One year to replace Clairemont grocery store

After 26 years, Keil’s grocery store is leaving the Clairemont Village shopping center in mid-October. Clairemont residents have been waiting for some sort of written-in-stone news since January when Keil’s lease ran out.

A teary-eyed Keil’s cashier said on September 1 that he and fellow employees were told that morning that the store was closing down and that they would all be out of a job soon. He also said that they could have stayed open until the end of the year, but management decided not to because of the holidays. As he explained it, they didn’t want to order holiday stuff if they couldn’t be there for the remainder of the holidays and it was pointless to stay open if they couldn’t sell holiday stuff.

Brian Haire has worked at the Keil’s Clairemont store since they opened their doors in July 1990. On September 2, Haire said, “We’re projecting our last day to be October 16, though that‘s a moving target. Keil’s will be handing over the keys on November 1 and will need a couple weeks to clear out.”

The Bay Park native said he cried for a good part of the day on September 1. Haire said, “The thing I’m going to miss most are the customers. We’ve watched them raise their families and share their stories.”

Haire said they are actively looking for a new location but couldn’t speculate any further. They have another location in San Carlos.

Diego Romero from Sprouts' corporate office said, “We’ve executed a lease at this point and will open the store by fall 2017.” Romero said that more details will come out mid-2017 and hiring will start three months before they open.

“It’s going to take that long?” An elderly gentleman grumbled at hearing the news of possibly not having a nearby grocery store for a year.

Another nearby resident said, “But I don’t have a car anymore, so, I guess in a pinch there are a few things at the Rite Aid [drugstore in the same center]”

Another elderly gentlemen said, “I think the landlord blames Keil’s for this place being empty [he pointed to several empty storefronts]. I honestly think Sprouts and Keil’s are kind of a wash, the pricing is just as damn expensive. That must be what all that tree cutting and parking-lot business was all about. Now we know. Well, nothing stays the same. Change, change, change.”

A much more enthusiastic nearby resident, Katie, said, “We just hit the jackpot! If I could have picked any store, Sprouts would have been it. And the other thing that is almost equally as exciting are the renovations. Every other shopping center you go to is so nice, but Clairemont Village is so ghetto. It will be worth it to hear the construction, the noise and the dirt.”

The guy that runs the recycling center in back of Keil’s said, “Once Keil’s closes, the [recycling] convenience zone isn’t required, so we won’t be getting our money from the state, so we’re going to have to pull out.” He said it will take five months to get licensed for a new location.

“The problem is the state is trying to shut down all the certified recycling centers they have because they’re obligated to pay them. In fact, if Keil’s didn’t have us here, they could just fine Keil's $3100 a month. The state is trying to cut out all the certified recycling centers so they can just hold all the supermarkets responsible.”

Several neighbors said they were thrilled at the prospect of no longer having a recycling center, one remarking, “Do you know how much riff-raff that will get rid of? That’s a huge issue.”

Romero said, “The retail center will have [a recycler], but logistics are not confirmed.”