Andronico's Community Markets, known locally as "Andronico's", was a supermarket chain based primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its first store was founded in 1929 on Berkeley's Solano Avenue by Greek immigrant Frank Andronico. In late 2011, Andronico's filed for bankruptcy. A new group of investors assumed management of the chain during the reorganization process. In November 2016, Safeway Inc. agreed to buy Andronico's remaining stores. The stores began closing in January 2017, with the NorthBerkeley store closing first. In February 2019, Safeway said that it was considering bringing back the Andronico's name. By February 2020, six Safeway stores were operating under the Andronico's Community Market label, with a seventh planned.
History
Beginnings
Andronico's first store opened its doors in 1929 at the Berkeley location by patriarch Frank Andronico, an immigrant from Greece. Some time afterward, Andronico renamed the location "Park and Shop". By the 1950s, a second location in Berkeley and one in San Francisco had opened. Park and Shop became known for high quality, especially in fresh produce, and excellent service. Frank's son John took over the running of the chain, and by the 1980s, that role was held by grandson Bill. Under Bill Andronico, the chain changed its name to Andronico's. By 2000, it had expanded to nine locations, including a 40,000 square foot flagship location in the upscale local suburb of Danville. Smaller-format locations in Emeryville and Walnut Creek, opened right before the dot-com crash, performed below expectations and were eventually shut down. Rising costs for employee health care and insurance led to layoffs in the early 2000s.
Late in 2011, during reorganization, executives and buyers who once worked for Whole Foods Market joined the management team of Andronico's. Justin Jackson, the COO, managed the remaining five stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. He had originally been hired as a consultant by Andronico’s after leaving Whole Foods. John Clougher, who was president of Whole Foods’ Pacific Northwest region, was chief executive officer of Andronico’s briefly before taking that title at A.G. Ferrari Foods, a local distributor owned by Renovo Capital. Bill Andronico remained with the organization as chief administration officer. Under the new ownership, Andronico’s stores were remerchandised — dropping approximately 7,000 slow-moving SKUs and replacing them with approximately 5,500 new items. Sales at Andronico’s reportedly improved nearly 10%.
Purchase by Safeway
Four Andronico’s stores in the Bay Area were renamed Safeway Community Market after the 2016 acquisition, though the flagship store in the Sunset District kept the Andronico’s name. Another store in Monterey opened in January 2019 as Andronico’s. In February 2020, four locations of Safeway Community Markets returned to the Andronico’s name - two in Berkeley, one in Los Altos, and one in San Anselmo.
Locations
When Andronico's closed as an independent company, it had a total of nine locations: three in Berkeley ; one in the El Rancho Center in Los Altos; one on Irving Street San Francisco; one at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto; one in Walnut Creek; one in Danville; and one in town of San Anselmo in Marin County.
