Safeway has announced it will close its Glenwood Springs grocery store by the middle of next month, after more than 50 years in the local market.

According to Kris Staaf, Albertsons and Safeway’s director of public Affairs for its Denver division, the Safeway location at 2001 Grand Ave. will close its doors, likely by mid-April, “depending on how quickly everything is sold through.”

“There will be some price reductions in the coming weeks,” Staaf said. “The plan is to sell through the product in the store but also keep the day-to-day offerings like the milk, bread, eggs and those kinds of things available until the end.”

As a result of the impending closure, 54 employees will be impacted. Workers were reportedly notified of the closure plans on Friday.

“Really, the plan is to offer those employees positions at other store locations based on their interests,” Staaf said.

Safeway has numerous other locations throughout the state, including one in Vail and three in Grand Junction.

Staaf added that the company had not had to close any stores in a couple of years within its Denver Division, which operates and oversees stores in five states. The bulk of those stores are in Colorado.

“This is pretty isolated,” Staaf said.

Company officials in 2014 dispelled rumors at the time that the Glenwood store may be closing, and speculation since has been that the ultimate decision was imminent.

In a prepared media statement, company officials said, “This was a tough decision made after careful deliberation. For more than a year, we evaluated this store extensively and looked at options to improve its performance.

“Ultimately, our business analysis indicated that we needed to close the store,” according to the statement. “Like all retailers, we are constantly evaluating every aspect of our business and while closing this store was a difficult decision, we are focusing on growing our business and reinvesting those resources into remodeling our existing stores in Colorado.”

Safeway has been one of the longest-running grocery chains in Glenwood Springs, and has had stores in different locations over the decades. Among them were the former commercial property next to Glenwood Springs High School on Grand Avenue, before the school was expanded, and at the Roaring Fork Marketplace. Safeway landed at its current location, formerly a Smith’s grocery store, in the early 1990s.

The decision to close the Safeway store leaves Glenwood Springs with one general grocery store, City Market in the 1500 block of Grand Avenue, as well as Natural Grocers in the Glenwood Meadows shopping center. Target and Wal-Mart also have grocery sections. At one point in the 1980s, Glenwood had four grocery stores, including Safeway, City Market, Smith’s and Giant Foods.

mabennett@postindependent.com