Rite Aid is leaving Cherry Creek, but Safeway has no plans to vacate its store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.
The merchants’ status is raising speculation and concern among neighbors who fear the loss of retail services within walking range.
Rite Aid plans to close its store on the mall’s east side in May and relocate to a new site at Leetsdale Drive and South Cherry Street in Glendale.
Rite Aid and Safeway occupy the standalone, 52,500-square-foot structure at East First Avenue and Steele Street, next to the main mall building.
Safeway’s lease expires in December. The grocer is in negotiations with . to extend the lease.
“It’s a heated topic of discussion,” said Bob Vogel, president of the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association. “A lot of new (residential) units are being built in the Cherry Creek area. We have tremendous interest in having a grocery store remain in that part of the neighborhood.”
Vogel said some neighbors shop at at First Avenue and University Boulevard.
“Whole Foods is wonderful,” he said, “but not for the routine items you need every day.”
Residents of the East Cherry Creek neighborhood are reliant on the Safeway store, said Susan Smernoff, president of the Cherry Creek East Association.
“Every person I’ve talked to would like to see Safeway stay,” she said. “We do walk to it. It’s very heavily utilized.” Smernoff said the store is particularly useful for residents of , formerly Allied Jewish Apartments, two blocks to the east.
Safeway has operated a store on the site since 1966, decades before Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman opened the adjacent mall in 1990.
“We definitely want to stay,” said Safeway spokeswoman Kris Staaf. “That’s a great location for us. We have a lot of loyal customers there.”
In the late 1990s, Taubman had a plan to relocate Safeway to the west side of the mall and develop the vacated space for a Nordstrom department store.
But the deal didn’t materialize. In 2000, Safeway launched . In 2007, Nordstrom opened in the mall space formerly occupied by Lord & Taylor.
Nick LeMasters, general manager of the mall, said he could not comment on lease negotiations with Safeway because they are being conducted by Taubman officials in Michigan.
Rite Aid will open the 14,600-square-foot Glendale store May 7 at a site being developed by Denver-based Kentro Group.
The project includes a 3,000-square-foot Noodles & Co.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
