Grocery Outlet could replace Haggen in Los Osos

Los Osos could soon have two grocery stores again: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market has been issued a San Luis Obispo County permit to change the signs for the vacant Haggen Food & Pharmacy building to ones bearing the grocery chain’s logo. Company representatives declined to confirm whether this means the national bargain retailer will be stepping in to fill the empty spot.

A Ralphs store is open just down the street on Los Osos Valley Road.

Grocery Outlet, known for its discounted and bargain-priced goods, sells refrigerated and frozen foods, fresh produce, meat, organics, dry groceries, beer and wine, as well as household, health and beauty products.

According to information on the county’s PermitView application — an online database of issued county permits — Grocery Outlet applied to the county planning department on Feb. 17 for a permit to install five signs on the building and the shopping center directory at 1130 Los Osos Valley Road. Two of the signs would read “Grocery Outlet,” two would read “Wells Fargo ATM” and one would read “Dairy-Produce-Meat-Beer-Wine.”

The permit was issued March 7 and will expire on the same day in 2017.

A representative of Grocery Outlet Bargain Market declined to comment on whether the chain is in talks to lease the building and open a new store.

“We do not have a signed lease on a Los Osos location at this time, so we cannot comment,” said Christina Gayman, of marketing firm Zenzi, which represents Grocery Outlet.

If a bid to open a Grocery Outlet in the spot is successful, it will mark a significant change for the small community, which was left last year with only one grocery store when Haggen announced sweeping closures of 27 of its Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington stores — including the Los Osos one — in an effort to maintain control of its struggling Southwest operations. (The chain later pulled out of the Southwest entirely and is in the process of selling off its core stores in Washington.)

An online petition to open a Trader Joe’s in the location temporarily gained traction late last year but seems to have been unsuccessful.

If it opens, the new store would be the fourth Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in the county: There is one each in Atascadero, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Grocery Outlet could replace Haggen in Los Osos."