US: First New Lucky store opens in San Francisco

Save Mart Supermarkets will cut the ribbon on the first of four newly opened Lucky stores this morning. The store, at Sloat Boulevard and Lakeshore Plaza in San Francisco, is the first of four Lucky stores grand opening this morning in the Bay Area. Save Mart Supermarkets announced last week the return of the Lucky name in the Bay Area as it converts the region's 72 Albertsons stores, which Save Mart recently purchased.

True to the Lucky brand, the newly renovated stores will provide Bay Area shoppers with a broad selection of fresh, high quality products at the most competitive prices offered by a full service supermarket. The other Lucky stores opening this morning are located at:  200 Woodside Plaza in Redwood City - 919 Edgewater Blvd. in Foster City - 45 Murshinson Drive, Millbrae

Lucky has chosen this occasion to introduce a new item that will be carried in its stores -- reusable, recyclable plastic handle bags, which are made from recycled plastic. The bags are the first reusable plastic grocery bags available in the city and they will soon be available in all Bay Area Lucky stores.

Lucky will provide a limited number of the reusable bags free of charge to customers over the next few days. The bags will then retail for 25 cents each. Customers will receive 5 cents back each time they bring the reusable bag to a Lucky store. Since customers will be able to use a single bag at least 20 times, at 5 cents per reuse, they can actually earn money on these bags.

The new bags are in compliance with the San Francisco Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance, which requires grocery stores to provide only reusable and/or compostable plastic bags to customers at checkout. With dimensions of 18 x 16 x 8 inches, the reusable bag is 15-20 percent larger than a paper handle bag. It can hold approximately 50 percent more volume and weight than a standard plastic bag, holding over 25 lbs. of groceries. The bags are recyclable alongside other plastic grocery bags in the recently mandated supermarket recycling bins.

The Lucky reusable bags are custom-designed and produced by Northern California plastic bag and film manufacturer Roplast Industries, Inc. Recyclable, and manufactured with 20 percent recycled material, the bags are from one of Roplast's environmental product lines called the Bring Back Bag(R). The Lucky-branded bag is made from co-extruded film using special blends to improve the gloss, strength and stiffness, so that it stands up like paper bags for loading. The 6-color, magazine-like print and striking graphics reflect the quality of the store's new brand.

Robert Bateman, president of Roplast Industries notes, "This program, put together by a partnership between two Northern California-based companies, is good for the environment and a bonus for shoppers, who can get their money back many times over. As an article in the August edition of National Geographic points out, reusable bags are recognized as the most environmentally friendly choice for grocery bags. And since the bags are made in California, we are cutting back on fossil fuels and traffic by not transporting them long distances."

A highly-popular Bay Area institution until Albertson's, Inc. rebranded the stores in 1999, Lucky stores were known for their high quality products at extremely competitive prices. Save Mart intends to restore that heritage. Earlier this year Save Mart acquired 130 Albertsons stores, and exclusive rights to use the Lucky name in its markets, from Albertson's LLC. Save Mart plans on offering the Bring Back Bag(R) in all 252 of its Save Mart, Food Maxx and Lucky stores throughout California and Nevada by the end of the year.

Source: earthtimes.org

Publication date: 8/6/2007

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