Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

[storewanderer]

I have never seen a Safeway with its perimeter departments in the center of the store (Pavilions feature this layout). I wonder if this was possibly a situation where the store was expanded and the part of the store with the bakery/deli is the old part of the store and the other part is the new part of the store?

[rwsandiego]

That was the same situation Save Mart was in. They bought maybe a dozen stores with the blue/gray mid 1990's Albertsons decor, many stores with the red/green mid 1990's Lucky decor, 3 with a late 1990's applied Jewel looking decor, a dozen or so with the late 1990's Albertsons "white walls" interior, 3 with the early 2000's Albertsons "Grocery Palace" interior, and quite a few locations with the 2002 era Albertsons remodel with the industrial looking wall signs.

It is one thing when a chain has multiple decor packages of its own. That is bound to happen. When a chain has its own packages plus ones in individual stores they acquired from someone else it just looks sloppy. Reminds me of the mom-and-pop operations that bought some of the National and A&P locations when they pulled out of Chicago in the 1970's. The stores might have received paint (but most likely not). One in particular (Butera, a/k/a "Buterrible" for its reputation at the time) had a couple of decades' worth of National interiors going at one time. Not a pretty picture.

I would say that Kroger has/had a lot of packages floating around, especially given that they did acquire stores from old chains (Albertsons and AppleTree in Houston), but the Albertsons situation is worse because there was a time in Albertsons history when they were pushing about 3-4 very different packages all at the same time (in the same banner).

To me, though, it makes stores more interesting. Safeway stores with Lifestyle, Kroger with the (deprecated?) Fresh Fare décor...they're everywhere. And it's maddening. With the exception of the run-down "Southwest Parkway" Kroger discussed here, I've encountered it in the last six Kroger stores I remember personally being in.

I agree that multiple decor packages within the same chain makes shopping more interesting. That's one thing I hate about VONS - the stores are one of two decor packages. However, when a chain has multiple acquisitions' various and sundry decor packages dating back a decade or more and don't remodel, something is wrong.

[veteran+]

It is one thing when a chain has multiple decor packages of its own. That is bound to happen. When a chain has its own packages plus ones in individual stores they acquired from someone else it just looks sloppy. Reminds me of the mom-and-pop operations that bought some of the National and A&P locations when they pulled out of Chicago in the 1970's. The stores might have received paint (but most likely not). One in particular (Butera, a/k/a "Buterrible" for its reputation at the time) had a couple of decades' worth of National interiors going at one time. Not a pretty picture.

I would say that Kroger has/had a lot of packages floating around, especially given that they did acquire stores from old chains (Albertsons and AppleTree in Houston), but the Albertsons situation is worse because there was a time in Albertsons history when they were pushing about 3-4 very different packages all at the same time (in the same banner).

To me, though, it makes stores more interesting. Safeway stores with Lifestyle, Kroger with the (deprecated?) Fresh Fare décor...they're everywhere. And it's maddening. With the exception of the run-down "Southwest Parkway" Kroger discussed here, I've encountered it in the last six Kroger stores I remember personally being in.

I agree that multiple decor packages within the same chain makes shopping more interesting. That's one thing I hate about VONS - the stores are one of two decor packages. However, when a chain has multiple acquisitions' various and sundry decor packages dating back a decade or more and don't remodel, something is wrong.

Good point and I agree.

I remember when Von's did a Lifestyle remodel on the store in Desert Hot Springs. All of us were thinking.......what? Desert Hot Springs? High crime and very low income area is getting a Lifestyle remodel?

[pseudo3d]

I have never seen a Safeway with its perimeter departments in the center of the store (Pavilions feature this layout). I wonder if this was possibly a situation where the store was expanded and the part of the store with the bakery/deli is the old part of the store and the other part is the new part of the store?

The store (and I believe the late Village Foods in Bryan, which also had a center-perimeter layout as well as the same type of exterior brick) were built circa 1988, around the time Safeway spun off the Houston division but before they actually adopted the AppleTree name, though they still might've been designed as Safeway stores. That division did have a rather distinctive look for most of its stores in the 1970s with big columns and windows. Both were new-builds. It is quite interesting, I should try to get photos sometime.

As for the décor sets, Safeway's Lifestyle is already a decade now in terms of design, and LLC managed to remodel a great many of the stores they didn't close. The problem is that SuperValu tended to drag their feet on it. The bigger problem than just old décor is if it's being maintained well, and unfortunately, there are many ABS/SWY stores aren't doing that.

My guess is that the Haggen décor will be scrapped in favor of some variation of LLC décor again, with only reminders of the not-too-distant past (wood-panel type flooring and spotlights around checkout) remaining.

[marshd1000]

On Sunday, I was in the Lake Forest Park Town Centre Haggen, just north of Seattle. This was a Albertsons and will become Albertsons again. I found out that this store will be converting back to Albertsons after the close of business on June 8th. This is about a week after Lake Oswego, OR. I am kind of wondering why they would not convert all the Oregon stores first before any of the Washington ones?

[storewanderer]

SuperValu did a better job on remodels in SoCal than most people give them credit for. Especially in San Diego and the Central Coast, most of the stores were remodeled, and very nicely remodeled at that, into the white wall/color wall letter interior. These looked better than any Albertsons LLC remodel I ever saw (all of those have been done on the cheap, usually keeping the old floor in the middle of the store and a lot of the old refrigeration). But SuperValu also did its fair share of cheap remodels too... but they were not all that way.

SuperValu's remodels in OR/WA/ID (also Utah, the few they did there) were generally not good with many corners cut.

I have seen some photos of Jewel and Acme Stores remodeled by SuperValu which looked pretty good too so I think they must have handled those remodels well, similar to how they remodeled the better performing SoCal Stores.

[rwsandiego]

SuperValu did a better job on remodels in SoCal than most people give them credit for. Especially in San Diego and the Central Coast, most of the stores were remodeled, and very nicely remodeled at that, into the white wall/color wall letter interior. ...

The fact that some of the San Diego stores were remodeled at all was cause for celebration. Some of those Albertsons still had the teal and white Lucky package and were not holding up well at all. When they remodeled North Park and Mission Hills, both of which went to Haggen, it was like new life had been breathed into the stores. They must have had those dreadful interiors for twenty years.

...These looked better than any Albertsons LLC remodel I ever saw (all of those have been done on the cheap, usually keeping the old floor in the middle of the store and a lot of the old refrigeration). But SuperValu also did its fair share of cheap remodels too... but they were not all that way. ...

There's an Abertsons in San Clemente that has the most bizarre interior. The store is all done up in brown, with the same lettering as what some call "Colorful Lifestyle" and more of that darned ABS leaf than anyone should be forced to look at. I feel bad for the employees who have to look at it every day.

...
I have seen some photos of Jewel and Acme Stores remodeled by SuperValu which looked pretty good too so I think they must have handled those remodels well, similar to how they remodeled the better performing SoCal Stores.

I think the Jewel version of Premium Fresh and Healthy was quite nice. The first few remodels done under LLC were pretty nice. One that comes to mind is Division and Clybourn, one of the former Dominick's location. Not so impressed with the version most Jewels have received. The cursive script just doesn't do it for me.

[marshd1000]

It is official, Haggen is now officially a part of Albertsons:

http://www.albertsons.com/haggen-proud- ... companies/

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/lo ... 31232.html

[marshd1000]

Here is the first, very small sign of Albertsons and Haggen integration. It is in their foodie magazine. It mentions that the proprietary trademarks are owned by Albertsons and Safeway:

https://issuu.com/haggenfood/docs/hagge ... 3/36133487

You will see it in small print at the bottom!

[marshd1000]

With Haggen being in the Albertsons fold, I wonder if the heads of Haggen and Market Street would share ideas between chains? Also would this now be the time for Pavillions to adopt some of Haggen's and Market Street's practices and become more upscale again?

Interesting side note, Haggen's catering is called Market Street Catering and their cafe dining area was called Market Street Cafe. I know there was not relationship between the two until now!