Citing intense retail competition in Southern California, along with the effects of an economic downturn in the area, Smith's Food & Drug Centers said it is slowing its rapid expansion in California.
"We're slowing down a little bit, not stopping," said Smith's spokeswoman Shelley Thomas. "We want to focus our attention on fine-tuning our stores in Southern California."Salt Lake-based Smith's has 134 stores in eight Western states but has been disappointed with sales at its 31 California stores. "They've been sluggish. Obviously they're not where we wanted them," Thomas said.
She said Smith's is launching a program to "revisit every operational aspect" and determine how the stores can be more profitable.
Smith's, which has opened four new Southern California stores this year, said it will open two more by the end of the year and continue work on three others.
But Thomas said it will delay further work on several other sites until it sees improvements in profitability of the Southern California stores.