storewanderer wrote: ↑January 21st, 2024, 1:14 pm
I'm also going to throw this out there- could Aldi be the solution for some of the problem Safeway assets such as the Denver Division? Recall Sobeys has done this very thing with numerous former Safeway units converting them to that format FreshCo. FreshCo is pretty similar to an Aldi. But I'd much rather shop FreshCo than Aldi, and I did not like FreshCo. I guess I really dislike Aldi.
The issue is, Safeway in Denver is unionized. The unions out there would be sounding the alarm over that idea.
I’d think AWG would end up buying Safeway Denver and converting those stores to the Price Chopper format (with the Kroger merger likely not going through). AWG already serves a lot of independents in CO/WY, a few of which compete with the big guys. Those independents were with Affiliated Foods Midwest previously.
storewanderer wrote: ↑January 21st, 2024, 1:14 pm
I'm also going to throw this out there- could Aldi be the solution for some of the problem Safeway assets such as the Denver Division? Recall Sobeys has done this very thing with numerous former Safeway units converting them to that format FreshCo. FreshCo is pretty similar to an Aldi. But I'd much rather shop FreshCo than Aldi, and I did not like FreshCo. I guess I really dislike Aldi.
The issue is, Safeway in Denver is unionized. The unions out there would be sounding the alarm over that idea.
I’d think AWG would end up buying Safeway Denver and converting those stores to the Price Chopper format (with the Kroger merger likely not going through). AWG already serves a lot of independents in CO/WY, a few of which compete with the big guys. Those independents were with Affiliated Foods Midwest previously.
AWG isn't terribly effective in CO. They are a little more effective in WY but still not very effective. They have relatively few customers. Almost nothing west of Denver at all and virtually nothing south of Denver. South of Denver will be a lot of Affiliated Amarillo customers. West of Denver will be mostly Associated Food Stores Utah customers.
I forget that Winn Dixie is non union.
Of the chains I'm thinking of as potential targets one is union but the others aren't.
A couple other quotes from the article with some emphasis:
""Aldi’s acquisition of Southeastern Grocers is expected to be completed within the first half of 2024. The Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, primarily located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, will continue to operate under their current banners until the deal is complete.
“Aldi has a strong track record of opening and remodeling stores across the country each year, so we’re confident we can make this a smooth transition. In the early days, there won’t be any immediate changes and Aldi will remain focused on doing what we do best: delivering great products at the lowest possible prices,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart told Supermarket News in late August.""
Any information on what happens to Southeastern Grocers management team after the acquisition occurs?
A couple other quotes from the article with some emphasis:
""Aldi’s acquisition of Southeastern Grocers is expected to be completed within the first half of 2024. The Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, primarily located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, will continue to operate under their current banners until the deal is complete.
“Aldi has a strong track record of opening and remodeling stores across the country each year, so we’re confident we can make this a smooth transition. In the early days, there won’t be any immediate changes and Aldi will remain focused on doing what we do best: delivering great products at the lowest possible prices,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart told Supermarket News in late August.""
Any information on what happens to Southeastern Grocers management team after the acquisition occurs?
The fact that the pharmacies were already closed and Fresco y Más has been divested makes me think that if Aldi backs out for any reason, then Lone Star Funds will liquidate the company. I can definitely imagine C&S buying the names and operations as they have the most to lose.
A couple other quotes from the article with some emphasis:
""Aldi’s acquisition of Southeastern Grocers is expected to be completed within the first half of 2024. The Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, primarily located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, will continue to operate under their current banners until the deal is complete.
“Aldi has a strong track record of opening and remodeling stores across the country each year, so we’re confident we can make this a smooth transition. In the early days, there won’t be any immediate changes and Aldi will remain focused on doing what we do best: delivering great products at the lowest possible prices,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart told Supermarket News in late August.""
Any information on what happens to Southeastern Grocers management team after the acquisition occurs?
The fact that the pharmacies were already closed and Fresco y Más has been divested makes me think that if Aldi backs out for any reason, then Lone Star Funds will liquidate the company. I can definitely imagine C&S buying the names and operations as they have the most to lose.
That could be great. C&S could then use the Winn Dixie format and management to run the divested Safeway/Albertsons stores they buy. Based on what I remember of Grand Union and what I saw recently of WI Piggly Wiggly, Winn Dixie is a far superior operator to those C&S corporate operated stores with better pricing, better merchandised stores, better private label, better marketing, more efficient front end/systems, and a better loyalty program. I am being 100% serious here with these comments.
They could even just use the Winn Dixie banner and not have to deal with paying Kroger for the banners they are buying, and also this would address the multiple parties operating Albertsons issue. Maybe stick with QFC in OR/WA instead of Winn Dixie. Better yet reserve the QFC banner for smaller "premium/upscale style" stores across their entire network and use Winn Dixie as the banner for the typical food/drug combo store.
Winn Dixie is still around 400 stores? So if C&S could get those then gets 650 stores out of Kroger/Albertsons that is a chain of over 1,000 stores and that is pretty good sized... no telling for how many weeks/months they'd have that store count but maybe they could make it work.
A couple other quotes from the article with some emphasis:
""Aldi’s acquisition of Southeastern Grocers is expected to be completed within the first half of 2024. The Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, primarily located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, will continue to operate under their current banners until the deal is complete.
“Aldi has a strong track record of opening and remodeling stores across the country each year, so we’re confident we can make this a smooth transition. In the early days, there won’t be any immediate changes and Aldi will remain focused on doing what we do best: delivering great products at the lowest possible prices,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart told Supermarket News in late August.""
Any information on what happens to Southeastern Grocers management team after the acquisition occurs?
The fact that the pharmacies were already closed and Fresco y Más has been divested makes me think that if Aldi backs out for any reason, then Lone Star Funds will liquidate the company. I can definitely imagine C&S buying the names and operations as they have the most to lose.
That could be great. C&S could then use the Winn Dixie format and management to run the divested Safeway/Albertsons stores they buy. Based on what I remember of Grand Union and what I saw recently of WI Piggly Wiggly, Winn Dixie is a far superior operator to those C&S corporate operated stores with better pricing, better merchandised stores, better private label, better marketing, more efficient front end/systems, and a better loyalty program. I am being 100% serious here with these comments.
They could even just use the Winn Dixie banner and not have to deal with paying Kroger for the banners they are buying, and also this would address the multiple parties operating Albertsons issue. Maybe stick with QFC in OR/WA instead of Winn Dixie. Better yet reserve the QFC banner for smaller "premium/upscale style" stores across their entire network and use Winn Dixie as the banner for the typical food/drug combo store.
Winn Dixie is still around 400 stores? So if C&S could get those then gets 650 stores out of Kroger/Albertsons that is a chain of over 1,000 stores and that is pretty good sized... no telling for how many weeks/months they'd have that store count but maybe they could make it work.
I'm assuming in the scenario the Albertsons/Kroger merger doesn't happen so C&S gets nothing. If the Aldi/SEG deal does, then they lose that client.
I'm assuming in the scenario the Albertsons/Kroger merger doesn't happen so C&S gets nothing. If the Aldi/SEG deal does, then they lose that client.
Aldi does not have the means, knowledge, or ability to support or supply full size stores. As long as Southeast Grocers is kept afloat they can just keep doing what they are doing but with the way Aldi talks it sounds like they plan to convert a number of units to Aldi.
Maybe what happens here is Aldi takes what it wants of Winn Dixie then whatever stores remain along with the Winn Dixie banner go to C&S who can do what they want with them (run as corporate stores, give to wholesale customers, etc.).
Who exactly is a C&S customer in the Winn Dixie territories? It has been a while but I don't remember seeing ANY C&S customers in those territories other than Target and at the time Kmart... Is Rouses in LA a C&S customer? I saw IGA Stores in the South but they were not C&S they were AWG.
storewanderer wrote: ↑February 2nd, 2024, 7:19 pm
Is Rouses in LA a C&S customer?
Rouses is an AWG customer, but are trying to become self-distributing. They recently opened a new headquarters in Houma, LA just off US90 that will cater to their ever-expanding portfolio of stores.
I'm assuming in the scenario the Albertsons/Kroger merger doesn't happen so C&S gets nothing. If the Aldi/SEG deal does, then they lose that client.
Aldi does not have the means, knowledge, or ability to support or supply full size stores. As long as Southeast Grocers is kept afloat they can just keep doing what they are doing but with the way Aldi talks it sounds like they plan to convert a number of units to Aldi.
Maybe what happens here is Aldi takes what it wants of Winn Dixie then whatever stores remain along with the Winn Dixie banner go to C&S who can do what they want with them (run as corporate stores, give to wholesale customers, etc.).
Who exactly is a C&S customer in the Winn Dixie territories? It has been a while but I don't remember seeing ANY C&S customers in those territories other than Target and at the time Kmart... Is Rouses in LA a C&S customer? I saw IGA Stores in the South but they were not C&S they were AWG.
Aldi does not want any store they choose not to keep to survive. They will not sell off those stores, they will close them. They have a bizarre philosophy that pretty much reads "our way or the highway." They sincerely believe their model is superior to the rest of the grocery industry, even if the revenue per store is less they can saturate an area with more stores and somehow the 2nd and 3rd waves each perform better than the previous. I'm seeing it start to happen in my area where their 2nd and 3rd wave sites are arguably better located than their original sites, and they seem to outperform them as well. They seem to like to start with some traditional freestanding units, but in following expansion waves they take more traditional in-line locations.
They will convert everything they want to the standard Aldi format, and learn a lot about how such a program would work so they can make a playbook to replicate the "expansion by acquisition" program. They are delusional enough to believe they can become the 3rd largest grocer in the USA behind Walmart and Kroger even if they need 20,000 stores vs whatever Kroger has.
Aldi does not want any store they choose not to keep to survive. They will not sell off those stores, they will close them. They have a bizarre philosophy that pretty much reads "our way or the highway." They sincerely believe their model is superior to the rest of the grocery industry, even if the revenue per store is less they can saturate an area with more stores and somehow the 2nd and 3rd waves each perform better than the previous. I'm seeing it start to happen in my area where their 2nd and 3rd wave sites are arguably better located than their original sites, and they seem to outperform them as well. They seem to like to start with some traditional freestanding units, but in following expansion waves they take more traditional in-line locations.
They will convert everything they want to the standard Aldi format, and learn a lot about how such a program would work so they can make a playbook to replicate the "expansion by acquisition" program. They are delusional enough to believe they can become the 3rd largest grocer in the USA behind Walmart and Kroger even if they need 20,000 stores vs whatever Kroger has.
They will not become the third largest grocer in America using just their current format and attitude anyway...
This strategy of in line vs. freestanding locations has been going on for a while and flips back and forth. I think it all depends what kind of real estate deals they can find. We know most of their in-line sites appear to be leased but what about the freestanding sites, are those typically owned?
Maybe they think they can find 3,000-4,000 closed drugstore sites around the US to help their expansion. Walgreens buildings would suit them best. CVS and Rite Aid buildings are a bit small. Larger freestanding West Coast/newer Rite Aids could work.
