Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

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Re: Albertsons Las Vegas Observations

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: November 26th, 2020, 9:32 pm If you go another exit down from there, there is a big Vons, about 15 years old. It never got a Lifestyle remodel and does very little business. I am sure it was on the way out under Safeway, but the changes Arizona made in pricing and promotions must be getting it enough traffic to survive.
That Vons on Sky Pointe was just remodeled into the Modern interior.
There is a Vons on Desert Inn and Durango that still has pre-lifestyle (so does the Vons at Twain and Maryland)
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Re: Albertsons Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: May 29th, 2021, 3:38 pm
storewanderer wrote: November 26th, 2020, 9:32 pm If you go another exit down from there, there is a big Vons, about 15 years old. It never got a Lifestyle remodel and does very little business. I am sure it was on the way out under Safeway, but the changes Arizona made in pricing and promotions must be getting it enough traffic to survive.
That Vons on Sky Pointe was just remodeled into the Modern interior.
There is a Vons on Desert Inn and Durango that still has pre-lifestyle (so does the Vons at Twain and Maryland)
Not sure what to make of Sky Pointe- that store seemed to do little business. The remodel is very cheap, basically a wall repaint. I also see they either removed or covered over what was some nice tile work behind the bakery/deli counters using what was a good, thick, higher cost tile and replaced with the cheapest white subway tiles you can buy and run a dark stripe through the middle of it (those dark tiles are also quite cheap). I think the store looked better before the remodel. It still looks dated and this is probably the worst application of the Modern interior I've seen.

Also according to Google this store is only open until 10 PM. That seems very early for the summer and Las Vegas. It appears all of the Las Vegas Albertsons are only open until 10 PM? That is very odd. Maybe Google is wrong?

I forgot about Desert Inn at Durango, that is a very nice Genuardi's layout store and I think it opened right before the Lifestyle program started. It would make a great colorful lifestyle interior store.


Though I am wondering if they are doing small remodels to questionably performing stores in an effort to turn them around if what I saw in a couple stores around Aloha/Hillsboro, OR is any indication...
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Las Vegas Albertsons is really looking good. I was surprised how many stores still have Supervalu interiors, the "Premium Fresh & Healthy" one, but those interiors actually do still look really good. The stores are busy, perimeters look really good, center store pricing is high but they have enough good promotions to distract from it, staffing levels seem good, and overall these stores are just really working out well. The stores are fairly busy (not packed). They seem more like a legitimate Albertsons vs. those "Albertsons" Stores in places like OR/WA/CO that are just a Safeway with an Albertsons sign out front.

I did see one store remodeled very nicely into Colorful Lifestyle- Farm Road Albertsons. Very nice remodel on that store. But the multiple modern 00's build stores with the Supervalu interior actually look just as good.

Vons- pathetic joke. Despite that these are merchandised like Albertsons they just don't seem to work. Three locations I went into have been remodeled into the "Modern" interior. Actually it is just a wall repaint, not a remodel. Very cheap jobs. One was still a Lifestyle store. All of these stores have beat up flooring, undermerchandised perimeters, lots of open space, and little traffic. They added self checkout to all of them but even during busy peak hours they have just one checkstand open other than those. The recently remodeled Sky Pointe (never Lifestyle) store was by far the worst; terrible produce, laughable deli with the self serve hot food case next to service hot food filled with tortilla chips (not hot) and sandwich bar converted to the sushi tenant's space that is staffed you know a few hours a week, and about 10 feet of space in the meat case filled with single layer ground turkey. I did enjoy the "Vons is Value" signs in the front windows on Sky Pointe though.

Smiths... typical hit and miss. Saw some great looking stores. Saw some real messes. Stores seemed somewhat busier than Albertsons. Kosher Smiths on Rampart is surprisingly well executed and I am surprised that little Kosher department keeps being supported as it is one of the best of those I've seen in a chain supermarket and has surprisingly high traffic. I guess they are better on center store pricing and maybe on produce but the rest of the perimeter is not even close, it is no contest.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: October 14th, 2022, 11:57 am Las Vegas Albertsons is really looking good. I was surprised how many stores still have Supervalu interiors, the "Premium Fresh & Healthy" one, but those interiors actually do still look really good. The stores are busy, perimeters look really good, center store pricing is high but they have enough good promotions to distract from it, staffing levels seem good, and overall these stores are just really working out well. The stores are fairly busy (not packed). They seem more like a legitimate Albertsons vs. those "Albertsons" Stores in places like OR/WA/CO that are just a Safeway with an Albertsons sign out front.

I did see one store remodeled very nicely into Colorful Lifestyle- Farm Road Albertsons. Very nice remodel on that store. But the multiple modern 00's build stores with the Supervalu interior actually look just as good.

Vons- pathetic joke. Despite that these are merchandised like Albertsons they just don't seem to work. Three locations I went into have been remodeled into the "Modern" interior. Actually it is just a wall repaint, not a remodel. Very cheap jobs. One was still a Lifestyle store. All of these stores have beat up flooring, undermerchandised perimeters, lots of open space, and little traffic. They added self checkout to all of them but even during busy peak hours they have just one checkstand open other than those. The recently remodeled Sky Pointe (never Lifestyle) store was by far the worst; terrible produce, laughable deli with the self serve hot food case next to service hot food filled with tortilla chips (not hot) and sandwich bar converted to the sushi tenant's space that is staffed you know a few hours a week, and about 10 feet of space in the meat case filled with single layer ground turkey. I did enjoy the "Vons is Value" signs in the front windows on Sky Pointe though.

Smiths... typical hit and miss. Saw some great looking stores. Saw some real messes. Stores seemed somewhat busier than Albertsons. Kosher Smiths on Rampart is surprisingly well executed and I am surprised that little Kosher department keeps being supported as it is one of the best of those I've seen in a chain supermarket and has surprisingly high traffic. I guess they are better on center store pricing and maybe on produce but the rest of the perimeter is not even close, it is no contest.
Albertsons has come a long way in Las Vegas. While I don't remember the location (but it was somewhere between the Strip and Downtown via bus), in the mid-2000s, I stopped at a location that was opposite a Smith's (and possibly Von's at the other corner). What I remember is that the Albertsons was a huge, beautiful store that looked relatively new -- but I think I was the only shopper (in actuality I was a looky loo). But the adjacent Smith's -- which looked much older and run down (granted, their decor of that era was crappy) was bustling. A newspaper article published a few years later reported that the Albertsons stores were up for sale and cited experts who said Kroger was in negotiation to buy the bulk of them, as replacements for several older Smith's. Then the "best" Albertsons-Smiths-F4L would be unified under the Kroger banner. The article said it wouldn't receive the scrutiny the Raley's acquisition did as Walmart was now the market leader and growing.

Instead, 10 years later, Albertsons made a come back. But the stores may be headed to Kroger, anyway.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Bagels wrote: October 20th, 2022, 12:42 pm

Albertsons has come a long way in Las Vegas. While I don't remember the location (but it was somewhere between the Strip and Downtown via bus), in the mid-2000s, I stopped at a location that was opposite a Smith's (and possibly Von's at the other corner). What I remember is that the Albertsons was a huge, beautiful store that looked relatively new -- but I think I was the only shopper (in actuality I was a looky loo). But the adjacent Smith's -- which looked much older and run down (granted, their decor of that era was crappy) was bustling. A newspaper article published a few years later reported that the Albertsons stores were up for sale and cited experts who said Kroger was in negotiation to buy the bulk of them, as replacements for several older Smith's. Then the "best" Albertsons-Smiths-F4L would be unified under the Kroger banner. The article said it wouldn't receive the scrutiny the Raley's acquisition did as Walmart was now the market leader and growing.

Instead, 10 years later, Albertsons made a come back. But the stores may be headed to Kroger, anyway.
I had similar experiences with the Supervalu-run Albertsons in central Las Vegas locations. They were not doing much business at all, didn't look bad, just dead. Some of the newer stores out in the perimeter areas were doing better though, even under Supervalu, and looked healthy. When Southwest Division took the stores over, they were in rough shape and clearly on the brink of going out. Switching from the SoCal Programs Supervalu used to the Southwest Division's aggressive ads, stronger perimeter, and merchandising really worked well in Las Vegas and that is a good group of stores now. I think they may even be doing better than Lucky did in Las Vegas at this point, granted the store base is way nicer and much improved from what Lucky had. For whatever reason Southwest Division's strategies have not worked so well on stores with the Vons banner, also Southwest Division's strategies don't look to be working too great on the St. George, UT and Washington, UT stores.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: October 20th, 2022, 9:34 pm I had similar experiences with the Supervalu-run Albertsons in central Las Vegas locations. They were not doing much business at all, didn't look bad, just dead. Some of the newer stores out in the perimeter areas were doing better though, even under Supervalu, and looked healthy. When Southwest Division took the stores over, they were in rough shape and clearly on the brink of going out. Switching from the SoCal Programs Supervalu used to the Southwest Division's aggressive ads, stronger perimeter, and merchandising really worked well in Las Vegas and that is a good group of stores now. I think they may even be doing better than Lucky did in Las Vegas at this point, granted the store base is way nicer and much improved from what Lucky had. For whatever reason Southwest Division's strategies have not worked so well on stores with the Vons banner, also Southwest Division's strategies don't look to be working too great on the St. George, UT and Washington, UT stores.
Albertson's prices have soared in Las Vegas. Smith's have as well, but they're cheaper on almost everything whereas Albertsons beat them on price much of the time 2019-2020-2021. Examples - In December 2020, I paid .89 for a can of Signature Select fruit. Kroger canned fruit was .99. Today, Albertsons is 2.29 vs. 1.39 at Smith's. Hunt's Manwhich was $1 at both Albertsons and Smiths in March 2021. Today, it's $2.50 at Albertsons vs. $1.33 at Smith's.

Both Albertsons and Smith's have become a lot less competitive with Walmart. And they actually have lower pricing in SoCal, which is a huge shift...
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Bagels wrote: October 21st, 2022, 6:37 pm

Albertson's prices have soared in Las Vegas. Smith's have as well, but they're cheaper on almost everything whereas Albertsons beat them on price much of the time 2019-2020-2021. Examples - In December 2020, I paid .89 for a can of Signature Select fruit. Kroger canned fruit was .99. Today, Albertsons is 2.29 vs. 1.39 at Smith's. Hunt's Manwhich was $1 at both Albertsons and Smiths in March 2021. Today, it's $2.50 at Albertsons vs. $1.33 at Smith's.

Both Albertsons and Smith's have become a lot less competitive with Walmart. And they actually have lower pricing in SoCal, which is a huge shift...
Unfortunately folding the Southwest Division of Albertsons into the Safeway systems/pricing has caused drastic price increases from what the old Albertsons LLC Southwest division was doing on its own pricing systems. This was to get the pricing at Albertsons consistent with Safeway's terrible pricing in Arizona, and Las Vegas was a victim of this.

Southwest Division is cheaper on basically everything compared to NorCal Safeway. Meat pricing is 30-40% lower in Las Vegas Albertsons/Vons than it is in Reno Safeway, for example. Also they are still running much better promotions in Southwest Division and have better quality offer in bakery. I'll give NorCal props for Boar's Head in deli, that is better than what Southwest Division has, but not at the 15.99/lb NorCal charges for smoked/black forest ham and most of the turkey in Boar's Head. NorCal does have some random Boar's Head Ham/Turkey at 14.99/lb or 13.99/lb but the pricing isn't labeled clearly so there is no telling what is that price unless you irritate the clerk by asking them to look prices up (bad idea with how short staffed they are), check the website, or pull up the app in store.

SoCal pricing at the major grocers has become curiously competitive in the past couple of years. It makes sense with the amount of food production taking place, for pricing there to be good. I am not sure why it ever got as high as it did other than Safeway's terrible pricing policies of the 00's causing it and the competitors just followed them up. Nice of Aldi to come in there and scare everyone on price.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: October 22nd, 2022, 12:52 am
Bagels wrote: October 21st, 2022, 6:37 pm

Albertson's prices have soared in Las Vegas. Smith's have as well, but they're cheaper on almost everything whereas Albertsons beat them on price much of the time 2019-2020-2021. Examples - In December 2020, I paid .89 for a can of Signature Select fruit. Kroger canned fruit was .99. Today, Albertsons is 2.29 vs. 1.39 at Smith's. Hunt's Manwhich was $1 at both Albertsons and Smiths in March 2021. Today, it's $2.50 at Albertsons vs. $1.33 at Smith's.

Both Albertsons and Smith's have become a lot less competitive with Walmart. And they actually have lower pricing in SoCal, which is a huge shift...
Unfortunately folding the Southwest Division of Albertsons into the Safeway systems/pricing has caused drastic price increases from what the old Albertsons LLC Southwest division was doing on its own pricing systems. This was to get the pricing at Albertsons consistent with Safeway's terrible pricing in Arizona, and Las Vegas was a victim of this.

Southwest Division is cheaper on basically everything compared to NorCal Safeway. Meat pricing is 30-40% lower in Las Vegas Albertsons/Vons than it is in Reno Safeway, for example. Also they are still running much better promotions in Southwest Division and have better quality offer in bakery. I'll give NorCal props for Boar's Head in deli, that is better than what Southwest Division has, but not at the 15.99/lb NorCal charges for smoked/black forest ham and most of the turkey in Boar's Head. NorCal does have some random Boar's Head Ham/Turkey at 14.99/lb or 13.99/lb but the pricing isn't labeled clearly so there is no telling what is that price unless you irritate the clerk by asking them to look prices up (bad idea with how short staffed they are), check the website, or pull up the app in store.

SoCal pricing at the major grocers has become curiously competitive in the past couple of years. It makes sense with the amount of food production taking place, for pricing there to be good. I am not sure why it ever got as high as it did other than Safeway's terrible pricing policies of the 00's causing it and the competitors just followed them up. Nice of Aldi to come in there and scare everyone on price.
For sure, but just last year, you could shop exclusively at Albertsons or Smith’s with the same basket and at year-end, there wouldn’t be a material difference, nor would there much of a premium over Walmart. But that changed in one year - you would clearly save money shopping at Smith’s, and even more at Walmart.

I spent several weeks in Las Vegas and was jealous over Albertsons and Smith’s prices. No more! But you’re right, Albertsons maintained many of the ready meals and bakery products that were dumped elsewhere.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Bagels wrote: October 23rd, 2022, 12:06 pm

For sure, but just last year, you could shop exclusively at Albertsons or Smith’s with the same basket and at year-end, there wouldn’t be a material difference, nor would there much of a premium over Walmart. But that changed in one year - you would clearly save money shopping at Smith’s, and even more at Walmart.

I spent several weeks in Las Vegas and was jealous over Albertsons and Smith’s prices. No more! But you’re right, Albertsons maintained many of the ready meals and bakery products that were dumped elsewhere.
Kroger has always been a little slow to do price increases at Smiths. Smiths runs in some price sensitive markets and I think Smiths pricing attitude is handled more like midwest Kroger divisions than the other west coast divisions. Smiths is also a little funny in when they do price increases, they typically follow up with a sale almost immediately with the sale price back to what the old regular price was in center store grocery. They have pretty high prices on a lot of oddball non food and cleaning items now and no effort to make that blow a bit easier on their part. Smiths operates in a lot of price conscious areas and for years its perimeter items were priced significantly below other Kroger divisions. While Smiths still somehow prices the PS Ground Round (85/15) at 4.99/lb everyday any pack size or 4.49/lb everyday 3+lb pack (that is a card price but it has been on sale at a .50/lb discount for about the past 10 years; then some weeks it goes in the ad at a lower price than that) which at this point is probably below cost, they have moved most of the bakery/deli pricing up to typical Kroger levels. Efforts to put the 4 inch cake squares as high as 3.99 did fail and those are back down to 2.50 now (some old Smiths only flavors still price out at 1.99 though). Waiting for the 2.29 French Bread attempt to fail and that go back down to the 1.50 it still isn't worth (terrible quality french bread).

On my Las Vegas trip I was after a bottle of hand soap. I just want the 5.5oz or 7.5 store brand, Dial, Softsoap, whatever. I know max I should pay is 1.00. Well, Albertsons/Vons- was like 1.79 for Signature, 3.29 for Softsoap, and 3.99 for Dial. Something was on sale for 2.50 at Albertsons/Vons but I was so miffed at the prices I don't remember. Smiths had the 7.5oz Kroger at .89 (everyday), 7.5oz Softsoap at 1.25 (everyday), and 7.5oz Dial at 1.50 (may have been a sale price, I forget). Problem is the above example plays out across the store in a lot of categories...

But in the fresh departments, Albertsons/Vons in Las Vegas has pricing right there with Smiths, or better. Their dairy pricing was also good. That includes meat and produce, and I was really surprised and impressed by that. I am so used to NorCal Safeway's terrible pricing in EVERY category which looks even more terrible in Reno next to Smiths, Wal Mart, and WinCo.
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Re: Albertsons Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Bagels wrote: November 30th, 2020, 12:01 am

Image
Image
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Smiths had these produce fixtures in one Reno Store. They removed them in the past couple of days and went back to the style of fixtures they had used previously (new versions of the old fixtures). This project involved renting three large dumpsters overnight. These fixtures were basically terrible. They did not hold enough product, soft fruit was easily bruised, they did not hold large items well, the employee had to block many items in order to stock a single item. Perhaps one of the worst produce configurations I've ever seen for a busy, high volume store. It may work to sell produce in a low volume operation like a convenience store through this kind of display though.

This Smiths in Reno on South Meadows has had about 5 different produce fixtures used since it opened and keeps going back to the same old thing:
1. It opened with simple angled racks at a single level
2. Around 2012, they put in square wood style tables a set up often seen in Ralphs and QFC Stores
3. It went back to the angled racks again in a remodel
4. They installed these cubby like fixtures like the Mesquite photos above around May 2021
5. Now they are back to simple angled racks at a single level again.

I thought configuration 2 was the best looking by far.
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