What now, SuperValu?

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storewanderer
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by storewanderer »

Publix will buy the stores and close them for "remodeling." The remodels will take a while and the union will be long gone. Publix operates in various former something or other stores across the South; former A&Ps in GA, etc.

To be fair to Publix, their "remodelings" are quite major. Every Publix I've ever walked into from Orlando to Birmingham (save for Sabor and their Green store) was the same floor, layout, etc.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by pseudo3d »

mjhale wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:
Knight wrote:Save-A-Lot faces competition from rival limited assortment/discount grocers Aldi and Lidl.

Could Publix acquire both Farm Fresh (42 stores) and Shoppers (52 stores)? Acquiring both chains gets Publix into the Hampton Roads, Virginia, region and Maryland. SuperValu would remove itself from the Atlantic United States.
Unlikely for both, because acquiring Shoppers would put them straight into Baltimore, and there's no way that Publix would want stores like where Shoppers is currently located. They don't even go into MS. Realistically, Publix would probably be interested in the best of Farm Fresh, selling the rest to Kroger/Harris Teeter, with Shoppers going to Safeway (same market!), Giant, or perhaps Weis (in Baltimore). The problem with SuperValu and sales, is that they'd like to sell out to operators who would use them as suppliers, which isn't going to happen with anyone willing to buy them. SuperValu still has some Shop N Saves that they acquired from Food Lion, so even selling off Farm Fresh and Shoppers would not pull them out of the region.
There is something else here. Shoppers is a union shop. I was under the understanding that Publix would not purchase another union chain or store. Originally Ahold and Delhaize wanted to sell off the Giant-MD stores in Fredericksburg, Stafford and Southern Maryland. The union protested, the locals protested and Ahold/Delhaize instead sold off the Food Lion stores in those areas. I agree that Shoppers is damaged goods now but why would Publix want to get into a situation where they would have to take on the union with the contracts, keeping employees over to the new company, etc. IMO, Shoppers actually has a few desirable locations that Publix might be interested in: Germantown, MD, Bethesda, MD, Annapolis, MDFairfax, VA, Potomac Yards, VA. But is Publix that desperate to get into the DC market to tangle with a current union shop?

Regarding the Food Lion turned Shop n Save stores. If the news articles are really correct Supervalu purchased the Food Lion stores to in turn sell them to independent operators who would use Supervalu as supplier with the Shop n Save name. Have they actually started selling them off?
They haven't, but knowing SuperValu I'd think that those stores are just as well dead, and that Food Lion seemed like what they'd want to divest anyway (except in Richmond, the "divested store" is almost ALWAYS Food Lion). The "desirable" Shoppers will likely end up being sold to Safeway if things go the way they're going, partly because they've already got the market for it. Of course, the unions will fight for it, if SuperValu was stuck being Albertsons (who would do anything from a quick remodel to just a reset, but keep unions) and Publix (who would close them and significantly remodel them, hiring new), then they would push for Albertsons, even if Publix offered more.
storewanderer wrote:Publix will buy the stores and close them for "remodeling." The remodels will take a while and the union will be long gone. Publix operates in various former something or other stores across the South; former A&Ps in GA, etc.

To be fair to Publix, their "remodelings" are quite major. Every Publix I've ever walked into from Orlando to Birmingham (save for Sabor and their Green store) was the same floor, layout, etc.
Nearly all the Albertsons stores Publix bought were either remodeled before or soon after remodeling. A few retain the basic layout and exterior facade but little else, not even flooring.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by storewanderer »

Shoppers is a quasi-warehouse format around DC (more of a conventional up in Baltimore though) but their locations skew in middle to lower middle class areas. These are not really the types of locations I would expect Safeway to target. Maybe someone like a Shop Rite or one of the other independent groups from up north would be more suited for those stores. Safeway (or Harris Teeter, or Publix) would fail with most of those locations.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:Shoppers is a quasi-warehouse format around DC (more of a conventional up in Baltimore though) but their locations skew in middle to lower middle class areas. These are not really the types of locations I would expect Safeway to target. Maybe someone like a Shop Rite or one of the other independent groups from up north would be more suited for those stores. Safeway (or Harris Teeter, or Publix) would fail with most of those locations.
Aren't the locations in the south DC area relatively middle-class though that could support a Safeway, though? (I'm sure Safeway was there up until the late 1980s) After all, they don't need to necessarily keep the format of the store, and it will be immediately reset either way even in the most basic of plans (I should also bring up that Albertsons did convert from a warehouse format to Albertsons in Des Moines without closing the stores--and yes, while I know it was a relatively short-lived failure, I do wonder if the ASC acquisition never happened if those stores could've still worked out).
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by mjhale »

pseudo3d wrote:
storewanderer wrote:Shoppers is a quasi-warehouse format around DC (more of a conventional up in Baltimore though) but their locations skew in middle to lower middle class areas. These are not really the types of locations I would expect Safeway to target. Maybe someone like a Shop Rite or one of the other independent groups from up north would be more suited for those stores. Safeway (or Harris Teeter, or Publix) would fail with most of those locations.
Aren't the locations in the south DC area relatively middle-class though that could support a Safeway, though? (I'm sure Safeway was there up until the late 1980s) After all, they don't need to necessarily keep the format of the store, and it will be immediately reset either way even in the most basic of plans (I should also bring up that Albertsons did convert from a warehouse format to Albertsons in Des Moines without closing the stores--and yes, while I know it was a relatively short-lived failure, I do wonder if the ASC acquisition never happened if those stores could've still worked out).
Most of the current Shoppers stores in Northern Virginia are lower middle class to solidly middle class areas. The problem is that both Giant and Safeway have stores nearby most of the Shoppers stores. I say Giant and Safeway since Shoppers is a union shop. With that said there are a few Shoppers locations that Giant, Safeway or others might be interested in.

Potomac Yards (Alexandria): Shoppers only 24 hour store. Gets lots of business from shift workers at National Airport as well as people coming into town who are looking to stock up on supplies. Competition is Giant, Harris Teeter and Aldi. Would be a good location for a grocer who can do prepared foods well and keep them available beyond normal hours. Safeway had a store a couple of miles away until the late 1990s but closed because the neighborhood was going off a cliff. In the early 2000s the neighborhood started to get much better and now is desirable as it is close to DC and has good public transit access.

Burke: Giant and Safeway both have stores nearby. This might be a good location for Publix as the neighborhoods near the store are all solidly middle class, white collar. This is a very nice Shoppers despite the fact it is never busy.

Dumfries: Growing area with little nearby competition. Giant had a store along US 1 on the east side of I-95 but closed it in the mid-2000s as the desirable growth was on the west side of I-95 where Shoppers is located.

Fairfax: Good neighborhood. But the shopping center feels more discount than anything else despite getting Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond and a Lifetime Fitness. Giant had a store in an adjacent center but was pushed out by the landlord. Safeway closed a nearby store in the 1980s when the big store on Nutley Street opened. There is a definite lack of grocery stores on the east side of Fairfax City. I could see this one going to Harris Teeter or Publix. The Nutley Street Safeway is a "flagship" location so I think it's trade area encompasses where this Shoppers is located.

Stafford: Growing area with decent demographics. Not sure Safeway would want to venture this far south again and Giant has a huge store nearby. Might be a good store for Publix as it is right off I-95 and is in a busy shopping center.


That is five stores out of 14 in northern Virginia. And that 14 is down as Shoppers has been closing stores recently. The problem is that Shoppers was historically the discount grocery store in the DC area. That got them into a lot of lower middle class areas or areas that have become very diverse. When Supervalu tried to convert the chain into a traditional grocer people abandoned the chain since other grocers were cheaper and better because of increased competition. Also with Wal-Mart adding groceries and then converting stores to Supercenters you had a discount option like what Shoppers used to be. Add Aldi to the mix and Supervalu has big issues. Shoppers in now the red headed step child of DC grocery in my view. No reason to really shop there but they still exist. Who knows what Supervalu will be able to do with them. Personally with all the competition in the DC grocery market at all levels and formats Shoppers as an entity probably has outlived its usefulness.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by pseudo3d »

mjhale wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:
storewanderer wrote:Shoppers is a quasi-warehouse format around DC (more of a conventional up in Baltimore though) but their locations skew in middle to lower middle class areas. These are not really the types of locations I would expect Safeway to target. Maybe someone like a Shop Rite or one of the other independent groups from up north would be more suited for those stores. Safeway (or Harris Teeter, or Publix) would fail with most of those locations.
Aren't the locations in the south DC area relatively middle-class though that could support a Safeway, though? (I'm sure Safeway was there up until the late 1980s) After all, they don't need to necessarily keep the format of the store, and it will be immediately reset either way even in the most basic of plans (I should also bring up that Albertsons did convert from a warehouse format to Albertsons in Des Moines without closing the stores--and yes, while I know it was a relatively short-lived failure, I do wonder if the ASC acquisition never happened if those stores could've still worked out).
Most of the current Shoppers stores in Northern Virginia are lower middle class to solidly middle class areas. The problem is that both Giant and Safeway have stores nearby most of the Shoppers stores. I say Giant and Safeway since Shoppers is a union shop. With that said there are a few Shoppers locations that Giant, Safeway or others might be interested in.

Potomac Yards (Alexandria): Shoppers only 24 hour store. Gets lots of business from shift workers at National Airport as well as people coming into town who are looking to stock up on supplies. Competition is Giant, Harris Teeter and Aldi. Would be a good location for a grocer who can do prepared foods well and keep them available beyond normal hours. Safeway had a store a couple of miles away until the late 1990s but closed because the neighborhood was going off a cliff. In the early 2000s the neighborhood started to get much better and now is desirable as it is close to DC and has good public transit access.

Burke: Giant and Safeway both have stores nearby. This might be a good location for Publix as the neighborhoods near the store are all solidly middle class, white collar. This is a very nice Shoppers despite the fact it is never busy.

Dumfries: Growing area with little nearby competition. Giant had a store along US 1 on the east side of I-95 but closed it in the mid-2000s as the desirable growth was on the west side of I-95 where Shoppers is located.

Fairfax: Good neighborhood. But the shopping center feels more discount than anything else despite getting Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond and a Lifetime Fitness. Giant had a store in an adjacent center but was pushed out by the landlord. Safeway closed a nearby store in the 1980s when the big store on Nutley Street opened. There is a definite lack of grocery stores on the east side of Fairfax City. I could see this one going to Harris Teeter or Publix. The Nutley Street Safeway is a "flagship" location so I think it's trade area encompasses where this Shoppers is located.

Stafford: Growing area with decent demographics. Not sure Safeway would want to venture this far south again and Giant has a huge store nearby. Might be a good store for Publix as it is right off I-95 and is in a busy shopping center.


That is five stores out of 14 in northern Virginia. And that 14 is down as Shoppers has been closing stores recently. The problem is that Shoppers was historically the discount grocery store in the DC area. That got them into a lot of lower middle class areas or areas that have become very diverse. When Supervalu tried to convert the chain into a traditional grocer people abandoned the chain since other grocers were cheaper and better because of increased competition. Also with Wal-Mart adding groceries and then converting stores to Supercenters you had a discount option like what Shoppers used to be. Add Aldi to the mix and Supervalu has big issues. Shoppers in now the red headed step child of DC grocery in my view. No reason to really shop there but they still exist. Who knows what Supervalu will be able to do with them. Personally with all the competition in the DC grocery market at all levels and formats Shoppers as an entity probably has outlived its usefulness.
Stafford is certainly closer to Safeway's trade area than Publix's, and frankly, I wouldn't be too sure of Publix in the DC suburbs until the Richmond market is a success and they start opening stores north.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by mjhale »

pseudo3d wrote: Stafford is certainly closer to Safeway's trade area than Publix's, and frankly, I wouldn't be too sure of Publix in the DC suburbs until the Richmond market is a success and they start opening stores north.
Publix is rumored to be coming a retail development near the Southpointe/Cosner's Corner area in Fredericksburg. Also it was reported a while ago that Publix had hired KLNB to represent it in the search for store locations in Northern Virginia.

While I agree with you that Publix needs to see if their Richmond stores are successful, they are obviously looking long term to have a large presence in the area. Despite the issue of having to deal with a unionized store I would think that Publix is looking at all options like buying castoffs from other chains. There just isn't that much more land available for development in Northern Virginia so I think most future growth is going to come from taking over other properties.
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by pseudo3d »

So, there's some rumblings that SuperValu's stock price is now low enough that it's an attractive takeover candidate. Better that than go out of business, and SVU shareholders could get value out of it after all. While it means Cub Foods (and other Midwest holdings) are probably safe, it makes me question what will happen with some of SVU's relationship with Albertsons (remaining SVU systems, etc.) and SuperValu's East Coast holdings.

http://www.fooddive.com/news/grocery--c ... up/439108/
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by storewanderer »

The Albertsons that remain on Supervalu systems can just switch over to the Safeway systems.

Unfortunately it seems like the Supervalu systems are actually the superior systems... maybe they can make a deal to get those systems.

Now that they no longer own Save a Lot, I wonder how many stores Supervalu is even supplying?
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Re: What now, SuperValu?

Post by bm10k »

http://www.startribune.com/supervalu-pl ... 438604343/

Look Like Supervalu is trying to revitalize Cub.it makes me wonder if it too little too late
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