’s Pizza, Jacquie's Sew & Sew, Bob's Donuts, and the B.J. Bull eatery. Today only the Mandarin Cuisine is left and it is scrambling for alternate locations. There is talk that the whole site may become primarily housing. The grocery store size limits have surely had some positive effects. Palo Alto has avoided the endless strip mall scene of Safeways and Walmarts that plagues many California cities. Still, the limits have clearly hurt two formerly vibrant neighborhood shopping centers that once stood as central destinations in more remote parts of town. -Matt Bowling |
| Alma Plaza in its better days |
| Inside the Albertsons |
| Only the Mandarin Cuisine Restaurant and a Post office posing as a Shoe Repair store remain |
| An abandoned shop |
| As the sign indicates a Post Office has opened up shop in the Palo Alto Shoe Repair |
| Abandoned haircuts |
| Bob's Donuts in the 1990s |
| Alma Plaza's anchor store when it was still a Lucky's |
| 2007 |
| circa 1997 |
| The map below shows grocery stores in Palo Alto, past and present |
| Palo Alto: Then & Now |
| Jacquie's Sew & Sew, a long-time Alma Plaza resident, has relocated to the South of Forest Area |
| Alma Plaza when its stores still included a Lucky's grocery store and a Round Table Pizza. |
| The Round Table became a Fandango Pizza before the mall was deserted. Fandango has since moved to Midtown on Middlefield Road. The Lucky's became an Albertsons, but now sits vacant. A few cars are parked for the Mandarin Cuisine Restaurant or to visit the post office. |
| A Lucky's worker in the 1980s |
| Sources: Palo Alto Historical Association, Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Times |