City Government

Largest Supermarket in East Bay to Open in Foothill Square

Published

12 years ago

January 13, 2014

When a new 80,000-square-foot Food Co. opens in Foothill Square next month, it will be the fulfillment of a dream of City Councilmember Larry Reid, who has been working for 16 years to bring a full-service, high quality supermarket to East Oakland.

“It’s huge – the transformation is incredible,” said Reid. “It will be the largest grocery store in the East Bay, and it is building up Foothill Square (at 108^th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard), which will have a Ross Dress for Less, a bank, gas station, a new McDonalds restaurant and other stores.”

The store at, 10790 MacArthur Blvd., will be the supermarket chain’s first store in Oakland.

“The sheer size of the store and the abundance of product and the great prices, will make it extremely competitive “with other markets, said Shant Hagopian, human resources coordinator for Food Co, who is at the Oakland Private Industry Council this week interviewing applicants for 175 jobs at the supermarket.

The hours at the supermarket store, expected to open its doors Feb. 26, will be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a weeks. The company is hiring three shifts of workers, including an overnight stocking shift.

Food Co., which has been around for 24 years, has 146 stores in California, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana. It is based in Compton in Southern California. The supermarket’s parent company is Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hagopian said the company is enthusiastic about becoming part of the Oakland community.

“We are pleasantly surprised by the warm reception the store has received so far,” he said. “And we’re pleased by the caliber of the individuals who have applied.”

He said he believes customers will be happy with the store’s wide selection of products.

“It will have a full-service deli and meat counter where people will be able to purchase sliced meats and cheeses – chicken, beef, pork and sea food.

“We will also have hot rotisserie and fried chicken, as well as, tenders, wings and potato wedges – and we will have an in-store bakery”

According to Councilmember Reid, Foothill Square is a $55 million project that will ultimately create over 300 jobs.

“People will not have to go to San Leandro to shop. They will be able go to the supermarket, do their banking, buy clothes at Ross and eat at McDonalds right in East Oakland.