This Small-Town Movie Theater Building Is Reopening -- As a Grocery Store
Grocery Outlet's newest store in Blue Jay, California is an adaptive reuse of the small mountain town's longtime cinema
One of the newest Grocery Outlet stores is opening next month in the tiny town of Blue Jay, California (population ~2,500).
But this store will be unlike any of the chain’s other 450+ grocery stores.
It is an adaptive reuse of the small mountain town’s longtime cinema.
Grocery Outlet — an 'off price' supermarket chain that sells deeply discounted groceries and consumables — has been adding ~60 new stores each year.
Most of its new stores are in 2nd generation real estate formerly occupied by retailers such as Kmart, Toys R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond as well as shuttered grocery stores.
But Grocery Outlet occasionally turns to more creative adaptive reuses.
Like with its repurpose of the former Blue Jay Theater building.
Blue Jay, California is an unincorporated town of ~2,500 near Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino mountains.
For nearly 35 years it also 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 over the years — but it was a clean, simple cinema that screened new releases.
However the theater closed for good in 2023 — in conjunction with a planned adaptive reuse of the building by Grocery Outlet.
Grocery Outlet operates a unique business model in the grocery space.
Instead of the traditional corporate model where stores are company owned and operated by a hired store manager, 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 local market.
The Blue Jay store will be operated by 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 although a few were developed via new construction, most are in space vacated by other retailers.
Or in adaptive reuses of existing buildings — like the Blue Jay Theater.
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.
Like its adaptive reuse of a former bowling alley in Oakhurst, California.
Or its repurpose of a former Chevrolet dealership in Corvallis, Oregon.
So while the Blue Jay Theater-to-Grocery Outlet will be one of its more unique adaptive reuse projects, it is not the chain’s first — and will not be its last.
Despite the fact that it is approaching 500 stores, Grocery Outlet currently operates in just 10 states and has a long growth runway ahead of it.
So the next time a commercial building is vacated — even with a previous use as a movie theater, bowling alley or car dealership — there is a distinct possibility that it may re-emerge as a Grocery Outlet store.