ALBERTSONS TO CLOSE 30-YEAR-OLD MARKET.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - The Albertsons supermarket on Lyons Avenue, which anchors Valencia's first shopping center, will close in about two weeks so the grocery giant can open an outlet serving new subdivisions northwest of Santa Clarita, a company official said Tuesday.

The market at 23449 Lyons Ave. is slated to close July 14. A new 52,297-square-foot store at 23850 Copper Hill Road is scheduled to open July 15, Albertsons spokeswoman Lilia Rodriguez said.

Though it bore the namesake of the Boise, Idaho-based retailer only in recent years, the Lyons Avenue market has provided food, produce and sundries for the local residents more than three decades, growing up with The Newhall Land and Farming Company's master-planned community.

Rodriguez declined to discuss marketing strategies behind the move, which would shift retail presence from a 1960s-vintage neighborhood to one still being developed.

The grocery chain recently opened a store at 26850 The Old Road, near the Valencia Westridge neighborhood lined with $1 million-plus homes. There are also locations in Canyon Country and Saugus.

The new store will include such amenities as a fresh olive bar and special ethnic and health food aisles, Rodriguez said.

``We tailor our stores to the needs of the community,'' she said. ``This is what our customers tell us they want.''

Competition between grocery chains remains intense in Southern California, with upscale alternatives such as Whole Foods Market grabbing market share while the industry still reels from the massive lockout and strike of more than a year ago.

The 139-day labor unrest at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons - the longest grocery strike in U.S. history - cost an estimated $2 billion.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com