Belmont Shore's Albertsons May Lose Jobs in Lay-offs

The Albertsons grocery store chain announced that it will lay-off as many as 2,500 employees this month at 247 Southern California and Nevada stores as part of continued budget trims since downsizing in February.

The chain said that the job eliminations would be made by June 17. It did not announce whether any stores would be closed but did say that employees would be cut at every store. Belmont Shore's closest Albertsons is at 6255 E. Second Street, but Long Beach also has stores, including one at 644 Redondo Avenue, and another on Long Beach Boulevard.

Albertsons Southern California President Dan Sanders says the company downsized in February at its Fullerton store support center but the need for further changes was clear then, Huffington Post reported. It said officials say Albertsons has experienced a decrease in customers and sales.

There are 34 stores in Las Vegas, Pahrump, Boulder and Henderson in Nevada, the company said. The rest are in California, from Paso Robles to San Ysidro.

The manager of the Second Street store said Wednesday that all questions would be fielded by the Fullerton office. One employee said he thought about five employees might be let go of 70, but that the seniority system works similar to Long Beach Unified's system of teacher "bumping," in which employeses are back-filled at locations based on seniority.

The Associated Press story on the layoffs in the Washington Post quoted the Orange County-based labor union for groceryworkers as saying that it was contacted Wednesday morning and that the size of the cuts was "devastating."

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