Southern California is set to see the closure of grocery stores in some of its neighborhoods. Supervalu Inc., which owns Albertsons, will be closing some of its stores by the end of this year. The Southern California Albertsons stores will close 18 supermarkets. One of the stores, on Mesmer and Jefferson, in Culver City already closed last month. Other stores that will close shop include Brookhurst and Katella, Anaheim; Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles; Harbor Boulevard & Imperial Highway, Fullerton; Grove Avenue and Walnut Street, Ontario and Linonite and Clay, Riverside, among others.

Supervalu Inc. has reported that it intends to close 60 stores by the end of this year, but says that it has not identified some of these stores. Supervalu is also affiliated to ACME and Save-A-Lot, which will also face some closures. Four of ACME’s stores will be affected, while Save-a Lot will see 22 stores closing, mostly in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. One Jewel-Osco store in Michigan City, Indiana is also slated for closure.

The stores being closed are those considered by the company as being underperforming or non-strategic and, hence, the widespread closures are set to also see 2 stores shut down in Oregon and 6 in Washington.

The closures by Supervalu can be attributed to the spread of big retailers such as Target Corp. and Walmart, which have been pushing their food sections in the recent years. Additionally, the grocery chain is facing some competition from specialty gourmet operations such the Whole Foods Inc. and Fresh & Easy.

The Ralphs stores located at Seventh Street and Anaheim Avenue that are owned by the Kroger Co. will also be closed, but will be replaced by Food 4 Less, also a grocery chain owned by Kroger’s.