El Rancho Supermercado Sold

[HoustonRetail]

Here's an update on El Rancho after I went to one for the first time in a few months. It's not a dire situation, but things aren't great there. The chain was initially left to its own devices, but that seems to be changing. The chain's marketing has completely changed. They've suspended almost all community events. The biggest was a promotional event where they would give away 1000 or so boxes of "basic necessities," shelf-stable food, and hygiene products every few weeks. They would move it around from city to city, and it was immensely popular. The biggest change in store is implementing a digital rewards program that seems to be backed by Heritage. They'll give you a free 1.5l bottle of Jarritos for signing up. There are also a few generic item spots open because AWG doesn't stock a generic item that Albertsons did.

The store I visited was slow for a Saturday evening, probably comparable traffic to the Randalls it replaced, but some other locations do much better business. All of this change seems to have come on the heels of poor reception at a new store in Dallas. It opened under Heritage and was an old Jerry's only 15k Sqft. My question is, do we think HGG is trying to "fix" El Rancho? The merchandising hasn't changed much, but it feels like El Rancho is drifting away from its original identity.

[storewanderer]

Heritage is not a good operator AT ALL.

Their chains are nothing to get excited about.

They may think they can recreate Sprouts with these chains, they are in for a reality check.