Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

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storewanderer
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Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by storewanderer »

It had been my observation that many stores Albertsons opened or remodeled lately no longer carried the Sav-On name.

I noticed today a former Haggen in El Cajon that has the Sav-On logo on both the building and on the highway/street signage. However, inside the store there is no Sav-On fixture or any signage referring to Sav-On.

What have other people noticed with former Haggen Stores that have been reopened under the Albertsons banner that included a pharmacy?
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by pseudo3d »

Frankly, tacking on the Osco/Sav-On names were a mistake done by late-era Albertsons Incorporated. It was done at a great expense to basically relocate, add, or change signage, to questionable ends, as they did it in nearly all of their stores, not just the ones that had Sav-on or Osco drug stores. They didn't do it to the exterior of the Florida stores, but they did do it to the Dallas-Fort Worth division, and those had no Sav-on or Osco drug stores in the market at all.

After Albertsons LLC took over, any new stores did not add that signage. A store that opened in 2011 in Denham Springs, LA did not have the Sav-on signage (though curiously ads at this time included the Albertsons Market name, which was used inside stores as well).
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote:Frankly, tacking on the Osco/Sav-On names were a mistake done by late-era Albertsons Incorporated. It was done at a great expense to basically relocate, add, or change signage, to questionable ends, as they did it in nearly all of their stores, not just the ones that had Sav-on or Osco drug stores. They didn't do it to the exterior of the Florida stores, but they did do it to the Dallas-Fort Worth division, and those had no Sav-on or Osco drug stores in the market at all.

After Albertsons LLC took over, any new stores did not add that signage. A store that opened in 2011 in Denham Springs, LA did not have the Sav-on signage (though curiously ads at this time included the Albertsons Market name, which was used inside stores as well).
So why I wonder are they putting the Sav-On name on a store again now?
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Frankly, tacking on the Osco/Sav-On names were a mistake done by late-era Albertsons Incorporated. It was done at a great expense to basically relocate, add, or change signage, to questionable ends, as they did it in nearly all of their stores, not just the ones that had Sav-on or Osco drug stores. They didn't do it to the exterior of the Florida stores, but they did do it to the Dallas-Fort Worth division, and those had no Sav-on or Osco drug stores in the market at all.

After Albertsons LLC took over, any new stores did not add that signage. A store that opened in 2011 in Denham Springs, LA did not have the Sav-on signage (though curiously ads at this time included the Albertsons Market name, which was used inside stores as well).
So why I wonder are they putting the Sav-On name on a store again now?
Maybe they are trying to lure customers into the store by using the familiar Sav-On name.
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote:It had been my observation that many stores Albertsons opened or remodeled lately no longer carried the Sav-On name.

I noticed today a former Haggen in El Cajon that has the Sav-On logo on both the building and on the highway/street signage. However, inside the store there is no Sav-On fixture or any signage referring to Sav-On.

What have other people noticed with former Haggen Stores that have been reopened under the Albertsons banner that included a pharmacy?
The two re-opened ex-Haggen Albertsons locations in Arizona do not have Osco signage on them. In addition, a number of shopping center entrance signs of Albertsons stores around the Phoenix area have been changed recently. Most of the older signs said Albertsons-Osco but they've been changed to simply Albertsons.

In Arizona, they're simply Albertsons Pharmacy and it's also reflected in the weekly ads (with no mention of Osco anywhere).

However, I see that in the weekly ads in Southern California Sav-On Pharmacy is still listed.
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by submariner »

rwsandiego wrote:
storewanderer wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Frankly, tacking on the Osco/Sav-On names were a mistake done by late-era Albertsons Incorporated. It was done at a great expense to basically relocate, add, or change signage, to questionable ends, as they did it in nearly all of their stores, not just the ones that had Sav-on or Osco drug stores. They didn't do it to the exterior of the Florida stores, but they did do it to the Dallas-Fort Worth division, and those had no Sav-on or Osco drug stores in the market at all.

After Albertsons LLC took over, any new stores did not add that signage. A store that opened in 2011 in Denham Springs, LA did not have the Sav-on signage (though curiously ads at this time included the Albertsons Market name, which was used inside stores as well).
So why I wonder are they putting the Sav-On name on a store again now?
Maybe they are trying to lure customers into the store by using the familiar Sav-On name.
It also keeps the trademarks active rather than risking having the names taken from under them based on abandonment clauses.
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by HulkieD »

Not Haggen, but the A&P stores that reopened as Acmes don't have Sav-on branded pharmacies. Recent remodels may or may not have them in there - there have been some remodels with the late Supervalu-style package that have Sav-on, but most of the LLC-style remodels don't. Most of them - I have happened upon one that DOES have a Sav-on but that's kind of an anomaly. Advertising brands the pharmacies as just "Acme" these days but bags mention Acme and Sav-on. Labels just have Sav-on.

Confusing branding, but eh, like submariner said, they probably want to keep trademarks active, so...
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Re: Albertsons use of Osco/Sav-On Names

Post by pseudo3d »

submariner wrote:
rwsandiego wrote:
storewanderer wrote:
So why I wonder are they putting the Sav-On name on a store again now?
Maybe they are trying to lure customers into the store by using the familiar Sav-On name.
It also keeps the trademarks active rather than risking having the names taken from under them based on abandonment clauses.
It looks like it's still active in the ACME division (link), though I don't know how active it really is...some stores kept the Sav-on on the sign even after repainting, and the page will briefly bring up "SUPERVALU" on the title bar before it redirects. Either way, Albertsons has used Sav-on in recent history enough that it's not at risk for falling into the wrong hands. They almost lost control of Lucky to Grocery Outlet around 10 years ago, and Grocery Outlet still managed to make off with a number of Lucky ideas, like "Key Buys".
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