NEW BEDFORD — Shaw's Supermarket on Kings Highway will close its doors by mid-February, one of five stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to be shut down, according to Mayor Scott W. Lang.
Lang said he was informed of the store closings Wednesday morning by a representative from SuperValu, Shaw's Supermarkets' parent company.
The Kings Highway store has about 100 full- and part-time employees, who were notified Wednesday morning that their store would be closing by Feb. 17, according to Lang.
Some employees will have an opportunity to move to other stores in the area — there are Shaw's Supermarkets in Fairhaven, Wareham and Dartmouth — although it is unclear exactly how many employees those stores will be able to absorb, Lang said.
A Shaw's representative said the closings are a result of competitive markets and today's difficult economic environment.
Shaw's has had a presence in the North End since 1981 when it took over space in the former First National Store at Kings Highway.
In August 1988, that store was closed when what was then the area's first Super Shaw's opened in a new shopping center known as the Fieldstone Marketplace.
Two other stores in Massachusetts are scheduled to close — the Shaw's at 99 Main St. in Stoneham and one at 209 Revere Beach Parkway in Revere — as well as two Shaw's in Rhode Island.
The workers at the New Bedford store as well as the two Rhode Island stores — the Shaw's at 1500 Bald Hill Road in Warwick and the store at 1493 Hartford Ave. in Johnston — are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 791.
Peter Derouen, a spokesman for the union, said the union planned to meet with representatives from the company later this week.
"We obviously don't manage the company," he said. "We want to make sure that (the closing is) done correctly and that our members are represented properly and that's what our goal is."
Union leadership was informed about the store closings Wednesday, as well, Derouen said.
"There's been rumors flying around for a long time about a whole lot of things," he said. "But we didn't know anything until today."
Language in the union contract governs store closings, said Derouen, although he declined to be more specific about that language.
"We'll obviously try to lessen that overall number (of layoffs) and keep it as minimal as possible," he said.
Lang said he intended to call the state Secretary of Labor today to ensure that affected workers are informed of their unemployment rights and have access to job training as necessary.
It is unclear what will happen to the space Shaw's occupies on Kings Highway but Lang said the city would work with the company to find a new tenant.
The space is about 70,000 to 80,000 square feet, according to Lang.
Lang said it was not his impression, based on the conversation with the SuperValu representative, that the recent opening of a Market Basket in the city had anything to do with the company's decision to close Shaw's.
However, Lang continued, "I believe Market Basket has forced competition in this area. ... Shaw's, obviously, is in the middle of this competitive mix. ... Everyone's got to be on their toes."
SuperValu, which owns multiple supermarket brands in addition to Shaw's, recently opened a Save-a-Lot in retail space on Cove Road that had been largely vacant since the Shaw's that had been there closed in 2006.
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