Grapevine Tom Thumb closing, nearby Albertsons rebranding

[architect]

Just announced: The Tom Thumb at 4000 William D Tate in Grapevine will be closing in February and a nearby Albertsons at 4000 Glade Road will be converting to the Tom Thumb banner. A representative for Albertsons attributes this closure to an expiring lease.

The Tom Thumb in question is located in an upscale but somewhat odd area, being difficult to access from the north due to being at the south end of a complex roadway interchange. The store is a late-90's Randalls New Generation store, and of note, was one of the stores divested to Minyard and temporarily operated as a Sun Fresh store from 2015-2016. The lease was then sold to HEB, who later flipped the lease along with another in McKinney back to Albertsons. Upon reopening, the store was remodeled with Colorful LIfestyle decor along with numerous new amenities, but traffic has been seemingly low since.

Meanwhile, the Albertsons to the south is an older facility and has been somewhat ignored for years, but is in a much more strategic location being directly across the street from the large Glade Parks development along with numerous other shopping centers. In November, I stopped by this store and it was well underway in renovation into the Florida decor package, with all exit signage installed short of the Tom Thumb logo (a dead giveaway that a banner change was imminent).

Article: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... rebranded/

[storewanderer]

Just announced: The Tom Thumb at 4000 William D Tate in Grapevine will be closing in February and a nearby Albertsons at 4000 Glade Road will be converting to the Tom Thumb banner. A representative for Albertsons attributes this closure to an expiring lease.

The Tom Thumb in question is located in an upscale but somewhat odd area, being difficult to access from the north due to being at the south end of a complex roadway interchange. The store is a late-90's Randalls New Generation store, and of note, was one of the stores divested to Minyard and temporarily operated as a Sun Fresh store from 2015-2016. The lease was then sold to HEB, who later flipped the lease along with another in McKinney back to Albertsons. Upon reopening, the store was remodeled with Colorful LIfestyle decor along with numerous new amenities, but traffic has been seemingly low since.

Meanwhile, the Albertsons to the south is an older facility and has been somewhat ignored for years, but is in a much more strategic location being directly across the street from the large Glade Parks development along with numerous other shopping centers. In November, I stopped by this store and it was well underway in renovation into the Florida decor package, with all exit signage installed short of the Tom Thumb logo (a dead giveaway that a banner change was imminent).

Article: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... rebranded/

What is interesting about this is the Kroger units nearby may be far enough away that there will be no need to divest this store.

I'm not sure why they are bothering to rebrand the Albertsons at all.

So basically this neighborhood was before having 3 competing grocers: Albertsons, Safeway, and Kroger. Then you have Albertsons and Safeway merge and divest a store to a joke operator, then get that store back, and now close that store entirely. Then Albertsons and Kroger merge and you are down to 1 single grocer in what used to have 3 grocers competing. When you look at it that way something definitely needs to be divested here even if the Kroger units are a ways away.

I do wonder if this closure is a way around having to divest something in this area. The Albertsons would have been the prime divest candidate (assuming the Tom Thumb had stayed open). Now by closing Tom Thumb how does that change the divest conversation?

[architect]

What is interesting about this is the Kroger units nearby may be far enough away that there will be no need to divest this store.

I'm not sure why they are bothering to rebrand the Albertsons at all.

So basically this neighborhood was before having 3 competing grocers: Albertsons, Safeway, and Kroger. Then you have Albertsons and Safeway merge and divest a store to a joke operator, then get that store back, and now close that store entirely. Then Albertsons and Kroger merge and you are down to 1 single grocer in what used to have 3 grocers competing. When you look at it that way something definitely needs to be divested here even if the Kroger units are a ways away.

I do wonder if this closure is a way around having to divest something in this area. The Albertsons would have been the prime divest candidate (assuming the Tom Thumb had stayed open). Now by closing Tom Thumb how does that change the divest conversation?

As a practical matter, there really isn't a competing Kroger in the area (not that the feds will necessarily see it that way). The stores to the south on Main St. in Euless and Harwood Rd. in Bedford both serve distinctly different neighborhoods, and residents living off of Hall-Johnson rarely have a reason to go much further south than Glade Parks. There is another Kroger location to the northwest in Southlake, but that store is quite difficult to get to from the Hall-Johnson corridor, either requiring traversing the 121/114 interchange (which is often heavily congested) or taking side streets (which is easier said than done due to the route being split by a rail line which parallels 26 through Grapevine/Colleyville). I'm sure that Albertsons will put a lease restriction on the space, but if not, this could potentially be an opportunity for Kroger to expand into the area.

Notably, there is also a large Market Street in Colleyville to the west at 26/Hall-Johnson, which needs to be factored into the divestiture discussion.

On a related note, the rebranding of the Glade store to Tom Thumb makes sense considering the upscale demographics of the area, along with the overall relative strength of the Tom Thumb banner relative to Albertsons at this point in DFW. The remaining strongholds for Albertsons in DFW are on the Fort Worth side, and are often in areas which are solidly middle class or even lower income. Albertsons seems to be focusing the Tom Thumb banner on more upscale or upper middle class areas.

[storewanderer]

As a practical matter, there really isn't a competing Kroger in the area (not that the feds will necessarily see it that way). The stores to the south on Main St. in Euless and Harwood Rd. in Bedford both serve distinctly different neighborhoods, and residents living off of Hall-Johnson rarely have a reason to go much further south than Glade Parks. There is another Kroger location to the northwest in Southlake, but that store is quite difficult to get to from the Hall-Johnson corridor, either requiring traversing the 121/114 interchange (which is often heavily congested) or taking side streets (which is easier said than done due to the route being split by a rail line which parallels 26 through Grapevine/Colleyville). I'm sure that Albertsons will put a lease restriction on the space, but if not, this could potentially be an opportunity for Kroger to expand into the area.

Notably, there is also a large Market Street in Colleyville to the west at 26/Hall-Johnson, which needs to be factored into the divestiture discussion.

On a related note, the rebranding of the Glade store to Tom Thumb makes sense considering the upscale demographics of the area, along with the overall relative strength of the Tom Thumb banner relative to Albertsons at this point in DFW. The remaining strongholds for Albertsons in DFW are on the Fort Worth side, and are often in areas which are solidly middle class or even lower income. Albertsons seems to be focusing the Tom Thumb banner on more upscale or upper middle class areas.

It is interesting because neither banner is very good... if they were serious about something more upscale they'd get more behind the Market Street banner. But I think Market Street is in trouble in DFW. Big trouble. Despite some nice efforts and better pricing (lower prices at Market Street throughout the store than Albertsons/Tom Thumb), I'm not sure if it will be enough.

[architect]

As a practical matter, there really isn't a competing Kroger in the area (not that the feds will necessarily see it that way). The stores to the south on Main St. in Euless and Harwood Rd. in Bedford both serve distinctly different neighborhoods, and residents living off of Hall-Johnson rarely have a reason to go much further south than Glade Parks. There is another Kroger location to the northwest in Southlake, but that store is quite difficult to get to from the Hall-Johnson corridor, either requiring traversing the 121/114 interchange (which is often heavily congested) or taking side streets (which is easier said than done due to the route being split by a rail line which parallels 26 through Grapevine/Colleyville). I'm sure that Albertsons will put a lease restriction on the space, but if not, this could potentially be an opportunity for Kroger to expand into the area.

Notably, there is also a large Market Street in Colleyville to the west at 26/Hall-Johnson, which needs to be factored into the divestiture discussion.

On a related note, the rebranding of the Glade store to Tom Thumb makes sense considering the upscale demographics of the area, along with the overall relative strength of the Tom Thumb banner relative to Albertsons at this point in DFW. The remaining strongholds for Albertsons in DFW are on the Fort Worth side, and are often in areas which are solidly middle class or even lower income. Albertsons seems to be focusing the Tom Thumb banner on more upscale or upper middle class areas.

It is interesting because neither banner is very good... if they were serious about something more upscale they'd get more behind the Market Street banner. But I think Market Street is in trouble in DFW. Big trouble. Despite some nice efforts and better pricing (lower prices at Market Street throughout the store than Albertsons/Tom Thumb), I'm not sure if it will be enough.

My wife and I's grocery spending is split roughly evenly between HEB and Market Street, with occasional Kroger runs sprinkled in when they have good coupons or promos running. The entire shopping experience at Market Street is far superior to Tom Thumb/Albertsons, but the banner is hardly promoted in DFW these days compared to when United first entered the market. As a result, it seems like many Market Street shoppers are loyal to the chain (we regularly see certain friends/neighbors at our nearby store), but they aren't necessarily picking up new customers, which doesn't bode well long term. At this point from Albertsons' perspective, it seems like the brand is an afterthought (being running from out of town by the United division), though at least most of the DFW stores have received substantial renovations over the past two years. Outside of the center-store private brands selection, the experience is equivalent or in some cases better than what HEB is offering in the market (particularly with the hot foods counter, many bakery items, floral, and the gift/home decor department), so it's strange that Albertsons isn't promoting what could be their response to HEB.

[storewanderer]

My wife and I's grocery spending is split roughly evenly between HEB and Market Street, with occasional Kroger runs sprinkled in when they have good coupons or promos running. The entire shopping experience at Market Street is far superior to Tom Thumb/Albertsons, but the banner is hardly promoted in DFW these days compared to when United first entered the market. As a result, it seems like many Market Street shoppers are loyal to the chain (we regularly see certain friends/neighbors at our nearby store), but they aren't necessarily picking up new customers, which doesn't bode well long term. At this point from Albertsons' perspective, it seems like the brand is an afterthought (being running from out of town by the United division), though at least most of the DFW stores have received substantial renovations over the past two years. Outside of the center-store private brands selection, the experience is equivalent or in some cases better than what HEB is offering in the market (particularly with the hot foods counter, many bakery items, floral, and the gift/home decor department), so it's strange that Albertsons isn't promoting what could be their response to HEB.

The other thing about Market Street is its staffing levels... they are quite staffed. This is a real contrast to Albertsons/Tom Thumb who feel understaffed.

I think if Bob Miller was still running things, there would be better promotion of Market Street.

The current upper management in Albertsons seem to be falling more and more into the "Safeway" way of doing things even though none of them are Safeway people. The Safeway ways sure have a way of infecting everything and I am concerned they will do the same to Kroger. And Safeway never did anything but marginalize good formats/better formats (the way they mishandled Pavilions in SoCal and ruined Dominick's and Genuardi's) so I guess we should be thankful that something stopped the entire United division from being integrated into Albertsons/Safeway as a whole because that is the only thing keeping Market Street as something unique.

[pseudo3d]

My wife and I's grocery spending is split roughly evenly between HEB and Market Street, with occasional Kroger runs sprinkled in when they have good coupons or promos running. The entire shopping experience at Market Street is far superior to Tom Thumb/Albertsons, but the banner is hardly promoted in DFW these days compared to when United first entered the market. As a result, it seems like many Market Street shoppers are loyal to the chain (we regularly see certain friends/neighbors at our nearby store), but they aren't necessarily picking up new customers, which doesn't bode well long term. At this point from Albertsons' perspective, it seems like the brand is an afterthought (being running from out of town by the United division), though at least most of the DFW stores have received substantial renovations over the past two years. Outside of the center-store private brands selection, the experience is equivalent or in some cases better than what HEB is offering in the market (particularly with the hot foods counter, many bakery items, floral, and the gift/home decor department), so it's strange that Albertsons isn't promoting what could be their response to HEB.

The other thing about Market Street is its staffing levels... they are quite staffed. This is a real contrast to Albertsons/Tom Thumb who feel understaffed.

I think if Bob Miller was still running things, there would be better promotion of Market Street.

The current upper management in Albertsons seem to be falling more and more into the "Safeway" way of doing things even though none of them are Safeway people. The Safeway ways sure have a way of infecting everything and I am concerned they will do the same to Kroger. And Safeway never did anything but marginalize good formats/better formats (the way they mishandled Pavilions in SoCal and ruined Dominick's and Genuardi's) so I guess we should be thankful that something stopped the entire United division from being integrated into Albertsons/Safeway as a whole because that is the only thing keeping Market Street as something unique.

If the merger falls through, Albertsons has a chance to purge its management who sold it out and find someone new. I don't expect too much--the chances they immediately look for another suitor with less overlap is almost guaranteed...but it still opens up the chance that they'd be okay in the end.

[storewanderer]

If the merger falls through, Albertsons has a chance to purge its management who sold it out and find someone new. I don't expect too much--the chances they immediately look for another suitor with less overlap is almost guaranteed...but it still opens up the chance that they'd be okay in the end.

I'm not convinced the direct management (such as the CEO) of Albertsons "sold it out." I think it was the ownership/controlling shareholders (Cerberus and friends).

I know the CEO has to see this through and try to get this deal to go through and will stand to make millions of dollars as a reward for helping to push the deal through, but none of Albertsons upper management is taking positions in the combined company which is what typically occurs when management sells out a company.

[retailfanmitchell019]

In all but name, Pavilions has come to Texas: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tom+T ... ?entry=ttu

[ClownLoach]

In all but name, Pavilions has come to Texas: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tom+T ... ?entry=ttu

Looks like a lower cost version of the decor.