Petition Calls For Supermarket Boycott

OSWEGO, IL — An Oswego man has launched an effort to boycott Jewel-Osco supermarkets.

Larry Martinez started a Change.org petition accusing the Albertsons company of intentionally leaving former Dominick’s stores empty to keep down compeition with Jewel-Osco.

“In 2015, Albertsons acquired the leases on numerous former Dominick's grocery stores in the Chicago area from Safeway,” the petition says.

“Publicly, Albertsons, through Jewel-Osco has expressed their desire to lease the vacant stores,” the petition says. “In truth, they desire only to leave vacant storefronts that will not compete with their Jewel-Osco stores in these towns.”

Christine Wilcox, a spokeswoman for Albertsons, responded to Martinez’s accusation in an email.

“We sincerely appreciate the desire for these locations to be thriving businesses and we share in the frustration within the communities that we haven’t been able to do so,” Wilcox said. “Plainly put, if we felt that they were viable locations for profitable grocery stores, we would have opened stores there. The assertion that we are keeping these locations from being leased or sold is simply untrue.”

Wilcox said Albertsons acquired 76 closed-down Dominick’s as part of its merger with Safeway in January 2015 and “over 80 percent have been re-tenanted or returned to the landlord.”

Wilcox also said “43 of the 76 locations are operating as grocery stores, 11 of which are now Jewel-Osco stores.”

Martinez’s petition had 82 supporters by Thursday morning.