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New Deal Market Closes Its Doors

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Jul. 27--New Deal Market, the last store in Modesto to carry the 66-year-old store name, closed Tuesday morning.

The store's sign and notices on its doors announced the closure and thanked customers for their support.

"It is with much regret that we close New Deal Supermarket," a statement from store owners Mike and Vicki Strickler to The Bee says. "We truly appreciate the loyal customers we served. We knew many of them on a personal basis and wish them the best."

The statement also says: "Declining volume caused by new store openings, coupled with ever-rising expenses, has sealed our fate."

It ends with, "Remember, it is important to shop and support your local independent businesses."

The Stricklers purchased the store at Oakdale Road and Scenic Drive in 2000.

They could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Some of their employees were inside the store Tuesday tearing apart shelves and boxing up unsold food.

They declined to comment about the closure, though several said they had found jobs at the Save Mart Supermarket across the street.

Dozens of customers came to the store Tuesday to peek in the windows and comment on the closing. Most said the loss of the store made it a sad day for Modesto.

"They were all such nice and friendly people that they were like family," said Bill Slayter of Modesto. "I knew all the employees, and they knew me."

Customers said the store had great deals and great service. It also had a utility pay station that many people used to pay their phone, electricity and natural gas bills.

Other patrons also said they felt welcome in the store. A few added that New Deal gave them service they can't find at larger stores.

"This was a great place to pop in and out, because the staff was always really fast," said Modestan Valerie Sutter. "It's so sad to see them close."

Peter Norrell, also of Modesto, said he was a lifelong New Deal customer. He originally started shopping at the New Deal on Crows Landing Road. When that store closed, he shifted his business to the Oakdale Road store.

"Now, I guess I'm going to have to shop at Save Mart," Norrell said.

Slayter said he often admired the Stricklers and their effort to keep an independent grocery store open.

"It took guts," he said. "When I heard that they were going to continue New Deal after the chain failed, I vowed to do at least half my shopping here, and I'm pretty sure I did at least two-thirds."

But over the past few years, many independent grocery stores have closed because of increased competition from chains and rising costs, industry officials have said.

New Deal was founded in 1933 at 14th and D streets by Walter Heckendorf Sr.

It was named after President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal plan to lift the nation out of the depression.

By 1980, the business had expanded to 15 locations, with stores in Turlock, Modesto, Stockton, Manteca, Merced, Oakdale and Los Banos. The original store was deemed too small that year and was sold. The building still stands and is home to the Fair Mart Market.

In 1991, the Heckendorf family sold the chain to Provigo Corp. By 1994, that company had closed stores in Modesto and Merced.

In 1995, the chain was down to 10 stores. It was sold to Bay Area Foods. By 1997, four more stores were closed, reducing the chain to six outlets -- five in Modesto and one in Oakdale.

In 2000, the chain closed its McHenry Village market and sold its five remaining stores, with Mike Strickler buying the Oakdale Road store. The other stores' names were changed.

At the time, Strickler said he wasn't worried about competition from the new Save Mart store being built across the street.

"The New Deal chain has always competed against larger chains," Strickler told The Bee in 2000. "We still give personal service and have that neighborhood store feel. We believe New Deal has a loyal customer base."

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Modesto Bee

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