Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

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Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by storewanderer »

http://www.ktnv.com/news/some-albertson ... cing-hours

Most of these stores are in pretty good neighborhoods but maybe theft was still a factor. Or there just flat out wasn't enough business with all of the 24 hour Smiths and 24 hour Wal Marts lurking around.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by klkla »

Seems like a strange move for Las Vegas when so many residents work around the clock because of the casinos. And as far as I remember they are the only chain supermarket operator in Boulder City so that one seems really odd.

Reducing shrink would seem to be logical but might put them at a disadvantage with their competitors.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by storewanderer »

It looks like some of the Smiths that used to be F4L are also not 24 hours but I understand that as almost all of those (save for that one down by South Point) are in some dangerous/scary neighborhoods (would love to see shrink figures).
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by pseudo3d »

Honestly, I'm not too surprised about it, even for LV. I found out that my local 24H H-E-B was an exception rather than the rule for the chain, and we know that Publix isn't 24 hours for all but a small handful of stores.*

I doubt that the 24 hour locations were really that busy after dark, unless they did something like keep perishables open into the wee hours of the night. Reality is that night hours for ANY STORE are usually completely dead, and for good reason. The perishable departments are completely shut down...no deli, no bakery (and if likely, the display items for both will be running short as well), no pharmacy, no customer service desk, no service meat or seafood (barely a "super"market), and even if you needed something at the pharmacy, better hope it wasn't one of those items that they lock up due to higher theft (hope you didn't need condoms--those usually seem to be under lock and key) because good luck finding someone. Aisles are often littered with boxes due to night stocking, and service and staffing will be pretty much non-existent.

Walmarts and higher-volume grocery stores can still keep a steady crowd through the nighttime hours but its largely meaningless for supermarkets.


* So I've heard
(EDIT: Added clarification for night stores)
Last edited by pseudo3d on January 24th, 2017, 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by arizonaguy »

No traditional grocer in the Phoenix area is 24 hours anymore except for Winco and some Walmart Neighborhood Markets.

Many Walmart Supercenters here aren't even 24 hours anymore.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by wnetmacman »

Albertsons made this change in Louisiana and Texas when the company originally split. Most stores were reduced from 24 hours; this is not a real surprise for me.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by BillyGr »

Same up this way in NY - the two main chains (Price Chopper and Hannaford) have cut back on having stores open 24 hours (I know PC still has a few scattered ones, not sure if Hannaford has any at all). The handful of ShopRite stores opened recently were not 24 hours to start with (nor is the one that has been around for years a few miles south) and even those I think at least one cut back from say 6-12mid to 6-10pm or similar).

The only one I was ever in was one of the Hannaford stores, and that one didn't really even have a dedicated "cashier" - just one of the people overnight stocking that would come up when needed to check you out. So not much "extra" cost to being open (assuming people weren't taking off without paying - probably not a good idea with so few customers/cars in the lot) but apparently still not enough business to make it worthwhile.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote:Same up this way in NY - the two main chains (Price Chopper and Hannaford) have cut back on having stores open 24 hours (I know PC still has a few scattered ones, not sure if Hannaford has any at all). The handful of ShopRite stores opened recently were not 24 hours to start with (nor is the one that has been around for years a few miles south) and even those I think at least one cut back from say 6-12mid to 6-10pm or similar).

The only one I was ever in was one of the Hannaford stores, and that one didn't really even have a dedicated "cashier" - just one of the people overnight stocking that would come up when needed to check you out. So not much "extra" cost to being open (assuming people weren't taking off without paying - probably not a good idea with so few customers/cars in the lot) but apparently still not enough business to make it worthwhile.
This was the logic Safeway used to use as to why stores were open 24 hours. Have a stocker come and run the register as needed and it was not really a big cost. Some people argued it was a cost for the stocker to stop stocking, walk up to the register, etc. I suppose it depends if the transaction was for a few cans of beer or a medium sized grocery basket how worthwhile it was for the stocker to stop stocking and come help the customer.

The Smiths in Reno/Sparks that are still 24 hours have a dedicated cashier all night (also usually 2 self checkouts open). The Safeways that are 24 hours do not have a dedicated cashier and service is terrible, they have a squeeking dog toy at the register to get the stocker's attention at one location and at the other location you stand there forever and hope someone notices you. It is also somewhat incorrect there is no perimeter; Safeway bakeries bake in the middle of the night and if you show up at 1 AM or 2 AM you will find fresh rolls/bread and possibly fresh donuts as well. Scolaris previously had a set up similar to this with 24 hour stores (most of those have closed) and was losing a ton of money to liquor theft since nobody was watching the registers and the stockers were stocking. Their solution toward the end was to install gates over the liquor aisles after 8 or 9 PM which likely hurt business more from the customers who were coming in and paying for liquor during those times.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by Super S »

24 hour stores were a common sight where I live during the late 80s to about the mid 90s. At one point not only were most Safeways 24 hours but so were most independents in my town (which have since disappeared) at that time. Even QFC at one point used to widely advertise 24 hour stores, and I do remember seeing a billboard in Ohio in the early 90s advertising 24 hour delis in Kroger stores. These days the only consistent 24 hour store in my area is WinCo. Although I have seen some Safeway stores that are 24 hours on a seasonal basis.
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Re: Albertsons eliminates 24 hours at 7 Las Vegas locations

Post by storewanderer »

I find the idea of a 24 hour deli interesting. I have noticed many times at various chains the delis are staffed with quite a few employees but only 1-2 of those employees are helping customers while the others are cleaning, or preparing items, or wrapping items, etc. With a 24 hour deli, ideally, you could have employees complete those cleaning/preparation tasks during very slow times and then during the day be better off at devoting closer to 100% of the staff's time to actually helping customers...

Then again the same logic was used for 24 hour pharmacies (can fill refills during slow hours, less interruption, more productive, etc.) and most chains have deemed that largely unprofitable other than in some large metro areas... we had a former Sav-On in Sparks that was 24 hours store/pharmacy since about 1992 and through all the mergers, buyouts, etc. it remained 24 hours store/pharmacy until last year when CVS finally eliminated the 24 hour pharmacy but for now has kept the store open 24 hours (the area has gotten a bit rough and I am surprised theft has not yet killed that idea at that location). There was also a 24 hour Longs in Sparks (former Rite Aid) which CVS closed rather than converting; not a great volume store but was 24 hours from day one due to a hospital being nearby (a low volume hospital).
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