WHITTIER >> The city of Whittier has launched an effort to convince Albertsons LLC not to close its store in Whittier.

Councilman Joe Vinatieri announced the planned closing during City Council’s Jan. 14 meeting and asked City Manager Jeff Collier whether a meeting could be scheduled with Albertsons to try and change the decision.

Collier, who received a call from Albertsons’ spokesperson Lilia Rodriguez earlier in the day, said his office had already made the call. Collier said the city will meet with an Albertsons representative this week.

“We need to pursue them,” Vinatieri said Monday. “Maybe they’ve already made a decision. … But we’ve got to give it everything we can to try.”

“It’s their store, and they have the final say,” he said. “But I want to make sure that we as a city do everything we can to let them see the error of their ways and that … this is a good place to do business.“

But it could be a tough sell.

“The decision has already been made,” said Rodriguez. “That was an underperforming store.”

She said it was a “difficult” decision to make, but in tough economic times for supermarket chains, Boise, Idaho,-based Albertsons LLC needs to invest in other stores to build a stronger company.

Albertsons announced Jan. 14 it was closing 26 stores nationwide, including 13 stores in its Southern California division. The stores, including Whittier’s store, 13003 Whittier Blvd,, are to be closed on or about Feb. 20, the final day of Albertsons fiscal year.

A liquidation sale will begin at the Whittier Albertsons on Wednesday, Rodriguez said. The pharmacy also will begin informing customers where their prescription drugs can be picked up.

Efforts also are being made to help relocate employee to positions at other stores, Rodriguez said. Albertsons owns the store building and will be working on finding a new owner or tenant.

Collier said the store closing will force Uptown and other neighborhood residents to find another supermarket, but he also expressed confidence another grocery chain will be interested in the site.

“We are disappointed to see Albertsons closing their Whittier store,” he said Monday. “This location serves many of our residents in Uptown Whittier and surrounding neighborhoods. The loss of this store will inconvenience many of our residents as they will need to look for other shopping options, as well as the result in the loss of jobs for current store employees.”

Rodriguez declined to say how many employees the store has. However, according to earlier published reports, depending on their size, Albertsons stores have 50 to 100 employees.

“We believe this is a very good commercial site and trust that we may find another grocer interested in taking over this prime site,” said Collier.

But Vinatieri isn’t giving up yet.

“These are jobs, and these are customers who live right here, and they need their Albertsons,” said Vinatieri. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” he added. “We’re going to go after them. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I don’t want to just roll over. I want to let them know that we want them.”