Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3852
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:I saw another Albertsons Companies commercial on TV last night around 9 PM. It actually did not show any store names until the very end. It was staged with people shopping in a very generic looking store but the store was obviously a Safeway based on the signs and carts used. It looked like they actually did something so you could not see the wall fixtures, yet you could see the ceiling hanging signs (right down to seeing the signs say CLUB PRICE). The people were running around the store.

Ultimately they all ended up gathering dozens of packages of Smithfield Bacon in their hands, so many they could not hold the packages anymore, then letting all of the packages of bacon fall to the floor. It was promoting something to do with bacon or some kind of sweepstakes.

Then at the end of the commercial a slide showed up that said Albertsons companies in the very center fairly large, then down lower, in much smaller sizes, almost so small you couldn't see it, it showed in full color all of their banners. So there was nothing that explicitly said Albertsons until this time...
It sounds like something that would air in multiple markets with the name (at least supposed to) super-impose at the end, much like the SuperValu-era commercials of Albertsons.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by SamSpade »

Oregon Safeways have seemed to lose the "gazebo" over the floral counter as the last change to the floral and produce sections. It sometimes makes a store feel more open and other times makes floral feel very lifeless and uninteresting to me.

I thought to post this after seeing the photos of the Mariano's stores that were former Dominick's. Here are a few examples of a floral counter with a "gazebo" atop:
Image
Image
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by storewanderer »

Properly implemented, the gazebos have hanging plants so customers looking "up" can see plants and are drawn into the floral departments.

Floral is a category that Safeway was most productive in when compared to the industry as a whole, and one that they did not "screw up" over time as they hacked labor in the stores and execution tanked. For whatever reason, they always kept an excellent floral operation. Safeway's floral departments were typically far better assorted and equal or better priced than competitors. My point is floral was not something to mess with.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3852
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:Properly implemented, the gazebos have hanging plants so customers looking "up" can see plants and are drawn into the floral departments.

Floral is a category that Safeway was most productive in when compared to the industry as a whole, and one that they did not "screw up" over time as they hacked labor in the stores and execution tanked. For whatever reason, they always kept an excellent floral operation. Safeway's floral departments were typically far better assorted and equal or better priced than competitors. My point is floral was not something to mess with.
My last post was deleted by accident, but perhaps the reason floral didn't fall apart was because floral doesn't take a lot of effort to run, even in higher-volume supermarkets, there's maybe two people max working floral (including the manager of that department). That's a big contrast from, say, deli, which is a labor-intensive department and will really suffer if labor is cut.
wnetmacman
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 994
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 2:36 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 44 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:My last post was deleted by accident, but perhaps the reason floral didn't fall apart was because floral doesn't take a lot of effort to run, even in higher-volume supermarkets, there's maybe two people max working floral (including the manager of that department). That's a big contrast from, say, deli, which is a labor-intensive department and will really suffer if labor is cut.
In some areas, like Louisiana, Floral costs more to run. Louisiana is home of the most arcane laws in the United States. One of these requires florists to be licensed. The license is administered by fellow florists, who can deny a whole group just to stifle competition. So any store selling flowers has to have a licensed florist on staff, which raises costs.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by storewanderer »

Went to an Albertsons that had NCR Self Checkout, hooked up to the Safeway systems. Looked to be leftover from Supervalu, but shifted over to the Safeway system. Extremely slow interface and did not work well at all; I can see why they removed this from so many locations.

The self checkout had a "Safeway" logo on the screen the whole time. The pinpad however had an Albertsons logo along with something about the "Club Card." Cashiers were also asking customers for a "Safeway Card."

This particular location had a co-branded ad for Safeway and Albertsons. Also the sale signs for certain feature items show a sale price then below the price say "with club card WHERE APPLICABLE." Do they really need to do this? Is is that hard to print two signs or just put a sticker over the "club price" designation on signs routed for Albertsons locations>
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote:Went to an Albertsons that had NCR Self Checkout, hooked up to the Safeway systems. Looked to be leftover from Supervalu, but shifted over to the Safeway system. Extremely slow interface and did not work well at all; I can see why they removed this from so many locations.

The self checkout had a "Safeway" logo on the screen the whole time. The pinpad however had an Albertsons logo along with something about the "Club Card." Cashiers were also asking customers for a "Safeway Card."

This particular location had a co-branded ad for Safeway and Albertsons. Also the sale signs for certain feature items show a sale price then below the price say "with club card WHERE APPLICABLE." Do they really need to do this? Is is that hard to print two signs or just put a sticker over the "club price" designation on signs routed for Albertsons locations>
Wow. Sounds like that store is a real train wreck. Makes me wonder if they are going to rebrand that one to Safeway. In any case, they need to pick either Albertsons OR Safeway for areas like the Pacific Northwest and stick with ONE BRAND to avoid confusion. Especially when Safeway requires the card but Albertsons does not. Albertsons and Safeway simply have too many similarities to make a case for having both brands in the same market.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3852
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by pseudo3d »

Super S wrote:
storewanderer wrote:Went to an Albertsons that had NCR Self Checkout, hooked up to the Safeway systems. Looked to be leftover from Supervalu, but shifted over to the Safeway system. Extremely slow interface and did not work well at all; I can see why they removed this from so many locations.

The self checkout had a "Safeway" logo on the screen the whole time. The pinpad however had an Albertsons logo along with something about the "Club Card." Cashiers were also asking customers for a "Safeway Card."

This particular location had a co-branded ad for Safeway and Albertsons. Also the sale signs for certain feature items show a sale price then below the price say "with club card WHERE APPLICABLE." Do they really need to do this? Is is that hard to print two signs or just put a sticker over the "club price" designation on signs routed for Albertsons locations>
Wow. Sounds like that store is a real train wreck. Makes me wonder if they are going to rebrand that one to Safeway. In any case, they need to pick either Albertsons OR Safeway for areas like the Pacific Northwest and stick with ONE BRAND to avoid confusion. Especially when Safeway requires the card but Albertsons does not. Albertsons and Safeway simply have too many similarities to make a case for having both brands in the same market.
The Safeway Club Card has got to go. It's useless--it's actually separate from J4U, and the Albertsons Preferred Customer card was one of the bad decisions made under Johnston (and was one of the things to go during the LLC era). Once they get rid of it, it might help to advertise that fact in Safeway-infected markets (basically everything at this point except Jewel-Osco, ACME, and Shaw's).
bm10k
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by bm10k »

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but it looks like Albertsons and Safeway have consolidated their weekly ads into
1 combined ad (at least in Seattle) and below the Albertsons/Safeway Logos say "Card Not Needed At Albertsons"
marshd1000
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 587
Joined: March 2nd, 2009, 1:46 pm
Been thanked: 12 times
Status: Offline

Re: Integration of Albertsons and Safeway

Post by marshd1000 »

The ads have been combined since August or September here in Seattle. But looking online, I don’t see a common ad in Southern California for Vons and Albertsons for the weekly ad. In Las Vegas an Arizona and St George, Utah, the Big Book of Savings shows Albertsons, Vons and Safeway! Dallas does not seem to have a combined Albertsons and Tom Thumb ad yet. Years ago, in Alaska, when Safeway bought Carrs they had both banners on one ad and have done so ever since. But new stores in Alaska have been Safeway.
Post Reply