Downtown St. Paul Lunds & Byerlys reducing hours, products because of low sales

The Lunds & Byerlys in downtown St. Paul — the only grocery store in the city’s hub — is cutting its hours and making adjustments to its available products, citing financial instability.

Located on the ground floor of the Penfield apartments building at E. 10th Street and Robert Street, the store has been open since 2014. The changes, including opening the store for five fewer hours per day, will begin Monday.

The grocer was open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but the new hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., about a 35% cut.

Despite the reduction, Aaron Sorenson, a spokesman for Lunds & Byerlys, said no worker will lose employment because of the changes.

“It was important to us that no team members would be let go as a result of these updates. A limited number of team members will be transferring to other Lunds & Byerlys locations,” Sorenson said in a statement.

Lunds & Byerlys currently has 29 stores in the metro area. No similar changes are in the works for any of other locations, Sorenson said.

Sorenson said other updates include making the deli, meat and seafood departments self service. The store will also refine its product selection “to better align” with demand, meaning it will potentially offer fewer items.

Jim Gleb, president of United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1189 that represents workers at the store, said these changes were a way to not close the store entirely, which the local chain wanted to avoid.

“They said it was due to lack of business. A lot of people have not returned to work in the downtown area,” Gleb said.

The Caribou Coffee stand within the store will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. per the Lunds & Byerlys statement. It’s current hours are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We deeply value Lunds & Byerlys and their presence in downtown St. Paul,” said Joe Spencer, president of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, in a statement, “and our hope is that these adjustments will allow them to continue being successful and providing a much-needed resource to the residents and workers downtown.”