Lucky Stores Will Add 9 Outlets to Buena Park Chain’s 29 in County : RETAILING

Lucky Stores is aiming to take a bigger bite out of the county’s supermarket business.

Over the next three years, the Buena Park chain plans to add nine more stores to the 29 it already has here, William E. Yingling III, president of Lucky’s Southern California Division, recently told a group of retailers and developers.

“And we’re still looking for additional sites,” Yingling said.

The additions are part of Lucky’s plan to add 43 stores through 1990. Of those, 36 will be new locations and the rest will replace existing, older units.

But Lucky, which is Southern California’s third-largest chain, won’t be putting up just any kind of conventional grocery stores. Instead, Yingling said, the company plans to add such up-to-date improvements as:

- Fresh fruit and juice bars.

- More emphasis on take-outs with service delis and bakery departments.

- In-store pharmacies.

- Expanded produce sections.

- Floral departments with boxed candy and ceramic gifts.

Bigger fish counters featuring fresh catches.

The new sections are all part of a plan “to be No. 1 in every operating area that we compete in,” Yingling told a conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers meeting in Anaheim.

Lucky has 180 stores in its Southern California division, which trails behind Vons and Ralphs in sales. But the chain ranks first in Orange County and San Diego, Yingling said.

In addition to bringing more customers into Lucky stores, the chain hopes the new sections will encourage shoppers to spend more once they are inside.

Fish counters, for example, generally account for 4% sales in Lucky’s meat sections. But at stores where the new, improved fish counters have been added, fish accounts for 14% to 15% of total meat section sales, Yingling said.

The new Orange County stores are planned for Mission Viejo, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Anaheim Hills, Brea, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano.