Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions Cutting Store Hours

[Romr123]

Vons Palm Springs moved back to 10p close...I just presumed it was a typical end-of-season move.

[SamSpade]

Hours in Portland and Seattle divisions and Intermountain seem to largely remained the same, competing with Kroger (Fred Meyer) and Walmart at 6 or 7 am opening until 11 pm or 12 am closing. Downtown Portland closes at 10 pm.

One store I am familiar with was closing earlier for a time but is back to 1 am as final closing. They are opening one hour later at 6 vs. previously 5 am to 1 am operation.

[ClownLoach]

This is likely another push from Apollo to lower costs. They do this at other retailers they invest in. They have a consultant (AlixPartners or Accenture) who runs sales per hour studies and change all the hours using an algorithm. Usually what happens is they discover later that a competitor will react by extending their hours, and that it is difficult to maintain different hours within the same market.

I expect they will also reduce hours of operation for all service departments as part of this initiative too, closing deli and pharmacy counters earlier/opening them later.

Having said that, when I was in Las Vegas earlier this year I was surprised that all the Albertsons I visited closed at 10pm, so I guess it isn't really new for the company to close so early.

I expect many more cost cutting initiatives as Albertsons pivots to a post-merger world where they are under the thumb of an activist investor, Apollo. Cerberus will basically say "ditto" to any of Apollo's demands, so both firms will be pressuring management.

[jamcool]

Used to be that a lot of Vegas supermarkets ran 24 hours, due to the fact that Vegas is a 24/7 town.

[pseudo3d]

This is likely another push from Apollo to lower costs. They do this at other retailers they invest in. They have a consultant (AlixPartners or Accenture) who runs sales per hour studies and change all the hours using an algorithm. Usually what happens is they discover later that a competitor will react by extending their hours, and that it is difficult to maintain different hours within the same market.

I expect they will also reduce hours of operation for all service departments as part of this initiative too, closing deli and pharmacy counters earlier/opening them later.

Having said that, when I was in Las Vegas earlier this year I was surprised that all the Albertsons I visited closed at 10pm, so I guess it isn't really new for the company to close so early.

I expect many more cost cutting initiatives as Albertsons pivots to a post-merger world where they are under the thumb of an activist investor, Apollo. Cerberus will basically say "ditto" to any of Apollo's demands, so both firms will be pressuring management.

Almost all of the retailers, from Walmart to the privately-owned H-E-B cut hours permanently after COVID. Heck, Kroger was cutting back some of its 24 hour stores in 2019.

[ClownLoach]

This is likely another push from Apollo to lower costs. They do this at other retailers they invest in. They have a consultant (AlixPartners or Accenture) who runs sales per hour studies and change all the hours using an algorithm. Usually what happens is they discover later that a competitor will react by extending their hours, and that it is difficult to maintain different hours within the same market.

I expect they will also reduce hours of operation for all service departments as part of this initiative too, closing deli and pharmacy counters earlier/opening them later.

Having said that, when I was in Las Vegas earlier this year I was surprised that all the Albertsons I visited closed at 10pm, so I guess it isn't really new for the company to close so early.

I expect many more cost cutting initiatives as Albertsons pivots to a post-merger world where they are under the thumb of an activist investor, Apollo. Cerberus will basically say "ditto" to any of Apollo's demands, so both firms will be pressuring management.

Almost all of the retailers, from Walmart to the privately-owned H-E-B cut hours permanently after COVID. Heck, Kroger was cutting back some of its 24 hour stores in 2019.

Yes, but Kroger has been expanding those hours for the last couple years. Albertsons has not.

[storewanderer]

This is likely another push from Apollo to lower costs. They do this at other retailers they invest in. They have a consultant (AlixPartners or Accenture) who runs sales per hour studies and change all the hours using an algorithm. Usually what happens is they discover later that a competitor will react by extending their hours, and that it is difficult to maintain different hours within the same market.

I expect they will also reduce hours of operation for all service departments as part of this initiative too, closing deli and pharmacy counters earlier/opening them later.

Having said that, when I was in Las Vegas earlier this year I was surprised that all the Albertsons I visited closed at 10pm, so I guess it isn't really new for the company to close so early.

I expect many more cost cutting initiatives as Albertsons pivots to a post-merger world where they are under the thumb of an activist investor, Apollo. Cerberus will basically say "ditto" to any of Apollo's demands, so both firms will be pressuring management.

Almost all of the retailers, from Walmart to the privately-owned H-E-B cut hours permanently after COVID. Heck, Kroger was cutting back some of its 24 hour stores in 2019.

Yes, but Kroger has been expanding those hours for the last couple years. Albertsons has not.

Except in NorCal Safeway division which for whatever reason still loves 24 hour stores.

In my opinion this being open 24 hours thing is not working anymore. Too much risk, for way too little in sales. My opinion on this applies to convenience stores and drugstores too.

I have heard Smiths will NEVER return to 24 hour operations. I don't recall the last time I encountered any Kroger owned store that was open 24 hours.

For a store like WinCo if they keep 2 employees at front end at all times, chain/gate off the entire drug/HBA aisle, and chain/gate off the entire liquor aisle, they probably have enough traffic to at least break even on the idea.

[Alpha8472]

Safeway only has a small number of 24 hour stores left in the San Francisco Bay Area. These are in the rich suburbs such as Alamo, San Ramon, etc. The San Francisco and Oakland, California ones do not stay open past midnight.

Even the low crime suburbs close at 2 AM or earlier. After 2 AM, there are very few customers.

Kroger has Foods Co. in San Francisco where one closes at 12 AM and the other more dangerous location closes at 10 PM.

I think 12 AM is pushing it. Your car would likely be broken into by the time you leave the store that late at night.

[veteran+]

West Hollywood Pavilions is 5am to 12am every day.

[pseudo3d]

This is likely another push from Apollo to lower costs. They do this at other retailers they invest in. They have a consultant (AlixPartners or Accenture) who runs sales per hour studies and change all the hours using an algorithm. Usually what happens is they discover later that a competitor will react by extending their hours, and that it is difficult to maintain different hours within the same market.

I expect they will also reduce hours of operation for all service departments as part of this initiative too, closing deli and pharmacy counters earlier/opening them later.

Having said that, when I was in Las Vegas earlier this year I was surprised that all the Albertsons I visited closed at 10pm, so I guess it isn't really new for the company to close so early.

I expect many more cost cutting initiatives as Albertsons pivots to a post-merger world where they are under the thumb of an activist investor, Apollo. Cerberus will basically say "ditto" to any of Apollo's demands, so both firms will be pressuring management.

Almost all of the retailers, from Walmart to the privately-owned H-E-B cut hours permanently after COVID. Heck, Kroger was cutting back some of its 24 hour stores in 2019.

Yes, but Kroger has been expanding those hours for the last couple years. Albertsons has not.

Looking at the cities in and around me:

In Austin, Randalls, H-E-B, and Walmart all close at 11 pm, regardless of neighborhood.
In Houston, Randalls, H-E-B, Kroger, and Walmart all close at 11 pm, regardless of neighborhood.
In Bryan/College Station, Kroger keeps one (of two) open until midnight, the other closes at 11 pm. Two H-E-B stores (of five) operate until midnight, the others close at 11 pm. Walmart closes at 11 pm. (All of these used to be 24H).
In Dallas/Fort Worth however, the Kroger stores close at midnight or 1 am. All the H-E-B stores close at 11 pm, all the Tom Thumb/Albertsons stores close at 11 pm. Walmart also closes at 11 pm, though one in a rougher neighborhood closes at 10 pm. WinCo Foods operates 24 hours.
In Lake Charles, Albertsons and Rouses close at 10 pm, Kroger and Walmart operate until 11 pm.
In the parts of Texas without Randalls or Kroger (Waco, Temple-Killeen, San Antonio), H-E-B and Walmart close at 11 pm, regardless of neighborhood. (There seems to be an H-E-B in San Antonio that closes at 10 pm).
In Baton Rouge, Walmart closes at 11 pm (except for a rough store that closes at 10). Albertsons, Rouses, and Winn-Dixie close at 10 pm.
In New Orleans, Walmart typically closes at 11 pm, with Winn-Dixie going anywhere from 9 pm to midnight.

The late-night Dallas Kroger stores are part of a different division than the Houston Kroger stores, but the Louisiana Albertsons that close earlier than the Texas stores are part of the same division. Sure, Kroger has an hour or two on Albertsons in a few markets, but they've been always been a stronger operator anyway (I don't think many Albertsons/Safeway stores were 24H before COVID in this area, anyway). Either way, it's largely a wash.