TAHOE CITY

A new organization, Friends of Tahoe City, has formed to try and stop Safeway (owned by Albertsons) from deed restricting its building — which it vacated in the fall to move to the west end of town — to prevent another supermarket from purchasing the space.

Tahoe City had two supermarket grocery stores for decades until Save Mart lost its lease in 2023, and Safeway opened in that location this past October.

Friends of Tahoe City state that if the sale of the former Safeway building goes through with a deed restriction, the town will be stuck with only one supermarket for years to come, which does not suffice for locals, let alone the increase in population during peak visitor seasons. The organization said that Safeway already cannot keep up with demand, does not provide the variety expected by locals, has monopoly pricing, and workers’ wages are non-competitive. 

On its website is listed three other cities where Safeway has attempted to block another grocery store from moving in: Mammoth Lakes; Bellingham, Washington; and Denison, Texas. The website offers a link to fill out a complaint form for the California attorney general. More info, visit friendsoftahoecity.com. 

~ Friends of Tahoe City website