Clearwater, FL Albertsons Closing May 28

[storewanderer]

I hope I didn't jinx it.

Well that leaves 3 locations in FL. They still have a store in each metro area (Tampa, Miami, Orlando). I guess this duplicate Clearwater one giving metro Tampa two locations had to go.

Articles say 86 employees are impacted. Sounds like it wasn't doing great volume, but not exactly low volume either.

[wnetmacman]

Being that Albertsons' next closest stores to these four are in Louisiana, it has to be costing them a small fortune to run these stores. Initially, I thought the remaining four were in Pensacola, but I was wrong. That would have made sense. No, they're further south, and geographically separated. The distribution costs alone....

[storewanderer]

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blo ... elift.html

It looks like they plan to keep operating 3 stores in FL if they will be spending money on remodeling. I'm glad to see them staying though it is a strange move. I didn't know FL was still a division. I thought it was rolled into Dallas Division. A Division with 3 stores?

I think the stores are just supplied by SuperValu down there so distribution wouldn't be an issue. Maybe quality control is... They switched to Flavorite private label before the Essential Everyday rollout.

[ValuedCustomer]

Trivia about their remaining Tampa Bay area store which is in Largo, FL. It opened as a Jewel-Osco in 1989 as part of Jewel's short-lived attempt to expand into Florida. I don't know how many other stores they opened in Florida (not many)but they were gone by 1991 or 1992. My grandmother lived nearby so I actually visited this store as a Jewel at some point (and thought it weird that a Chicago supermarket was expanding in Florida). Anyhow I can't fathom why Albertson's doesn't just shutter these Florida leftovers sooner rather than later.

[storewanderer]

It is weird. I was in the Clearwater and Largo locations this weekend. The Clearwater location actually seemed busier. It is still on a regular ad, no sign of closing other than something about the pharmacy closing as of mid next week. Both stores were pretty busy, well staffed, well stocked, and appear healthy other than not so great physical condition.

What struck me as odd about both stores was the pricing was pretty strong all around. Meat and produce looked good in both. Bakery looked really poor in both. Deli looked poor in Clearwater and okay in Largo. Merchandising on center store is very, very basic (little gourmet or specialty product) and the SuperValu private labels are well represented at very strong price points. Drug mix is also deep in both stores. The only Albertsons branded item present was cases of water; nothing else.

I can see how Publix beat Albertsons in FL but what confuses me is how Winn Dixie beat them. I cannot believe what a horrible operator Winn Dixie is. It reminds me of a Food Lion but with Safeway pricing and dirtier than a Food Lion. Just terrible. I guess they did it with store count because I think Winn Dixie is the worst operator I've ever seen

It is a mystery to me why they keep these few locations open. But the fact that they are remodeling the remaining three stores shows they must plan to keep this for a while.

[arizonaguy]

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blo ... elift.html

It looks like they plan to keep operating 3 stores in FL if they will be spending money on remodeling. I'm glad to see them staying though it is a strange move. I didn't know FL was still a division. I thought it was rolled into Dallas Division. A Division with 3 stores?

I think the stores are just supplied by SuperValu down there so distribution wouldn't be an issue. Maybe quality control is... They switched to Flavorite private label before the Essential Everyday rollout.

Sidney Hopper is the president of the Houston division. Apparently, Houston and Dallas (which is named the Southern divison) are two separate divisions with the Houston division taking Austin, Houston, the southern Louisiana ,and Florida stores where the Dallas (Southern) division controls most of the Dallas area stores (except for the Market Street stores) as well as the stores in Northern Louisiana and Arkansas.

There are probably 3 potential strategies at play here:

1.) They're keeping the stores around as they have several years left on their leases and they're profitable enough that it makes more sense to keep them open rather than close them while still owing for the lease. Kroger did this in the Phoenix area with many of the "redundant" stores from the combination of Fry's, Smith's, and Smitty's in the late 1990s.

2.) They're trying to reposition these stores for a sale, and a remodel makes them more attractive to a potential buyer / buyers.

3.) They're looking to expand and are looking at potentially acquiring nearby stores or an entire other retailer (similar to all of the store closings and contractions in Texas and then the subsequent purchase of United, which expanded its presence).

[marshd1000]

Since we are speaking of remodels, are these remodels going to be a package that is going to be used company-wide? So are these going to be used in remodels of the former Safeway owned stores or new build Safeway, Vons etc.? Or are these going to be a Safeway Lifestyle decor package with the Albertsons banner on them

[klkla]

I can see how Publix beat Albertsons in FL but what confuses me is how Winn Dixie beat them.

Albertson's owned a lot of the properties in Florida. Not all the stores that were closed were being beat. In fact a lot of them were profitable. Cerebrus decided it would be in their interest to sell the real estate and made more money that way than they would have in many years from operations.

[wnetmacman]

Sidney Hopper is the president of the Houston division. Apparently, Houston and Dallas (which is named the Southern divison) are two separate divisions with the Houston division taking Austin, Houston, the southern Louisiana ,and Florida stores where the Dallas (Southern) division controls most of the Dallas area stores (except for the Market Street stores) as well as the stores in Northern Louisiana and Arkansas.

Northern Louisiana is 2 stores; Shreveport and Bossier City. Arkansas is one store on Stateline Blvd. in Texarkana. There is one East Texas store; Longview. Outside of Dallas, that's a grand total of 5 stores, unless they also got Alexandria, LA, which would make 6. I don't see anything in Dallas being sold or divested other than the stores that already have been. There will be many stores under the Tom Thumb and Albertsons banners.

Southern Louisiana and the 3 Florida stores are a different matter. Albertsons had left Houston in 2003 or so. It's a bigger deal to rebuild that area. I think it would be harder to be Albertsons in Houston, but Randalls can work both there and Austin.

United/Market Street will most likely stay independent of everything else.

[storewanderer]

The store in Altamonte Springs looked excellent. Also I noticed that store is open until 2 AM. Considering many Publix locations close at 10 PM (some at 9 PM and some at 11 PM) I was surprised to see a grocer in Florida hold such long hours. I guess Publix can run short hours since they have such a monopoly going on in most of Florida. Back to the Altamonte Springs location of Albertsons, all fresh areas looked excellent, the store is in excellent condition despite last being remodeled in the late 1990's, and mix seemed a little better than the other two stores. The Clearwater and Largo locations seemed a bit downscale; Altamonte Springs did not have that feel at all. And the fresh areas (especially bakery and deli) looked SO much better in Altamonte Springs. Also it seemed very clean.

Altamonte Springs will be an easy remodel. I suspect they will repaint the walls and maybe change a few things on perimeter and be done with it. Largo needs more work, whether or not they do it would be interesting to see. Clearwater would have needed quite a bit of money and I am somewhat suspicious the reason they are closing Clearwater is because they don't want to spend the money remodeling it that it needs...

What type of condition is the Oakland Park location in?

From what I saw Clearwater was a mid 1990's remodel, Largo and Altamonte Springs both late 1990's remodels...