Albertsons in El Paso

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Albertsons in El Paso

Post by storewanderer »

I suspect El Paso is the best performing group of stores in the entire Southwest Division. About half of them (if not more) are Colorful Lifestyle interior and they spared no expense on these remodels. Really complete remodels.

These stores are Albertsons/Sav-On combo stores (like what was done in Phoenix and Reno, and like what Jewel Osco is) and still have a full full drug mix.

Pricing is pretty terrible, and they do not run the hot ad specials that Southwest runs in Phoenix (no reason to), but it doesn't matter. The stores are very busy, well staffed, well presented, and perimeters all look great.

I have no clue why Smiths was pulled out of El Paso (if Albertsons can support stores in El Paso from Phoenix, so could Kroger), but between that and Furr's, it sure put Albertsons in a great position there. One of the former Smiths just remodeled into the colorful lifestyle and seems to be an extremely busy place. The other had a somewhat tired looking Jewel interior and was very spacious, but looked generally healthy. Those Smiths are obviously quite large for Albertsons. I don't think Albertsons got any Furrs Stores. There are also some Lowe's Food Stores running under banners Big 8 Food and Food King Cost Plus but these are more discount format operations (particularly on private label goods), no bakery, no pharmacy, limited deli, etc.

Some of these appear to be old old Skaggs Albertsons combo stores (Dyer Street and a few others). Were these Jewel Oscos too or was this territory one that stayed with Albertsons all along?
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: April 21st, 2018, 10:43 pm I suspect El Paso is the best performing group of stores in the entire Southwest Division. About half of them (if not more) are Colorful Lifestyle interior and they spared no expense on these remodels. Really complete remodels.

These stores are Albertsons/Sav-On combo stores (like what was done in Phoenix and Reno, and like what Jewel Osco is) and still have a full full drug mix.

Pricing is pretty terrible, and they do not run the hot ad specials that Southwest runs in Phoenix (no reason to), but it doesn't matter. The stores are very busy, well staffed, well presented, and perimeters all look great.

I have no clue why Smiths was pulled out of El Paso (if Albertsons can support stores in El Paso from Phoenix, so could Kroger), but between that and Furr's, it sure put Albertsons in a great position there. One of the former Smiths just remodeled into the colorful lifestyle and seems to be an extremely busy place. The other had a somewhat tired looking Jewel interior and was very spacious, but looked generally healthy. Those Smiths are obviously quite large for Albertsons. I don't think Albertsons got any Furrs Stores. There are also some Lowe's Food Stores running under banners Big 8 Food and Food King Cost Plus but these are more discount format operations (particularly on private label goods), no bakery, no pharmacy, limited deli, etc.

Some of these appear to be old old Skaggs Albertsons combo stores (Dyer Street and a few others). Were these Jewel Oscos too or was this territory one that stayed with Albertsons all along?
From a topic I made in Groceteria, Albertsons did pick up a few former Smith's in the early 2000s, but they were briefly Rainbow Foods (yes, same one out of Minnesota) back when Rainbow was owned by Fleming. The Smith's stores closed in 2001, and I would guess it was lost when Kroger was trying to focus on the Arizona market by consolidating the Smith's stores (and the Fred Meyer Marketplace stores, formerly Smitty's) with Fry's. There are/were a few isolated stores Smith's stores in New Mexico still, so I guess what happened was Kroger deciding to drop out of the El Paso market for market share reasons and re-focus on Fry's. As for the Skaggs Albertsons stores, they could've switched to Albertsons early on...if I recall, the Skaggs stores were kept in New Mexico, Dallas, and College Station, while Albertsons took North Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but if they stuck with Skaggs post-divestment where the non-New Mexico stores were sold off, it would be converted to Lucky in 1998, and while that was the case in Albuquerque (which was divested to Raley's, which ultimately was bought back by Albertsons), I just don't think Lucky went out to El Paso.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by architect »

storewanderer wrote: April 21st, 2018, 10:43 pm I suspect El Paso is the best performing group of stores in the entire Southwest Division. About half of them (if not more) are Colorful Lifestyle interior and they spared no expense on these remodels. Really complete remodels.

These stores are Albertsons/Sav-On combo stores (like what was done in Phoenix and Reno, and like what Jewel Osco is) and still have a full full drug mix.

Pricing is pretty terrible, and they do not run the hot ad specials that Southwest runs in Phoenix (no reason to), but it doesn't matter. The stores are very busy, well staffed, well presented, and perimeters all look great.
From what I can tell based on Google/Yelp photos, many of these stores already had LLC decor, so Colorful Lifestyle was likely a logical next step, especially since similar remodel packages have been used in the Phoenix/Tucson area within the same division. Overall, I am pretty impressed and actually somewhat jealous that none of my local Albertsons stores have received said treatment (all of our recently-remodeled Albertsons stores have received LLC decor if they did not have it already).

It will be interesting to see if these stores maintain their Albertsons product mix, or eventually shift towards Safeway's. In DFW and surrounding markets, Albertsons has pretty much entirely switched to the Safeway product mix, leaving banner and decor packages as the only real differentiator between Albertsons and Tom Thumb/Randalls. Since the El Paso market is a relatively small part of the Southwest Division, it would make sense to streamline operations as much as possible with the Arizona stores, particularly if the Phoenix/Tucson Albertsons locations are eventually converted to Safeway.

El Paso is definitely an interesting market, both due to its isolation and also its unique demographics. The market has a large Hispanic population, while also having a sizable military presence. I am honestly surprised that the Albertsons stores are as busy as they are.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by wnetmacman »

architect wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 4:28 pm From a topic I made in Groceteria, Albertsons did pick up a few former Smith's in the early 2000s, but they were briefly Rainbow Foods (yes, same one out of Minnesota) back when Rainbow was owned by Fleming.
Same ownership, different stores. Rainbow was brought to Texas when Fleming was buying up empty stores in an effort to keep their faltering distribution business while Kmart's deal was falling through. They also bought up a group of 7 large Super 1 Foods stores around Dallas from Brookshire Grocery Company. None survived Fleming's bankruptcy, and none are supermarkets today.
pseudo3d wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 2:27 pm As for the Skaggs Albertsons stores, they could've switched to Albertsons early on...if I recall, the Skaggs stores were kept in New Mexico, Dallas, and College Station, while Albertsons took North Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but if they stuck with Skaggs post-divestment where the non-New Mexico stores were sold off, it would be converted to Lucky in 1998, and while that was the case in Albuquerque (which was divested to Raley's, which ultimately was bought back by Albertsons), I just don't think Lucky went out to El Paso.
The Skaggs Albertsons split, while amicable, was very, well, weird. Stores around Dallas were kept, but Louisiana and Florida went to Albertsons. It is to this day one of the weirdest splits in the supermarket business. The stores Skaggs kept, however, were essentially Albertsons in all but name for their entire existence beyond the last year and a half when the Dallas stores all became Jewel-Osco. That changeover included stores in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Therefore, while I haven't found proof of a Jewel-Osco in El Paso, I'm pretty sure it was included if there were any Skaggs stores there at that time.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by pseudo3d »

wnetmacman wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 5:18 pm
architect wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 4:28 pm From a topic I made in Groceteria, Albertsons did pick up a few former Smith's in the early 2000s, but they were briefly Rainbow Foods (yes, same one out of Minnesota) back when Rainbow was owned by Fleming.
Same ownership, different stores. Rainbow was brought to Texas when Fleming was buying up empty stores in an effort to keep their faltering distribution business while Kmart's deal was falling through. They also bought up a group of 7 large Super 1 Foods stores around Dallas from Brookshire Grocery Company. None survived Fleming's bankruptcy, and none are supermarkets today.
pseudo3d wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 2:27 pm As for the Skaggs Albertsons stores, they could've switched to Albertsons early on...if I recall, the Skaggs stores were kept in New Mexico, Dallas, and College Station, while Albertsons took North Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but if they stuck with Skaggs post-divestment where the non-New Mexico stores were sold off, it would be converted to Lucky in 1998, and while that was the case in Albuquerque (which was divested to Raley's, which ultimately was bought back by Albertsons), I just don't think Lucky went out to El Paso.
The Skaggs Albertsons split, while amicable, was very, well, weird. Stores around Dallas were kept, but Louisiana and Florida went to Albertsons. It is to this day one of the weirdest splits in the supermarket business. The stores Skaggs kept, however, were essentially Albertsons in all but name for their entire existence beyond the last year and a half when the Dallas stores all became Jewel-Osco. That changeover included stores in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Therefore, while I haven't found proof of a Jewel-Osco in El Paso, I'm pretty sure it was included if there were any Skaggs stores there at that time.
There were definitely Skaggs Albertsons stores in El Paso according to newspaper archives from the 1970s. I would guess that it was kept by Albertsons since they only purchased 74 stores in 1992 (in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida), with most of those being in Dallas-Fort Worth, a smattering in Oklahoma, and the Arkansas border, with Florida being the modern "Jewel-Osco" Florida stores they built in the late 1980s, and not the original Skaggs stores. As for their fate, I'm going to bet that they were part of the Albertsons purchase in the late 1970s. If they were Jewel-Osco stores, they'd almost certainly be a part of Jewel-Osco New Mexico, become Lucky in 1998, and be subject to divestment.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by storewanderer »

One of the El Paso Stores had the "Serving El Paso since 1992" fixture up. So I guess that labels those as former Jewel Osco Stores.

In El Paso, quite a few of the stores were the very old Skaggs Albertsons style stores. Some had significant remodeling and it is not clear exactly when; one of them appears as if they demolished the whole thing aside from the rock-front walls as once inside it was a straight grocery palace layout/design (with colorful lifestyle interior; wonderful looking store).

I am of the impression Albertsons does well in El Paso simply because they were the only operator who stuck around. Smiths and Furrs both disappeared around the same time and left the field wide open for Albertsons. The former Furrs are mostly Big 8 Foods or Food King (Cost Plus 10%) both Lowes Food formats. While the Food King stores seem to do pretty well with heavy hispanic customer traffic, I don't think the Big 8 Stores are particularly high volume. The Big 8 and Food Kings have inconsistent perimeter department offerings and little to no drug/GM unless you count large dollar aisles; some have no bakery, some have no deli, some have one but not the other, you get the idea... the Albertsons are the only "complete" stores with a full perimeter in every location.

This leaves me more curious about Las Cruces. There, you have once nicer late 90's Albertsons, and two Albertsons Stores that are quite old and not in particularly great shape (had LLC interiors; low budget remodel version with old gray floor tile patterns from the blue gray interior in most of the store) or maintenance, and those were obviously Albertsons back in 1999 since there were two Lucky Stores (Jewel Oscos) there that got divested off to Raleys. So I wonder if Las Cruces had both Jewel Osco and Albertsons, but then down in El Paso the two never co-existed? Odd for two markets that are barely a half hour apart...

There is a Wal Mart Neighborhood Market at 8115 N. Loop in El Paso that sure looks like an Albertsons to me (including the layout inside). But I could be wrong.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 11:28 pm One of the El Paso Stores had the "Serving El Paso since 1992" fixture up. So I guess that labels those as former Jewel Osco Stores.

In El Paso, quite a few of the stores were the very old Skaggs Albertsons style stores. Some had significant remodeling and it is not clear exactly when; one of them appears as if they demolished the whole thing aside from the rock-front walls as once inside it was a straight grocery palace layout/design (with colorful lifestyle interior; wonderful looking store).

I am of the impression Albertsons does well in El Paso simply because they were the only operator who stuck around. Smiths and Furrs both disappeared around the same time and left the field wide open for Albertsons. The former Furrs are mostly Big 8 Foods or Food King (Cost Plus 10%) both Lowes Food formats. While the Food King stores seem to do pretty well with heavy hispanic customer traffic, I don't think the Big 8 Stores are particularly high volume. The Big 8 and Food Kings have inconsistent perimeter department offerings and little to no drug/GM unless you count large dollar aisles; some have no bakery, some have no deli, some have one but not the other, you get the idea... the Albertsons are the only "complete" stores with a full perimeter in every location.

This leaves me more curious about Las Cruces. There, you have once nicer late 90's Albertsons, and two Albertsons Stores that are quite old and not in particularly great shape (had LLC interiors; low budget remodel version with old gray floor tile patterns from the blue gray interior in most of the store) or maintenance, and those were obviously Albertsons back in 1999 since there were two Lucky Stores (Jewel Oscos) there that got divested off to Raleys. So I wonder if Las Cruces had both Jewel Osco and Albertsons, but then down in El Paso the two never co-existed? Odd for two markets that are barely a half hour apart...

There is a Wal Mart Neighborhood Market at 8115 N. Loop in El Paso that sure looks like an Albertsons to me (including the layout inside). But I could be wrong.
Your guess about 8115 N. Loop in El Paso as an Albertsons appears to be correct.

Apparently it was Albertsons store 935 (according to a search of property tax records). The last year Albertsons paid property taxes on it was 2000 so it couldn't have been an Albertsons for very long (as it looks like a late 1990s store).
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by storewanderer »

arizonaguy wrote: April 23rd, 2018, 4:27 pm
storewanderer wrote: April 22nd, 2018, 11:28 pm One of the El Paso Stores had the "Serving El Paso since 1992" fixture up. So I guess that labels those as former Jewel Osco Stores.

In El Paso, quite a few of the stores were the very old Skaggs Albertsons style stores. Some had significant remodeling and it is not clear exactly when; one of them appears as if they demolished the whole thing aside from the rock-front walls as once inside it was a straight grocery palace layout/design (with colorful lifestyle interior; wonderful looking store).

I am of the impression Albertsons does well in El Paso simply because they were the only operator who stuck around. Smiths and Furrs both disappeared around the same time and left the field wide open for Albertsons. The former Furrs are mostly Big 8 Foods or Food King (Cost Plus 10%) both Lowes Food formats. While the Food King stores seem to do pretty well with heavy hispanic customer traffic, I don't think the Big 8 Stores are particularly high volume. The Big 8 and Food Kings have inconsistent perimeter department offerings and little to no drug/GM unless you count large dollar aisles; some have no bakery, some have no deli, some have one but not the other, you get the idea... the Albertsons are the only "complete" stores with a full perimeter in every location.

This leaves me more curious about Las Cruces. There, you have once nicer late 90's Albertsons, and two Albertsons Stores that are quite old and not in particularly great shape (had LLC interiors; low budget remodel version with old gray floor tile patterns from the blue gray interior in most of the store) or maintenance, and those were obviously Albertsons back in 1999 since there were two Lucky Stores (Jewel Oscos) there that got divested off to Raleys. So I wonder if Las Cruces had both Jewel Osco and Albertsons, but then down in El Paso the two never co-existed? Odd for two markets that are barely a half hour apart...

There is a Wal Mart Neighborhood Market at 8115 N. Loop in El Paso that sure looks like an Albertsons to me (including the layout inside). But I could be wrong.
Your guess about 8115 N. Loop in El Paso as an Albertsons appears to be correct.

Apparently it was Albertsons store 935 (according to a search of property tax records). The last year Albertsons paid property taxes on it was 2000 so it couldn't have been an Albertsons for very long (as it looks like a late 1990s store).
It is interesting most of what Albertsons operates in El Paso was either previously Jewel Osco (though you could say started as Skaggs Albertsons so technically started as theirs...) or the two that were previously Smiths... I only went into one store that appeared to be an Albertsons-build up in North El Paso (very nice colorful lifestyle store as well there). 8115 N. Loop was definitely a real estate mistake and it appears it did not last long... though at the era it operated, they had a lot more competition in El Paso than they have now...
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by pseudo3d »

Skaggs Alpha Beta definitely operated in El Paso as of 1988, this commercial was from that era, and other references do list Skaggs Alpha Beta being in El Paso. Not surprised there's no reference to Jewel-Osco being in El Paso, like the other J/O stores in Texas, they basically existed for about a year or less before being closed when they were sold to Albertsons. Unlike Florida, I don't any of them were built as Jewel-Osco either.
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Re: Albertsons in El Paso

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: April 27th, 2018, 10:05 pm Skaggs Alpha Beta definitely operated in El Paso as of 1988, this commercial was from that era, and other references do list Skaggs Alpha Beta being in El Paso. Not surprised there's no reference to Jewel-Osco being in El Paso, like the other J/O stores in Texas, they basically existed for about a year or less before being closed when they were sold to Albertsons. Unlike Florida, I don't any of them were built as Jewel-Osco either.
For some reason I thought one El Paso Store may have been built as Jewel Osco, but I never found that store...

Jewel Osco definitely built at least a couple stores in Albuquerque though, but they were there longer.
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