LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — Two grocery stores in Long Beach will officially close Saturday in response to a controversial city law which requires companies to pay grocery workers an extra $4 per hour during the coronavirus pandemic.
A Food 4 Less store at 2185 E. South St. in Long Beach, Calif., on April 15, 2021. It will close permanently on April 16 in response to the city’s hero pay law. (CBSLA)
Kroger announced back in February that it was closing the two stores — a Food 4 Less at 2185 E. South St. on and a Ralph’s on at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal — directly in response to the passage of the new law.
“I’m very sad about it,” Ricardo Galvan, a Downey resident, told CBSLA Friday. “I love coming here, especially after work. It was great coming here to get something to eat. We’re definitely going to miss it.”
In December, the Long Beach City Council passed an ordinance that requires grocers with at least 300 employees nationwide to provide their employees with an extra $4 per hour in hazard pay for at least a period of 120 days.
RELATED: Protesters March Down Aisles Of Food 4 Less In East Hollywood Over Store’s Impending Closure
“That’s disappointing,” shopper Ashley Carlton said. “I think these guys, they toughed out the pandemic and they deserve hero pay.”
Kroger maintained that he extra cost of temporary hazard made make it impossible for them to operate what they called “underperforming stores.”
However, customers told CBSLA Friday that the stores were not underperforming, and in fact were often very busy.
“This is the one we prefer to come to, and the lines are long sometimes,” shopper Jose De La Cruz said.
Meanwhile, Kroger last month also announced plans to close another three stores in the city of Los Angeles, which passed its own $5 per hour hero pay mandate in early March.
Other cities which have approved similar hero pay laws including Long Beach, Montebello Irvine, and Coachella.
Kroger said all employees that work at the stores have been offered positions at other locations.
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April 17, 2021 at 12:30PM
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2 Long Beach Grocery Stores Shutting Down Saturday Over Hero Pay Law - CBS Los Angeles
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