Retail Watchers

klkla wrote:

pseudo3d wrote:Observation: so far, the "Florida" decor has not been seen in ABS-originated brands (Albertsons, ACME, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's/Star Market) and has only been seen in Safeway originated brands (Safeway, Tom Thumb, Randalls), wonder if there's still some contractual thing going on that prevents decor packages from being used in other stores (also note that there's no LLC variant for SWY stores at all, nor Lifestyle for ABS)

That would make sense. I don't know if that's the case for sure, though.

Actually, multiple contributors on here have seen SoCal Albertsons stores with Colorful Lifestyle decor. It seems like the decor packages are truly all over the map, but somewhat follow a pattern of Albertsons vs. Safeway banners. From what I can tell, the markets with both an Albertsons and Safeway presence pre-merger seem to be much more experimental with decor. NorCal, Jewel-Osco and Acme all seem to be sticking to the packages which they were using previously. Outside of that, the current decor distribution seems to generally follow this pattern (with exceptions, of course):

Lifestyle: NorCal
Colorful Lifestyle: Northwest, SoCal, Arizona, Colorado, DFW, East (mostly former Safeway banners)
Florida (Modern): Florida (obviously), DFW, Houston, with a few additional reports of west coast usage
LLC: Former Albertsons-bannered stores

In addition, there is a new decor package which has only been seen at Pavillions thus far (and needs an official name on here).

In the case of the two Minyard Sun Fresh conversions, the conversion to Colorful Lifestyle might have been simpler than Florida decor due to the fact that much of the original Lifestyle signage could simply be modified with new lettering and a fresh coat of paint. On the other hand, the Albertsons and Fresh Market conversion stores might have been more difficult to convert to Colorful Lifestyle due to the fact that the existing walls would have to be modified slightly to support the structural loads from the large Lifestyle signage, in addition to requiring new electrical runs for the backlighting behind the signs.

architect wrote:

klkla wrote:

pseudo3d wrote:Observation: so far, the "Florida" decor has not been seen in ABS-originated brands (Albertsons, ACME, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's/Star Market) and has only been seen in Safeway originated brands (Safeway, Tom Thumb, Randalls), wonder if there's still some contractual thing going on that prevents decor packages from being used in other stores (also note that there's no LLC variant for SWY stores at all, nor Lifestyle for ABS)

That would make sense. I don't know if that's the case for sure, though.

Actually, multiple contributors on here have seen SoCal Albertsons stores with Colorful Lifestyle decor...

I'm talking about the "Florida" decor, not Color LS. Color LS started at a Shaw's.

For the new Pavilions package (which I suspect could land in other banners as a premium store) - I'd call it the World of Difference decor package.

There is also a new third (fourth?) version of lifestyle showing up. It's the traditional lifestyle without any back lighting, instead the letters are a grayish-green and they have spotlights on them. I've seen it once already in the new San Marcos, CA Vons (former Haggen, former Vons). I wish I could say it looks good, clearly it wasn't cheap but the new version of the lighting ruins the appearance.

ClownLoach wrote:For the new Pavilions package (which I suspect could land in other banners as a premium store) - I'd call it the World of Difference decor package.

There is also a new third (fourth?) version of lifestyle showing up. It's the traditional lifestyle without any back lighting, instead the letters are a grayish-green and they have spotlights on them. I've seen it once already in the new San Marcos, CA Vons (former Haggen, former Vons). I wish I could say it looks good, clearly it wasn't cheap but the new version of the lighting ruins the appearance.

The version of Lifestyle you are referring to is a variant of Lifestyle 2.0 (the most common and latter Lifestyle version), adapted to typical Albertsons lighting standards. In some Lifestyle stores which have received new perimeter lighting under Albertsons, the backlighting on the signage has been turned off or disconnected, essentially producing the same effect. Overall, it just doesn't have the same impact, but at least still has the full-bodied lettering. The worst Lifestyle 2.0 variation is a low-budget version used late in Safeway's run which literally has a printout of the Lifestyle signage on a paperboard or foamboard material, attached directly to the wall. it looks awful, as anyone would probably expect.

architect wrote:...The version of Lifestyle you are referring to is a variant of Lifestyle 2.0 (the most common and latter Lifestyle version), adapted to typical Albertsons lighting standards. In some Lifestyle stores which have received new perimeter lighting under Albertsons, the backlighting on the signage has been turned off or disconnected, essentially producing the same effect. Overall, it just doesn't have the same impact, but at least still has the full-bodied lettering. The worst Lifestyle 2.0 variation is a low-budget version used late in Safeway's run which literally has a printout of the Lifestyle signage on a paperboard or foamboard material, attached directly to the wall. it looks awful, as anyone would probably expect.

I've seen that paperboard version of Lifestyle 2.0 and it is even more hideous in real life than it sounds.

architect wrote:

ClownLoach wrote:For the new Pavilions package (which I suspect could land in other banners as a premium store) - I'd call it the World of Difference decor package.

There is also a new third (fourth?) version of lifestyle showing up. It's the traditional lifestyle without any back lighting, instead the letters are a grayish-green and they have spotlights on them. I've seen it once already in the new San Marcos, CA Vons (former Haggen, former Vons). I wish I could say it looks good, clearly it wasn't cheap but the new version of the lighting ruins the appearance.

The version of Lifestyle you are referring to is a variant of Lifestyle 2.0 (the most common and latter Lifestyle version), adapted to typical Albertsons lighting standards. In some Lifestyle stores which have received new perimeter lighting under Albertsons, the backlighting on the signage has been turned off or disconnected, essentially producing the same effect. Overall, it just doesn't have the same impact, but at least still has the full-bodied lettering. The worst Lifestyle 2.0 variation is a low-budget version used late in Safeway's run which literally has a printout of the Lifestyle signage on a paperboard or foamboard material, attached directly to the wall. it looks awful, as anyone would probably expect.

When Albertsons first bought Safeway and sold their Oak Harbor, WA Safeway to Haggen, the Existing Albertsons then became a Safeway. They used this cheap Lifestyle variant package on this store!

Now I've got a little Tom Thumb customer service story to tell:

On Friday, I called the upcoming McKinney Tom Thumb on Hardin to ask if they were open yet, as hours are now listed on their website. When I called, I got a very quick-speaking customer service employee who claimed that they were now open and then immediately hung up on me. Excited to see the new store, I made the trip up there, only to find that it was closed and stocking had not even begun yet, meaning the store is still at least a week or two away from opening.

All of the store improvements in the world won't make a difference to Albertsons' performance if they can't get their customer service up to par (starting with employees not blatantly lying to customers and actually taking the time to listen).

I can now officially confirm that the upcoming Grapevine Tom Thumb (former Minyard Sun Fresh) also features Colorful Lifestyle decor. I tried to get photos of the store progress earlier today through the store's windows, but there were a ton of workers on site, so I didn't want to raise any suspicions of why I was there.

architect wrote:I can now officially confirm that the upcoming Grapevine Tom Thumb (former Minyard Sun Fresh) also features Colorful Lifestyle decor. I tried to get photos of the store progress earlier today through the store's windows, but there were a ton of workers on site, so I didn't want to raise any suspicions of why I was there.

The Grapevine store officially opens tomorrow at 9am. I will stop by and (hopefully) get photos sometime over the weekend. McKinney is set to open next week on the 10th.

New Tom Thumb updates:

Both McKinney stores are set to open/reopen tomorrow, officially marking the return of the Tom Thumb banner to McKinney.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... s-mckinney

Also, I have photos of the recently opened Grapevine store, which I will post sometime in the next few days. It is quite impressive!