Grocery Outlet Opens Its Newest Store Today -- In A Repurposed Movie Theater
The newest Grocery Outlet store is an adaptive reuse of the former Blue Jay Theater in the small mountain town of Blue Jay, California
The newest Grocery Outlet store opens today in the tiny town of Blue Jay, California (pop. ~2,500).
Like most Grocery Outlet stores, it is located in “2nd generation” real estate that previously served another tenant and/or use.
But this site is unlike any of the chain’s 524 other stores — because it is not a conventional repurpose of space once occupied by a Big Box retailer or a grocer.
Instead it is an adaptive reuse of the small mountain town’s longtime movie theater.
Blue Jay is an unincorporated town near Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino mountains.
For over three decades it was home to the Blue Jay Movie Theater, a four screen cinema that opened in 1989 and was the only theater in the area.
The theater building had not been renovated, upgraded or remodeled in recent years — but it was a clean, simple cinema that screened new releases.
However the theater closed for good in 2023.
And just one year later the theater building has been converted into the newest store for Grocery Outlet, one of the fastest growing U.S. grocery chains.
Grocery Outlet operates a unique business model in the grocery space.
All Grocery Outlet stores are run by independent owner-operators that have near full autonomy over hiring, merchandising and marketing and share in a percentage of store-level profits.
These independent operators — including many that have a background as a grocery or retail store manager — generally operate a single store in their market.
The Blue Jay store will be operated by local residents Ryan and Claudia Tucker.
Grocery Outlet offers fresh food — such as meat, produce and dairy — as well as closeout buys of branded consumer products and private label goods.
Most Grocery Outlet stores are 15,000 - 20,000 square feet and the majority of sites are located in buildings vacated by other retailers.
But some sites — such as the new store opening in the Blue Jay Theater building — were redeveloped through creative adaptive reuse projects.
And while the new Blue Jay site is likely Grocery Outlet’s first repurpose of a theater building, the Company has tackled other unique conversions.
Such as an adaptive reuse of a bowling alley in Oakhurst, California and the repurpose of a car dealership in Corvallis, Oregon.
Grocery Outlet plans to open about 60 stores in 2024 — a ~10% increase over its current store count.
To accomplish this growth goal, Grocery Outlet will need access to quite a bit more vacant second generation real estate — created for both retail and other uses.
So while the Blue Jay Theater-to-grocery store conversion may be one of Grocery Outlet’s more unique adaptive reuse projects, it will not be its last.