Albertson’s to stay true to its colors

Alex Coolman

CORONA DEL MAR -- A Newport Beach resident’s protest against the new

colors of the Albertson’s grocery store here has not persuaded the

company to make a change.

In fact, said Albertson’s spokesman Mark Steinman, the flap over the

week-old rust and mustard paint job has stirred up significant community

support for the colors.

“The only thing that’s really new,” Steinman said, “is that we’ve had a

number of very positive responses from residents and from people in the

city, staff people, that they like the color combination.”

Suzie Brierley, the Newport Beach resident who has been circulating a

petition protesting the paint -- which she considers “too harsh” -- said

she has collected almost 150 signatures and has been joined by other

residents in her collection efforts.

“I don’t want any obtrusive, loud colors to be in this quaint little

village-like community,” explained Sally Stanton, a Corona del Mar

fitness instructor who signed Brierley’s petition. “It’s not Long Beach

or something.”

But some area residents say they’re baffled by the grumbling.

“I go by there all the time,” said Craig Morrow, an investor from Costa

Mesa. He characterized the building’s new look as “a beautiful recreation

of a formerly drab exterior.”

“I feel that the colors chosen by the consultants blend well with the

environment, and, moreover they reflect popular taste,” Morrow said.

Luvena Hayton, the former owner of Hayton’s Bay Window in Corona del Mar

and the executive board secretary of the Corona del Mar Chamber of

Commerce, called the flap “a mountain over a molehill.”

“I think it’s a tremendous improvement over what we had,” she said,

noting that she was speaking for herself and not the chamber. “I don’t

know why anybody would object so strenuously to the color.”

Brierley sent a letter to Albertson’s corporate headquarters in Idaho on

Friday, proposing the company sponsor a contest to “get the community

involved” in the selection of a new color palette.

Steinman said the company’s plans were somewhat different.

“We’re proceeding to paint the building as it was presented to the city

and to the citizens,” he said.

As for the threat of picketing, which Brierley had said was a possibility

if the colors went unchanged, Steinman said Albertson’s would “deal with

that when and if it happens.”

Though Brierley said she was spending less time on her campaign this week

than she had in past days, she said the comments she had received from

residents had encouraged her.

“If I felt like I was completely off base here, I would stop,” she said.

“But I’m not getting that.”