Redmond’s Albertsons set to close next month

(Update: More from spokeswoman about number of affected workers)

The Albertsons supermarket in Redmond will close by mid-October due to an expired lease and a “strategic business decision not to renew it,” a company spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

The Albertsons at 1655 Southwest Odem Medo Way will be closed by October 16th, said Victoria Wagner, spokeswoman for the Portland Division of Albertsons and Safeway stores..

“While the decision to close a location is extremely difficult, it will give us the opportunity to reinvest in our existing stores,” Wagner said in an email.

“Our lease has expired and we have made the strategic business decision not to renew,” Wagner wrote.

Albertsons’ human resource department is “actively working to place all employees in nearby stores,” Wagner said, adding, “We do not have plans to close any of our other locations.”

They include two Albertsons on the north and south ends of Bend, which returned to the Albertsons fold in recent years after a failed expansion effort by Washington-based Haggen.

” We have 64 employees at this location and our goal is to offer 100 percent of them opportunities in our Central Oregon stores, Wagner said. However, she added, “We do not have plans to open another location in Redmond.”

Albertsons ranks 35th in the list of Central Oregon’s largest employers, according to this year’s list from Economic Development for Central Oregon, with 209 workers in the region. It slid three spot this year, from 32nd in 2016.