Vons in Las Vegas

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Vons in Las Vegas

Post by storewanderer »

I am wondering when Vons in Las Vegas will either close or be rebranded to Albertsons.

I was in 4 of these stores last weekend. They are not in great shape physically. The lighting "upgrades" have been done and the stores look terrible. They still feel dingy, walls look ugly, some floors are not in great shape, and customer traffic is terrible compared to the surrounding Smiths which seem to hit them from every angle. The only Vons that was semi-busy was the one that is across from Glazier's (which seems to have REALLY fallen hard from a year or two ago, not sure what happened to that store but something has really gone wrong there).

Operationally I think they are doing the best they can with what they have; staffing levels were adequate and perimeters were pretty well maintained/clean. Pricing is well above Smiths on center store and produce, but I think they are fairly competitive on the meat, bakery, and deli categories.

But there were a few curious observations:
1. At each store they have random Safeway Club Cards at the scanners and those are being scanned if you do not have a card
2. They have Vons plastic bags, but reusable bags/boxes all have the Safeway logo
3. Bakery is very interesting. It has both Safeway bakery items AND Albertsons bakery items. They are actually displayed on separate tables. The Albertsons offerings are generally at higher price points (muffins and cookies specifically) but are of much better quality. At Albertsons in Las Vegas there are no Safeway bakery items, just the Albertsons stuff.
4. The ad looks like an Albertsons ad, but still says Vons
5. One Vons has a gas station. The gas station is same price cash/credit and has completely covered over the second price panel that previously had a cash price. It is good to see they are eliminating this practice.

The Albertsons bannered stores I went to in Las Vegas seemed to be a lot busier, a lot more fully merchandised, and just felt "better" despite the same higher than Smiths price structure on most items.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by architect »

storewanderer wrote: December 14th, 2017, 8:25 pm 2. They have Vons plastic bags, but reusable bags/boxes all have the Safeway logo
3. Bakery is very interesting. It has both Safeway bakery items AND Albertsons bakery items. They are actually displayed on separate tables. The Albertsons offerings are generally at higher price points (muffins and cookies specifically) but are of much better quality. At Albertsons in Las Vegas there are no Safeway bakery items, just the Albertsons stuff.
4. The ad looks like an Albertsons ad, but still says Vons
All three of these items are not exclusive to Las Vegas, the Tom Thumb/Randalls stores in Texas have sold Safeway reusable bags even prior to the Albertsons merger and have continued to do so for the most part. In DFW, the ads are often identical outside of branding (I can't believe that the ads have not been combined into one at this point), and Albertsons and Tom Thumb have influenced each operationally to the point that they are almost indistinguishable (and not in a good way, both chains seem to have brought their worst characteristics to the table).

As far as Vons in Vegas goes, I agree that at this point, it would make the most sense to simply rebrand under Albertsons, especially since the city is so far disconnected from SoCal both geographically and culturally. However, this is Albertsons we're talking about here, so there's no telling what might actually happen.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by pseudo3d »

It's definitely an ABS-favored market (see the reopened Haggen/finally opened Vons for examples), and I think what will happen is sometime next year, Albertsons will launch a remodel on all of the remaining Las Vegas Vons and convert them into Albertsons, similar to what they did with existing Albertsons in Colorado.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by storewanderer »

It will be interesting to see stores actually converted to the Albertsons banner, if it happens. I think in Las Vegas, Vons may just be weak enough to justify being converted. The stores worth keeping open, anyway. I do think they are growing their business at both Vons and Albertsons banners in Las Vegas the past couple years by way of better specials and better perimeter offerings (except produce) than Smiths. But their traffic levels are still pretty low (especially at Vons) compared to Smiths.

Some other markets where there are Safeway Stores being run by Intermountain Albertsons (Eastern Colorado, Montana, Wyoming) I am also curious what they will do with the banners there. I am not sure what type of reputation Safeway has in those markets. It may not be as necessary to do banner changes in rural type areas due to how advertising works in those places.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: December 14th, 2017, 8:25 pm I am wondering when Vons in Las Vegas will either close or be rebranded to Albertsons.

I was in 4 of these stores last weekend. They are not in great shape physically. The lighting "upgrades" have been done and the stores look terrible. They still feel dingy, walls look ugly, some floors are not in great shape, and customer traffic is terrible compared to the surrounding Smiths which seem to hit them from every angle. The only Vons that was semi-busy was the one that is across from Glazier's (which seems to have REALLY fallen hard from a year or two ago, not sure what happened to that store but something has really gone wrong there).
The Glazier's supermarket is closing down and selling out to Smith's. If Albertsons wants to act on that Vons they'd better do it fast. (And while we're on the subject, it sure looks like Glazier's used to be an Albertsons itself)
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by pseudo3d »

Another sign of future Albertsons domination in LV...

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/ ... gas-store/
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by CalItalian »

pseudo3d wrote: January 24th, 2018, 7:08 am Another sign of future Albertsons domination in LV...

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/ ... gas-store/
Whoever wrote that article didn't do their research very well. 10 years? A new Albertsons store was opened last year. Yes, I know it was originally intended to be a Vons but never opened as one. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/loc ... las-vegas/
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by CalItalian »

pseudo3d wrote: January 4th, 2018, 10:58 am
storewanderer wrote: December 14th, 2017, 8:25 pm I am wondering when Vons in Las Vegas will either close or be rebranded to Albertsons.

I was in 4 of these stores last weekend. They are not in great shape physically. The lighting "upgrades" have been done and the stores look terrible. They still feel dingy, walls look ugly, some floors are not in great shape, and customer traffic is terrible compared to the surrounding Smiths which seem to hit them from every angle. The only Vons that was semi-busy was the one that is across from Glazier's (which seems to have REALLY fallen hard from a year or two ago, not sure what happened to that store but something has really gone wrong there).
The Glazier's supermarket is closing down and selling out to Smith's. If Albertsons wants to act on that Vons they'd better do it fast. (And while we're on the subject, it sure looks like Glazier's used to be an Albertsons itself)
I have no idea who built the building but the interior open ceilings look like nothing I've ever seen before in any West Coast chain.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by pseudo3d »

CalItalian wrote: January 25th, 2018, 8:16 pm
pseudo3d wrote: January 24th, 2018, 7:08 am Another sign of future Albertsons domination in LV...

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/ ... gas-store/
Whoever wrote that article didn't do their research very well. 10 years? A new Albertsons store was opened last year. Yes, I know it was originally intended to be a Vons but never opened as one. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/loc ... las-vegas/
Finishing out a Vons store isn't what they were referring to, it was a new from-the-ground up store.
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Re: Vons in Las Vegas

Post by CalItalian »

pseudo3d wrote: January 25th, 2018, 8:56 pm
CalItalian wrote: January 25th, 2018, 8:16 pm
pseudo3d wrote: January 24th, 2018, 7:08 am Another sign of future Albertsons domination in LV...

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/ ... gas-store/
Whoever wrote that article didn't do their research very well. 10 years? A new Albertsons store was opened last year. Yes, I know it was originally intended to be a Vons but never opened as one. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/loc ... las-vegas/
Finishing out a Vons store isn't what they were referring to, it was a new from-the-ground up store.
It was a new from the ground up store. Construction started well after the merger. It was just a shell before. http://www.remingtonnevada.com/mountain ... w-tenants/
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