CALGARY - Sobeys will close about 50 “underperforming” stores, the majority of them in Western Canada.

The national grocer announced Thursday that the company completed a detailed full review of its retail store network during the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2014.

“This review aligns with management’s ongoing focus of enhancing the productivity and performance of the network and logically follows the acquisition of Canada Safeway which was completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2014,” it said in a news release.

“Based on this detailed review, Sobeys has determined that consistently underperforming retail stores, representing approximately 50 stores (1.5 million of total gross square footage) and 3.8 percent of the total retail network gross square footage, will close. Approximately sixty percent of the affected stores are located in Western Canada.”

The closures include four Sobeys and one Safeway operating in the Calgary.

The five Calgary locations include: Deer Point Sobeys and Fairmount Sobeys both scheduled to close on July 31; and London Town Sobeys, Douglas Square Sobeys and the Ogden/Glenmore Square Safeway, which will not close before the fall of 2014.

“For these three locations, we expect over the next six to eight weeks to share further details on an official date of closure with our employees and customers,” said John Graham, director of public affairs and government relations for the Safeway operations of Sobeys.

“After carefully considering a number of factors, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close these five Calgary stores that have been consistently underperforming and are no longer financially viable. Employees were advised of this decision yesterday.”

Shoppers at the London Town location Thursday had a mixed reaction to the news.

“I was kind of hoping to see Safeway become more like Sobeys,” said Leanne Musak, who works at nearby development firm Douglas Homes. Musak said Sobeys offers more in the way of organic fruits and vegetables and gluten-free items.

“Safeway has really bad produce. It’s not as fresh and they just don’t have the same selection.”

Alyssa Kulhavy, who stopped into the grocery store to buy a cake, agreed the produce is better at Sobeys but said she prefers the layout and pricing at Safeway.

“Their prices are expensive so I’m not surprised to hear some of their doors are now shutting,” she said.

Additional Alberta closures include: Camrose Sobeys; Clock IGA, Jasper 104 Sobeys, Main Street Sobeys and Heritage Sobeys in Edmonton; Scenic Square Sobeys and Park Meadows Mall Safeway in Lethbridge; Crescent Heights Safeway in Medicine Hat; Pincher Creek Sobeys; and Parkland Mall Safeway in Red Deer.

Graham said it is difficult to provide specific numbers about employee reductions as many of the employees affected by this announcement will receive offers of employment in comparable jobs within the company’s store network.

“This is a process that will take some time, and should it be determined that opportunities are not available for some of our employees, then respectful severance compensation will be offered,” he said.

“Where applicable, we will be working with the relevant unions regarding all collective agreement language that applies to store closures. An average impacted store employs approximately 60 full and part-time employees, however… our intent is to minimize the impact on as many employees as possible.”