Gigante stores will remain open during the conversion to El Super, Bodega Latina spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said. The stores are in Arleta, Anaheim, Covina, Inglewood, Santa Fe Springs and Los Angeles.
Levenfeld said the conversion process would not affect Gigante employees, who would be hired as El Super workers. Still, Gigante customers worry that the change might take away some of their favorite amenities.
"I just hope the quality stays the same," said Angela Velasquez, 41, as she shopped at a Gigante store in Inglewood on Friday. "I've always liked this place -- great prices. And I like the fresh bakery."
The deal follows a restructuring of Mexican supermarkets. At the end of last year, Grupo Gigante sold 206 supermarkets in Mexico and its seven stores in the U.S. to Organizacion Soriana, Mexico's second-largest retailer. And in May, those seven U.S. stores were sold to Bodega Latina to become El Super.
Sergio Montero, director of corporate affairs at Grupo Gigante, said the company had downsized significantly in the last year after selling off its retail food stores.
"For strategic financial reasons we chose to sell these stores," Montero said. "We're not as big as we used to be, so we're trying to promote in Mexico with partnerships like the one we have with Radio Shack."
Steven Soto, president of the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Grocers Assn., a national trade group, believes that Gigante may have underestimated the competitiveness among ethnic grocery-store chains in Southern California.
"They underestimated the other independent retailers that were here already and the relationships they have with the community," Soto said. "It's a dogfight out there. They could have been more aggressive."
Independent California grocery chains such as Gigante and El Super that cater to a growing ethnic population have expanded significantly in the last 10 years, particularly in predominantly Latino communities.
"They're growing as the Hispanic population grows," Soto said. "They're getting more stores and, plus, when they go into the neighborhoods, they provide a lot for economic stability."
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conor.sanchez@latimes.com
