Safeway will permanently close its Richmond bread plant later this year, marking another Bay Area retreat for the massive grocery chain after it announced earlier this week that it will shutter a decades-old San Jose store.
The bread plant, located at 905 South 34th St. in Richmond, is expected to permanently close on Dec. 30, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that was reviewed by SFGATE. The Oct. 20 notice indicated that 92 employees will be affected.
Safeway’s parent company, Albertsons Companies, has been struggling for years as inflation and consumer spending drag down its revenue, and a failed merger with Kroger brings reduced growth and increased legal costs. Albertsons recently filed an $8 billion lawsuit against Kroger, alleging that the merger failed because Kroger did not sell enough stores to gain regulatory approval…