340223 Mon Nov 06 01:00:23 -0800 2006 10 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1999307 Andronico's in Danville turned into a Lunardi's recently, and the Walnut Creek store is also about to close. Anyone know what's going on? Any speculation on whether the WC location may turn into another grocery store or just sit empty? Mon Nov 06 01:00:23 -0800 2006 11816 Agent 510 1 1999323 Empty for now. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/21/BUGKRLTHDF1.DTL Mon Nov 06 01:11:42 -0800 2006 1999307 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 1999335 Rumor is a restaurant will replace the WC Andronico's. If true, perhaps a Cheesecake Factory? Mon Nov 06 01:19:53 -0800 2006 1999307 17873 8gr8 1 1999884 The article in SF chronicle stated that the WC location wouldn't be turned into another grocery store. I remember going to the Danville location when it opened. It was filled with people and a great place to shop. Sorry to see it go. The WC location was empty when it opened because of the economy not being so good. I heard the store was planned during the dot com boom when people had money so by the time it opened it was pretty much doomed to fail. Still, it was a nice place to eat and shop. Mon Nov 06 08:23:12 -0800 2006 1999307 35524 rightstar 1 2000732 Doesn't seem like a big loss for Danville since another (nice) grocer just took over, but the WC location...damn. I'm surprised it went under, with its good foot traffic and prime location in successful downtown WC. But maybe the store wasn't strong outside of non-grocery, prepared-food sales. Surely someone will snap up that space, but it'd be a shame to no longer have something like Andronico's in the Broadway Plaza area. Mon Nov 06 18:51:30 -0800 2006 1999307 11816 Agent 510 2 2000748 I think supermarkets really need more convenient parking and ease of getting in and out, which the Walnut Creek store didn't have. I can see that it would do well for prepared foods, but it wasn't either a place where you'd run in a pick up some basics or where you'd want to fight the traffic on a weekend for your "big weekly shopping" trip. Suprised about the Danville store, though. The one time I was in there (I don't live in the area) I was pretty impressed. Mon Nov 06 18:55:52 -0800 2006 2000732 10159 Ruth Lafler 2 2000788 I think the problem may have been that Whole Foods is a few blocks away and people seem to much prefer it over Andronicos. Mon Nov 06 19:06:35 -0800 2006 2000732 29734 alag 1 2001229 wonder if they'll have a clearance sale? specifically in their pretty nice wine section? Mon Nov 06 21:03:25 -0800 2006 1999307 13670 Bryan Gros 2 2001652 Domestic wines are 15 percent off, imports are 30 percent (but very picked over). It's a shame as it was a good lunch/pop-in spot for the area. Mon Nov 06 23:04:50 -0800 2006 2001229 14367 The Dive 1 2303509 I was in Danville today and stopped by the new Lunardi's. The store isn't looking nearly as good as it did as an Andronico's...the new layout in the prepared foods section is kind of clunky and some departments were a bit disorganized. Still, at least it's mostly more or less the same store. Are there any Danville/San Ramon hounds who actually shop here who have anything more to report? Sat Feb 17 19:32:00 -0800 2007 1999307 11816 Agent 510 1 2304916 I heard that it might become a farmers market like the one in Rockridge or a Cheesecake Factory. Originally, Andronico's was supposed to be the only business and it was going to have a huge parking lot where the hardware store used to be. Then the city changed plans and extended Locust Street with other stores and three story garages. Andronico's couldn't back out and shoppers didn't like parking in the garage so it went out of business. Sun Feb 18 13:29:37 -0800 2007 1999307 35524 rightstar