Business & Tech

'Lucky' Site For Village Marketplace?

More than six decades ago a downtown San Leandro store made retail history. Its site will soon house a retail and restaurant plaza that is supposed to give downtown a boost.

 

The year was 1947.

On the international scene, Arabs and Jews rejected a British proposal to divide Palestine.

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In the United States, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi began broadcasting in Hollywood.

And in San Leandro, the first modern supermarket opened at 1550 East 14th Street.

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Soon that downtown site, now a parking lot, will be the home of a retail and restaurant plaza known as the Village Marketplace

This new plaza , the industrial designer hired to give that pioneering Lucky store consumer appeal.

The San Leandro Lucky, which opened on May 15, 1947, earned a paragraph in the Wikipedia entry on the not-so-fortunate chain:

It featured a coffee shop and other conveniences. Also known as "Lucky #50", this store was managed for years by San Leandro native Anthony (Tony) Minniti. Mr. Minniti was known for his old-fashioned approach that emphasized customer service. Tony enjoyed having a personal rapport with many customers over the years, and maintained a highly profitable store during his tenure. After his retirement, the store's customer base (and profitability) declined over time. It was the last Lucky Store to be re-branded after the takeover by Albertsons. Due to dwindling profits, it later closed in 2005.

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