pseudo3d wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2023, 8:41 am
Kroger and Tom Thumb run full delis with both sliceable meats and hot/cold food by the pound. H-E-B does not offer plates or food by the pound.
A Deli department doesn't necessarily mean hot food. It means food not in shelf packaging served full service style.
pseudo3d wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2023, 8:41 am
It's true that H-E-B picked up a few store sites from Albertsons when they were closing, and did purchase some stores in and around Austin when Albertsons was contracting during the LLC era, but they don't purchase operational stores like Kroger and Albertsons have been known to do. The Pantry stores were a mix of vacant store sites (not necessarily grocery, and in one case not even retail) and new-build operations. They don't typically purchase operating stores like what they would have to do in the Kroger/Albertsons merger.
Furthermore, their new suburban stores are typically around 100k square feet (large stores but not very well merchandised) and its highly doubtful that any stores that will be bumped off will reach that threshold.
No, they have picked up many 'working stores' (Stores purchased by others while still open) from Safeway, Albertsons, and independents. Working stores are far easier to remodel as all FFE is being currently used and is normally in decent, workable shape. It saves on having to completely remodel the store and helps attract the regulars by not immediately changing all the store around.
pseudo3d wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2023, 8:41 am
This is laughable. The Lake Charles store was hobbled by road construction that took a while, it still lasted seven years despite that, and above all, it's a single data point which is completely worthless as far as statistics is concerned.
Even if that held any weight, the Pantry stores and the "full" stores are very different. The Montrose (Houston) H-E-B opened in 2011 and has been a success since, but a previous Pantry store existed in the neighborhood in the late 1990s and only lasted about a year.
You don't know Louisiana very well. Our whole life is around road deterioration and construction. That is not what killed this store. Poor planning and bad merchandising killed Lake Charles. The Delchamps originally in that spot had a deli and bakery selling what locals wanted, HEB removed that. The store was not what was wanted or needed there. Kroger ran circles around them with what was 3 stores at the time (one large new store now). Also, while HEB is building larger stores in metropolitan and immediate suburban areas, outer, more rural oriented (non Dallas, SA or Houston) stores are smaller.
Retailers often operate on the one metric rule - a single data point - to expand. That single failure caused HEB to refocus their expansion - they had been heading more easterly with their namesake stores - until Lake Charles. Other retailers have expanded there - Brookshire Brothers is one example. They purchased Cormie's on the south side of town and expanded it. Kroger has built a near-Marketplace to replace three aging stores. Albertsons still has 2 stores running. Walmart has added a Neighborhood Market. All of those stores have full service departments. HEB tried without and failed. If they come back, they will have to step up their game. They have a surprisingly successful former Pantry store in Orange, TX, and that is why I believe they had the momentum to expand.