A Mexican-American supermarket chain is officially joining the Merced mall following a Merced City Council vote Monday night.
Vallarta Supermarkets is slated to begin construction at Marketplace at Merced (formerly the Merced Mall) in November, according to a spokesperson for Ethan Conrad Properties, the owner of Marketplace at Merced.
In a 4-3 vote, the seven-member council approved Vallarta’s petition to move forward with obtaining an alcohol license. While the council does not issue alcohol licenses, businesses intending to sell alcoholic beverages must submit a “public convenience or necessity” report to the council when operating in areas with a disproportionate concentration of alcohol licenses.
A type 21 license from the state’s department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will allow the chain to sell beer, wine and spirits for off-site consumption.
Mayor Matthew Serratto, District 5 Council Member Sarah Boyle and District 6 Council Member Fue Xiong voted against the motion. Boyle represents the district where both Marketplace and the project site are located at 851 W. Olive Ave.
Serratto told The Merced FOCUS in an interview after the meeting that constituents on his social media comments are asking for a traditional mall experience in Merced.
“They don’t want a market at the mall,” he said, adding a grocery store isn’t part of the “traditional mall concept,” which he described as a central interior space with shoppers strolling through a concourse and into popular retailers such as Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret and T.J. Maxx.
In recent years, the ongoing construction at Marketplace at Merced and the former Sears building have represented a revitalization of the area and the town mall, according to city leaders.
“I think there’s an inconvenient truth here that we’ve got to start accepting,” said District 3 Councilmember Mike Harris, before voting in favor of Vallarta, adding, “We don’t have a mall. We used to have a mall, but we have a cross now between a mall and a shopping center– and I’m OK with that. That’s the way we’re going.”
In an interview with The FOCUS, Boyle said she opposed Vallarta’s request for an alcohol license because of a concentration of markets selling beer, wine and spirits nearby. She noted the proximity of Target, Food 4 Less and Save Mart to the project site.
Residents are looking for different retail goods, she said.
“I’m tired of people driving to Fresno or Modesto or Turlock to do their shopping,” Boyle told The FOCUS.
“Those are tax dollars that we’re losing, and those tax dollars we’re losing don’t help us get our roads fixed,” Boyle said.
Xiong, who also voted against the motion to approve Vallarta’s request, said another supermarket in north Merced is a “slap in the face” to residents who for years have advocated for a supermarket in south Merced.
“Merced has been on our target list for a long time,” Trey Lindle, director of real estate for Vallarta Supermarkets, told council members during the meeting. “We love Merced, we want to be here.”
Lindle told council members Vallarta looked into different locations in Merced before deciding on the Olive Avenue location.
He added the project wouldn’t be a viable investment opportunity without an alcohol license because the company would lose one-stop shopping customers to competitors.
Harris also cited the more than 100 jobs the grocery store chain is expected to fill. According to Lindle, the project will generate approximately 130 positions.
“In Merced, that’s big,” Harris said. “We bring four little stores in that space instead of this store, and we’re probably looking at 10 jobs, maybe 15.”
The retail supermarket is expanding its footprint in the San Joaquin Valley. It opened a second location in Modesto this August and one in Clovis last November.
The store’s website currently lists 571 open jobs across the state. Vallarta operates stores in 48 California counties, according to Lindle.
“We have a history of being business-friendly, and I see no good reason to restrict this business, at all,” Harris said before voting in favor of Vallarta. “I know there are other businesses we’ve looked at that we would like to have, but they haven’t exactly been breaking down our doors to occupy space in this area.”
Construction for the supermarket is expected to be complete in the spring, a Marketplace spokesperson said.