SmartCo to open five Colorado stores

Commerce, Calif. Discount grocer Smart & Final said it will open stores in five vacant Albertsons sites in Denver, according to a report by the Denver Post.

The California-based warehouse grocer acquired the Albertsons sites and will open SmartCo Foods outlets this summer. The SmartCo line is a new venture for the company.

SmartCo said it will hire about 100 employees for each of the five new stores and will establish a regional corporate office in metro Denver.

Stores will be located at sites in Denver; Littleton; Centennial; and Longmont that Albertsons vacated over the past three years in a series of closures.

Smart & Final was acquired in 2007 for $813 million by investment firm Apollo Management. Now privately owned, the grocer no longer reports its financial results, but in 2006 its revenue was $2.1 billion.