Shaw’s says it will close Revere store

REVERE – Shaw’s Supermarkets ann-ounced Wednesday plans to close five unprofitable stores, including the 209 Revere Beach Parkway store.All five stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be closed by Feb. 17. According to employees at the Revere store, the closing date is Feb. 10.Pamela Mahoney, the store’s human resources manager, declined to talk about the closing, referring all questions to the company’s corporate headquarters in West Bridgewater. “I really can’t answer any questions,” she said.Part-time employee Carlos Minueza said Shaw’s management vowed to find him work in another Shaw’s store.”I have been working here for one year, but I am only part-time,” said Minueza as he gathered shopping carts in the parking lot. “I’m not sure what will happen.”Told about the pending closure, Victor Grecco of Revere, sitting in his car waiting for his wife to finish shopping, said the city has plenty of other supermarkets. “There are lots of other stores,” he said.Revere residents Chris Evans and Dawn Marie Johnson were dry-eyed about the news. “It’s no major loss,” said Evans. “We mostly go to Market Basket.”Johnson echoed that sentiment. “This place was Cerretani’s when I was little. If I didn’t have a gift certificate to Shaw’s, I wouldn’t be shopping here today. I’d be at Market Basket. It’s much cheaper.”Steve Post of Somerville said he shops at Shaw’s because it’s on the way home from work in Revere. “The location is convenient, but that’s about it,” he said. “They already closed the Shaw’s in Winter Hill in Somerville. So like everybody else, I go to Market Basket in Chelsea. It’s huge and the prices are great.”A company statement noted that the decision to close the stores “was made only after careful evaluation.”The other Massachusetts stores slated for closure are in New Bedford and Stoneham. The Rhode Island stores are in Johnston and on Bald Hill Road in Warwick.According to the company, the closings are the result of “the competitive market we operate in and today’s difficult economic environment.”Although the company did not say how many workers would be affected, it asserted that positions at other stores would be created when possible.Shaw’s spokesman Steve Sylven said the decision was made based on the entire supermarket chain.”The decision comes from our striving to ensure the success of all our stores,” Sylven said. “Given the competitive markets that we’re operating in right now and really the difficult environment, unfortunately it becomes necessary to close those stores that aren’t profitable.”Shaw’s runs 174 stores in New England and is owned by Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc.News of the closings was unveiled on the same day Shaw’s Supermarkets announced it had donated $234,502 to food banks during an October fund-raising partnership with the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation.