The race is on to see who will be the first to open a supermarket south of the 120 Bypass..
And Mike Molinar wants the winner to be Manteca’s second Food-4-Less.
The president of Lodi-based PAQ Inc. — the owner of 17 Food-4-Less stores, 7 Rancho San Miguel Markets and a 200,000 square-foot distribution center in Lathrop — helped break ground on a new Food-4-Less on Atherton Drive on southwest Manteca on Monday.
Save-Mart broke ground in their third Manteca store on Wednesday, two miles to the east in Atherton Drive.
The new 55,000-square-foot store is also a new supermarket model for the Food-4-Less operator.
“Food-4-Less is on one end of (the supermarket spectrum) and Sprouts is in the other,” said Molinar. “Think of them having a baby.’
The new Food-4-Less will have:
*bulk foods.
*a deli counter.
*a bakery.
*organic produce.
*a fresh meat counter.
Molinar said other decisions such as inventory are still being addressed.
That’s because the neighborhood it is opening in — as well as those nearby —have much different demographics than areas Food-4-Less has traditionally served.
The new market is opening in southwest Manteca where new neighborhoods have an average household income exceeding $120,000 a year.
Also, the bulk of the new residents are Bay Area commuters.
It is the first new Food-4-Less for PAQ Inc. since 2014. All other building investments since then have been store remodels.
PAQ opened its first store in Lodi 40 years go and its existing Manteca location on Spreckels Avenue in 2000.
The 100 percent employee owned stores started with 120 employees 40 years ago. Today, there are more than 2,100 workers in the regional supermarket chain.
Manteca Crossing already has seen a Chick-fil-A, Dutch Bros, and Quick Quack car wash open.
Also committed to open in Manteca Crossings so far are a Maverik gas station and convenience store, Crumbl Cookies, Pokemoto Hawaiian Poke, Waba Grill, and Menchie’s Frozen yogurt.
A 117-room, 4-story Courtyard by Marriot has also been approved directly to the west of the Food 4 Less site.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
