Albertsons to close its Bellingham store May 7

A longtime grocery store in the Birchwood neighborhood will be closing in May.

The Albertsons store at 1650 Birchwood Ave. is scheduled to close on Saturday, May 7, said Sara Osborne, a spokeswoman for the company. Albertsons has worked out an agreement with the union UFCW 21 to move the store’s 66 employees to Safeway stores in the area and keep their seniority, said Tom Geiger, communications for the union.

Albertsons has two Safeway stores in Whatcom County that it acquired last year.