ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

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retailfanmitchell019
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Re: ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: November 9th, 2020, 9:41 pm I think at this point in time the Kroger brand has solid value as a private label brand. It has been in use at some of these outlying divisions for 20-25 years now. I think Ralphs and Fred Meyer probably should have kept their own private label given their store count and volume, and they did for a lot longer than the other divisions. Both also historically had very strong private label programs of their own. Converting to PS would not make sense, given PS brand does not appear to have much of an image at all and I don't think it has ever gained much traction anywhere.

The Signature Select brand is a work in progress at best. I'll stop short at calling it a failure, because it is not exactly that. It is just rather confused. Multiple turnovers in the people running private brands at Albertsons in the past few years are probably to blame for this. Previously a brand for premium quality items, now slapped on everything from premium items to cheap frozen breakfast sandwiches and transparent tape. Slapped on multiple frozen pizza based items (one of which used to be the premium Safeway item but after 3 supplier changes in the last couple years, I don't know anymore) so you can't really tell what item is premium and what item (like the mini pizzas, maybe discontinued already) should say Value Corner based on how lousy it tastes unless you guess based on the price. A logo that looks like a blatant copy of Essential Everyday (probably no surprise given it had to replace Essential Everyday in 800+ stores from Supervalu), and a brand that is frequently priced above national brand items and rarely price promoted with strong price promotions with national brands instead being favored for such promotions. Signature Reserve brand is already a failure with a lot of the line discontinued. O Organics and Lucerne seem to be holding up okay. Open Nature is another confused brand that isn't gaining much traction. Value Corner should just be discontinued as Kroger finally did with its "value" based brands for the most part (maybe a few are still left)- these are middle-upper middle class stores, no use selling that type of junk.
I think one of the dumbest things Albertsons has done post-Safeway is downgrading the Safeway/Signature Select label and using it for products like apple juice and cereal, replacing Signature Kitchens/Farms. I do like the Signature Select cookie dough ice cream though.
There is no point in selling Value Corner crap in a Pavilions. The Value Corner brand (which replaced Pantry Essentials from Old Safeway) should just be used for stores in working-class areas, not a Pavilions in Newport Beach.

Private Selection was created by Yucaipa-era Ralphs to compete with President's Choice (sold at Lucky) Safeway Select, Sam's American Choice (Wal-Mart developed this with Loblaws).

Replacing the Albertsons brand with Essential Everyday was one of the dumbest decisions by SVU. Why? The Albertsons brand had a great reputation.
SVU also has control over brands from Old Albertsons: Baby Basics, Equaline, Homelife, Wild Harvest (a brand Albertsons got from Shaw's), and Culinary Circle (previously Essensia).
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Re: ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: November 9th, 2020, 9:41 pm
rwsandiego wrote: November 9th, 2020, 9:14 pm
Pasta sauce. All of the Simple Truth Organic pasta sauces used soybean oil, while O-Organics used olive oil, the last time I checked about 6 - 8 months ago. As I recall, the Simple Truth Organic preserves also used corn syrup (not high-fructose, though) where O-Organics used cane sugar.
They may have changed something because some of the pasta sauces use no Soybean but use Organic Extra Virgin Oilve Oil now:
https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-o ... 1111008499
https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-o ... 1111083621
Then this one still has the soybean...
https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-o ... 1111083620

They did recently change the source of the Simple Truth and Private Selection Preserves: it is not even a USA Product anymore. It is from Belgium or somewhere. I can't speak for the quality as I have not purchased either product since the supply change.
These have cane sugar now.
https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-o ... 1111083884
https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-o ... 1111083914

I think at this point in time the Kroger brand has solid value as a private label brand. It has been in use at some of these outlying divisions for 20-25 years now. I think Ralphs and Fred Meyer probably should have kept their own private label given their store count and volume, and they did for a lot longer than the other divisions. Both also historically had very strong private label programs of their own. Converting to PS would not make sense, given PS brand does not appear to have much of an image at all and I don't think it has ever gained much traction anywhere.

The Signature Select brand is a work in progress at best. I'll stop short at calling it a failure, because it is not exactly that. It is just rather confused. Multiple turnovers in the people running private brands at Albertsons in the past few years are probably to blame for this. Previously a brand for premium quality items, now slapped on everything from premium items to cheap frozen breakfast sandwiches and transparent tape. Slapped on multiple frozen pizza based items (one of which used to be the premium Safeway item but after 3 supplier changes in the last couple years, I don't know anymore) so you can't really tell what item is premium and what item (like the mini pizzas, maybe discontinued already) should say Value Corner based on how lousy it tastes unless you guess based on the price. A logo that looks like a blatant copy of Essential Everyday (probably no surprise given it had to replace Essential Everyday in 800+ stores from Supervalu), and a brand that is frequently priced above national brand items and rarely price promoted with strong price promotions with national brands instead being favored for such promotions. Signature Reserve brand is already a failure with a lot of the line discontinued. O Organics and Lucerne seem to be holding up okay. Open Nature is another confused brand that isn't gaining much traction. Value Corner should just be discontinued as Kroger finally did with its "value" based brands for the most part (maybe a few are still left)- these are middle-upper middle class stores, no use selling that type of junk.

I really think strong private labels are a key reason why Kroger is holding its customers despite what is an ongoing declining in-store experience. I look into the carts of shoppers at Smiths- lots and lots of private label items in those baskets. Far more than I see at Safeway where private label items do not move nearly as well (they have some success with the Lucerne and O Organics... the "Signature" stuff, not so much). The baskets at Smiths are much more full than the baskets at Safeway as well but that is nothing new.
Thanks for pointing out the ingredient panel on the Simple Truth products. Nice to see Kroger is improving the ingredients they use. It isn't enough to make me shop at Fry's on a consistent basis aside from the afore-mentioned fill-in trips, but it is good to see I can grab a jar of sauce on one of said trips.
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Re: ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: November 11th, 2020, 4:38 pm Thanks for pointing out the ingredient panel on the Simple Truth products. Nice to see Kroger is improving the ingredients they use. It isn't enough to make me shop at Fry's on a consistent basis aside from the afore-mentioned fill-in trips, but it is good to see I can grab a jar of sauce on one of said trips.
For me, when it comes to Kroger, the private labels are, should we say "the last thing left" that keeps me from making the conclusion to basically just stop shopping there other than for ad items. I have been amazed as they have made so many other missteps the past few years, that they have continued to do an exceptional job with private labels.

Their produce quality has also improved drastically starting this summer. With the amount of lousy produce I got there the past few summers I was suspect with them all summer this year but kept buying since the soft fruit was on sale for under $1/lb pretty much the entire summer. Soft fruit was great all summer, so far apples have been great too. Vegetables were never really a problem for some reason... but fruit historically sure was.
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Re: ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

Post by veteran+ »

In S. California I have not seen an improvement in produce quality with Ralphs.

In fact at several different produce departments, produce personnel could not even answer basic questions about the taste of fruit during season or not. I spoke to several produce managers and they said they do not have time to taste produce they are selling. Having worked at Ralphs I was shocked.

Ralphs Simple Truth (a late starter after O Organics) has clearly taken the lead in number of skus and quality.

IMO, there is something quite off with Kroger while Albertsons seems to be incrementally improving.
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Re: ABC15's Phoenix comparisons

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: November 12th, 2020, 5:29 am In S. California I have not seen an improvement in produce quality with Ralphs.

In fact at several different produce departments, produce personnel could not even answer basic questions about the taste of fruit during season or not. I spoke to several produce managers and they said they do not have time to taste produce they are selling. Having worked at Ralphs I was shocked.

Ralphs Simple Truth (a late starter after O Organics) has clearly taken the lead in number of skus and quality.

IMO, there is something quite off with Kroger while Albertsons seems to be incrementally improving.
That is too bad as Ralphs used to have excellent produce. Smiths seemed to centralize the soft fruit this year from some provider stickered "Family Tree Farms." This is the same soft fruit Raleys had but it was funny Smiths got all the small size stuff and Raleys got all the large size stuff. Still the quality was surprisingly good- I was shocked every week.

Simple Truth they went with the right concept on that one. It costs a little more than the normal private label, but so little that you don't cringe, and still less than the national brand. Where Safeway has screwed up with O Organics is pricing it way above the normal private label and also above the national brand. They say O Organics is growing but I sure don't see much in the way of increasing SKUs. They just discontinued the O Organics Bottled Teas which were part of the deli meal drinks (liters) recently.
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