Smith's Food and Drug Center is having a hard time gaining a foothold in Joe Albertson's back yard.
The Salt Lake City-based company is trying to bring six stores into the Treasure Valley - a market dominated by Albertsons, the Boise-based national supermarket chain.Every plan for a new Smith's has run up against opposition. Three plans have been approved, two are pending and one was rejected.
Boise leaders say Smith's is getting a mixed reception not because of competition, but where the store chooses to build.
The City Council approved Smith's for Garden City last week. Plans for another store in West Boise are to go before the Boise City Planning and Zoning Commission Monday.
Earlier, neighborhood residents embraced a Smith's planned for Veterans Memorial Parkway and State Street. A proposal at Apple Street and ParkCenter Boulevard was shot down by neighbors and the Boise City Council.
In each case, location was the critical factor.
"They're not facing anything that any other business doesn't face when they try to come in," said Boise City Councilwoman Carolyn Terteling, who voted against the Smith's in Southeast Boise.
But the reaction Smith's got from the Meridian School Board sent a statement to the Boise City Council opposing Smith's plan for a supermarket on 6 acres at McMillan and Cloverdale roads, directly across from Centennial High School.
Nearby residents had complained that traffic would endanger school kids.
An Albertsons is scheduled to be built just down the road. The school board complained about that plan, too, but only to Albertsons - not to the city.
Smith's is trying to make a comeback in Boise. The chain had six stores in the area when it pulled out in 1990, following two other chains that tried and failed - Safeway in 1982 and Buttrey's in 1987.
Smith's left after failing to win approval for a store at Vista Avenue and Overland Road in 1989.
Albertsons has 11 stores in Ada County and 753 around the country, making it the nation's fourth-largest supermarket chain. At least four more are projected in Boise.
But company officials dismiss any talk of cornering the market in their hometown.
"We'll continue to grow as the area grows, to ensure we serve everyone," spokesman Mike Read said.