The present and future of Randalls

Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. No non-grocery posts.
pseudo3d
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:So in the midst of great destruction across South Texas and resultant extreme flooding in the Houston area, there are numerous reports floating around that Randalls was price gouging on water and other supplies immediately prior to the storm (for example, bottled water priced at $1 a bottle). In addition, they have made no efforts to reach out to Houston residents through social media. Photos also show the stores being plagued with excessvely long lines due to minimal staffing. This sits in direct contrast to both HEB and Kroger, who are both actively sending relief crews and supplies into the affected areas as quickly as possible, and are also using their social media platforms as a place to find general emergency alerts far beyond just their operations. In addition, both HEB and Kroger have been recognized across social media for providing as much product and manpower as possible despite the emergency nature of the storm, often with every checkout open and product being brought directly from trucks out to the salesfloor. If Randalls cannot respond to this situation quickly, the resultant bad PR will likely kill their market share even more than it already has been. It will also be interesting to see if Randalls decides to reopen stores which have been heavily affected by flooding, as stores with borderline shopper traffic might not make economic sense to reopen.
Randalls didn't seem to have any problems during tax day flooding, most of their stores tend not to be in flood-prone areas (but that may change). Long lines and poor staffing are a chronic problem, and it's compounded for Randalls since they're not used to heavy traffic. The real test will be recovery after the floods, as recovery will be needed.

I should point out that in the days after Ike, Randalls was one of the first stores and gas stations to reopen on the island, while the H-E-B (which was probably closer to storm surge, admittedly) did not reopen.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by storewanderer »

This is what happens when you take away local control over operations.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:Randalls didn't seem to have any problems during tax day flooding, most of their stores tend not to be in flood-prone areas (but that may change). Long lines and poor staffing are a chronic problem, and it's compounded for Randalls since they're not used to heavy traffic. The real test will be recovery after the floods, as recovery will be needed.
So far from what I've seen on the news, it appears that the flooding from this storm is far more widespread than the tax day floods. While the tax day floods primarily affected certain residential areas such as Meyerland, Spring Branch and the Buffalo Bayou corridor, the current flooding seems to be affecting far more commercial corridors, in addition to residential neighborhoods. This would put far more Randalls stores (plus their competitors) in the path of the storm. However, while both HEB and Kroger have resources set up to resume operations as quickly as possible, Randalls might not be able to handle the cleaning and reconstruction process for many stores at once. In particular, the Bellfort/Post Oak, Bellaire, Bellfort/Kirkwood, Sugar Land, Clear Lake and League City stores are all in areas with significant flooding, and it would not surprise me to see these stores receive some degree of damage.
pseudo3d wrote:I should point out that in the days after Ike, Randalls was one of the first stores and gas stations to reopen on the island, while the H-E-B (which was probably closer to storm surge, admittedly) did not reopen.
I am honestly still surprised that HEB has not opened in a new location in Galveston. My only guess is that either they have been unable to find a site large enough to accommodate a modern HEB, or the cost to insure a new store on the island is simply too high. Randall's quick reopening after Ike was largely facilitated through the efforts of the shopping center owner, who also provided access back onto the island for Kroger as a goodwill measure.
storewanderer wrote:This is what happens when you take away local control over operations.
Somewhat ironically, the splitting of Kroger's Texas stores into separate Dallas and Houston divisions earlier this year likely allowed for a more thorough response to this disaster. In DFW, I have already seen instances of Kroger transferring product to the Houston division to aid in the relief effort. On the other hand, by shutting down their Houston distribution network, Albertsons has created a situation in which response times for their Houston stores are significantly hampered.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by BillyGr »

SoleOwnerOfMyName wrote:
architect wrote:So in the midst of great destruction across South Texas and resultant extreme flooding in the Houston area, there are numerous reports floating around that Randalls was price gouging on water and other supplies immediately prior to the storm (for example, bottled water priced at $1 a bottle).
Here is possible alternative explanation: They weren't "price gouging" at all. Instead, all the stores that people are normally accustomed to shopping at were sold out so they decided to go to Randalls. And when they went in for the first time in years the prices were exactly what they usually are - and people were so shocked at how high they were that they just assumed it was "price gouging!"
Another thought, at least for the water situation - is it possible that due to high demand they had already sold out of water in cases, so what people were finding was the bottles that would normally be sold singly at the checkout areas (where $1/bottle wouldn't be so unusual)? Could also apply to single bottles on the regular shelves of some of the more "fancy" brands.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by pseudo3d »

I just find it hard to believe that Randalls would try to reset all the prices to have $1 bottles of water.
architect wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Randalls didn't seem to have any problems during tax day flooding, most of their stores tend not to be in flood-prone areas (but that may change). Long lines and poor staffing are a chronic problem, and it's compounded for Randalls since they're not used to heavy traffic. The real test will be recovery after the floods, as recovery will be needed.
So far from what I've seen on the news, it appears that the flooding from this storm is far more widespread than the tax day floods. While the tax day floods primarily affected certain residential areas such as Meyerland, Spring Branch and the Buffalo Bayou corridor, the current flooding seems to be affecting far more commercial corridors, in addition to residential neighborhoods. This would put far more Randalls stores (plus their competitors) in the path of the storm. However, while both HEB and Kroger have resources set up to resume operations as quickly as possible, Randalls might not be able to handle the cleaning and reconstruction process for many stores at once. In particular, the Bellfort/Post Oak, Bellaire, Bellfort/Kirkwood, Sugar Land, Clear Lake and League City stores are all in areas with significant flooding, and it would not surprise me to see these stores receive some degree of damage.
pseudo3d wrote:I should point out that in the days after Ike, Randalls was one of the first stores and gas stations to reopen on the island, while the H-E-B (which was probably closer to storm surge, admittedly) did not reopen.
I am honestly still surprised that HEB has not opened in a new location in Galveston. My only guess is that either they have been unable to find a site large enough to accommodate a modern HEB, or the cost to insure a new store on the island is simply too high. Randall's quick reopening after Ike was largely facilitated through the efforts of the shopping center owner, who also provided access back onto the island for Kroger as a goodwill measure.
storewanderer wrote:This is what happens when you take away local control over operations.
Somewhat ironically, the splitting of Kroger's Texas stores into separate Dallas and Houston divisions earlier this year likely allowed for a more thorough response to this disaster. In DFW, I have already seen instances of Kroger transferring product to the Houston division to aid in the relief effort. On the other hand, by shutting down their Houston distribution network, Albertsons has created a situation in which response times for their Houston stores are significantly hampered.
The DC being far away might mean that the Houston stores will not get the stores re-stocked (because in 2008, the DC was right there). The local offices aren't that relevant as long as what local control there is can react effectively. Remember, for years, the Louisiana stores were supplied out of Dallas after Houston was sold in the early 2000s. Maybe if they do stick around, they can get a deal to be supplied by a third party.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by pseudo3d »

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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by rwsandiego »

pseudo3d wrote:Also, better late than never.
On Tuesday, my local Safeway had the donation function programmed into the card reader. The press release might just be a little late. DIdn't see a similar feature at Fry's.
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by storewanderer »

No donation effort at Smiths that I could see, or Raleys.

It looks like Kroger is only doing the donation option in stores near the impacted area. Arizona isn't that far from Texas...
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by pseudo3d »

Interesting. Getting to the topic post-Harvey, I realized that perhaps the one thing that could ensure Randalls' future in the Houston area is buying Fiesta, currently in the hands of an investment group. Steps would have to be taken to make this actually work properly, but what it would allow is Fiesta to do what it has generally failed to do, is connect with different demographics of Houston that Randalls can do and Fiesta can't, and vice versa. It would suddenly bolster the market share of the two companies to compete better with H-E-B and Kroger, allow banner swaps in areas where it needs to be, etc., plus it will end up putting former Safeway stores back in the hands of Albertsons Cos. :lol:
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Re: The present and future of Randalls

Post by storewanderer »

I don't think they are in a position to buy at this point... comparing their last quarter to that of Kroger... they need to focus full guns on fixing current operations.
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