FORT BRAGG, CA., 10/3/25 – The last hurdles are in sight for groundbreaking on the controversial Fort Bragg Grocery Outlet.
City Manager Isaac Whippy says he spoke to the developers recently for an update.
“There’s one permit related to stormwater drainage they are going back and forth on,” he says, referencing the Fort Bragg City Planning Commission. “We hope to address that in the next couple of months. They have penciled in April 2026 to begin construction.”
Construction comes after close to six years of litigation brought by the Fort Bragg Local Business Matters group, which advocates for locally owned businesses as opposed to chains or outside ownership, alleging misconduct on the part of the California Coastal Commission.
A San Francisco judge dismissed the last legal challenge back in February, clearing the way for the project to move forward.
City officials say the new store will be a “much-needed local affordable grocery option for Fort Bragg’s residents, especially low-income and poverty-level individuals and families who currently drive to Willits to shop at the Grocery Outlet there.”
The 16,157-square-foot Grocery Outlet will be constructed on the corner of South Franklin Street between South Street and North Harbor Drive on the site of the old Mendocino County Social Services building. Once open, it will operate seven days a week and employ up to 25 full-time and 10 part-time employees.
6 years to get a decent store because weirdos fight it. People wonder why everything is for sale and this area is almost dead. Everything is so corrupt everything is owned and ran by people so old they have no business even driving much less owning running local businesses and the property’s.
None of these people put money back into the community only ones that’s ever done that was canna workers and that’s over.. truly sad place this has become in such a short amount of time.
Yep! This town was once the cats meow! 24/7 and no guilt for being up past ten pm! Can hear a pin drop as soon as our most expensive Safeway in California shuts is doors!
It’s not weirdoes fighting it, it’s the greedy owners of Harvest market who voted against it a couple years back. Our community would greatly benefit from this store being out here on the coast. A big plus to stop shopping at Harvest which will happen immediately for me once it opens. It’s sad that the greedy owners of Harvest wouldn’t support a store like this for our low income & poverty level residents.
I’m not seeing the connection between Harvest Market and Grocery Outlet. As far as I see it, Harvest is overpriced and kind of a Trader Joe’s style grocery store and Grocery outlet is way cheaper. I am excited about having a new place to explore 😊
Wow, we Iove Harvest and the good, community-minded people who run it! Everyone who works there is always really nice and that tells me all I need to know about the boss. I’m happy to see Grocery Outlet finally getting going, congratulations to them and us. I’ll be happy to shop there and very happy to keep supporting a terrific store like Harvest Market, too. (Hope GO sets up retirement accounts for their employees like Harvest does!)
How did we vote against it? We are not on the planning commission or the city council. We’ve never tried to stop them. Never said anything to a planning commissioner or city council member. We also support our community with donations to the food bank, senior center, children’s fund, cancer resource center, Noyo center for marine science, humane society, and so much more. We are part of the pilot program in California (something that took a lot of work) for the Cal Fresh Fruits and Veggies program, more funding from the state was approved for that program to restart in November. Snap recipients will earn up to $60 a month back on their card when they purchase up to $60 in fresh fruits and veggies. 25% of the pre tax profits of the company goes to matching 401K and profit sharing plans for our eligible employees. Monthly 10% off days. Where’s the greed? Check out our INFRA ads and TPR’s plus our Cadia everyday pricing to see how you can shop for less. P.S, grocery stores earn 1-3 cents on the dollar in profit, the rest goes to cost of goods, labor, insurance, rent, utilities and so much more overhead!
Speaking of new construction, what idiots are allowing the building of the 3-story housing next to Emerald Dolphin Inn? Well, I know the owners of the hotel want to build there, but why not use some other abandoned lot that doesn’t obstruct the view or historical integrity?
Nothing is being obstructed! Go look for yourself. And really.. I just love that view for 310ths of a second! Wow! Mabey you go sleep on the ground for a few nights and then tell us about that award winning view. Killin me affordable housing is a good thing Jane,just ask Tarzan!🤘
What if grocery outlet remodels and uses the abandoned Rite-Aid building? Better use of resources and leaves the other lot available for multi-use like housing.
I thought for sure they would abandon new construction for this!! But, how can you call them tax dollars if they’re not spent wildly and vagrantly? Picture a dollar man on the back of a bucking bronco with v expensive sunglasses flipping you the bird. That’s how I picture tax money.
We can’t wait for Grocery Outlet to finally open. Perseverance award goes to Grocery Outlet! Thanks G O for sticking with it.
Harvest Market delivers a quality product that costs more than mass produced, industrial, pesticide-sprayed, antibiotic-fed, food that costs more to make and costs more at the cash register. The Grocery Outlet will save money at the cash register and transfer those savings to the Adventist Health System.
Grocery outlet here in Daly City is great, but watch out, they’re trying to knock out competition by using more and more house brands which lessens your choices. Also their main meat brand is 2nd class and a lot of stuff is imported from China. Stick to what you need. If you see a real deal, buy it. Next week it will be gone.
Excellent news for Fort Bragg! While I understand the desire to have locally owned businesses in town, it is worth noting that all Grocery Outlet stores are independently owned and operated by local owners. Its likely to be owned by different people than the one in Willits. While there is a corporate office down in the Bay Area that helps with some tasks, such as branding and advertising, the stores make the vast majority of decisions at the local level. This one will be tailored to the needs and wants of the people of Fort Bragg. The arrangement is similar to how most Ace Hardware stores are run. Locally owned and operated, but with a corporate office providing some support. While this has been a controversial issue, Fort Bragg is getting something it really needs (a lower priced grocery store) in a way that largely aligns with what the town wants (locally owned businesses), and that is something that everyone can get behind.
We have GO here in CA desert. As well as other grocerers. LOVE CHOICE. YOU DECIDE where to spend YOUR money.
Grocery Outlet for the most part is not much cheaper, has waaaay inferior produce and meat to any other grocery store proper, treat their employees like garbage frequently. (At least Ukiah, Lakeport, Clearlake in my personal experiences interacting with employees when I used to do Instacart at all three frequently. Willits and Hidden Valley are much nicer and the employees are as well).
They also attract blight and sketchiness and bring down the value of the area around them just like a Dollar General or Dollar Tree. I just don’t feel like they are a good fit for Fort Bragg and that there are waaaaaay better options like Aldi or Trader Joe’s that sadly won’t do business so out of the way (I weep in Lake County as well, you’re not alone) so it’s a conundrum and unfortunate.
I feel like the coast would be better served by a WinCo or FoodMaxx to serve low income people BUT I know they are huge and property is expensive, environmental stuff is a huge roll of neverending red tape, and most importantly they would absolutely decimate local businesses up and down the coast and a huge part of the coast for me is visiting all the little local shops and grocery stores for gifts that aren’t available at big box BUT I don’t live there so I can be charmed while locals struggle with the costs and I definitely understand that.
AND the person that mentioned their house brands is correct!! They are carrying less and less and putting emphasis on their house brands. There are a lot of empty shelves or mass amounts of repeats throughout the stores around me and it didn’t used to be that way.
BUT my biggest concern of all is that they are overexpanding and basically pulling a page from the Walmart/Dollar General/Subway play book and in a few years time the store is an absolute wreck and they pull out and they leave their blight behind, something I know the city is currently trying to combat. And the new building to suit instead of using existing large empty properties to me is crazy but I get Rite Aid shuttered recently and they have been in planning for the current site for years.
Do I have a solution? No. But I think Fort Bragg can do better than a crappy Grovery Outlet for lower price point groceries if they put their mind to it and I kinda hope they will. Maybe a super mercado chain of some sort wpuld be a rad alternative (OMG produce at Mexican markets is cheap and gooood!!)….