The news this week that Albertson’s is closing six more stores in the Dallas area tightens the noose on the three stores around here — Northlake, Casa Linda and Mockingbird and Abrams. How desperate is the company that owns the chain to close stores? One of the Dallas stores, in Richardson, was one of only two supermarkets in the Dallas area with a Kosher bakery, deli and fresh meat market.

Why does this matter? As noted, if and when those three stores close, that’s a lot of empty shopping center space in three prime locations. Talk to real estate people, and they’re already wondering what’s going on at Mockingbird and Abrams, where the old Lakewood Garden Center space has been empty for a surprisingly long time.

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And, in a wonderful bit of irony that several people pointed out to me during interviews for an upcoming story on development trends in Lakewood and East Dallas, Albertson’s wanted to build a grocery store at Live Oak and Collett in the late 1990s. The store was never built, mostly because of neighborhood opposition — for which the neighborhoods were crucified by the development community. Who looks wise now? If the store had been built, it would now likely be an empty building.