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New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: November 2nd, 2017, 7:25 pm
by CalItalian
I can't remember the last time a newly built from the ground up Vons has been opened in Southern California.
https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/v ... ell-plaza/

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: November 2nd, 2017, 9:35 pm
by rwsandiego
CalItalian wrote: November 2nd, 2017, 7:25 pm I can't remember the last time a newly built from the ground up Vons has been opened in Southern California.
https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/v ... ell-plaza/
The last new VONS I recall is Liberty Station in Point Loma, San Diego. Because they repurposed existing buildings (former military), the service departments are located in one building and then you walk through a courtyard to the building that houses "center store."

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: November 11th, 2017, 4:06 pm
by submariner
rwsandiego wrote: November 2nd, 2017, 9:35 pm
CalItalian wrote: November 2nd, 2017, 7:25 pm I can't remember the last time a newly built from the ground up Vons has been opened in Southern California.
https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/v ... ell-plaza/
The last new VONS I recall is Liberty Station in Point Loma, San Diego. Because they repurposed existing buildings (former military), the service departments are located in one building and then you walk through a courtyard to the building that houses "center store."
There was also one in Otay Ranch that must have received leftover signs from Canada, as the express lane signs noted they accepted "cheques". 2008 or so.

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 6th, 2019, 3:30 pm
by Bagels
On Monday, the County will vote whether or not to move forward with the project. If approved, construction will begin and the store will open later this year:

https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/p ... t-june-10/

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 6th, 2019, 6:36 pm
by storewanderer
This store should get approved and it should do well. If they can have a Tractor Supply they can certainly have a grocery store in their town.

Another missed opportunity for Ralphs... maybe too "country" for Ralphs.

Albertsons isn't building many new stores but they are being rather opportunistic seeking out underserved areas based on what I am noticing... not exactly going for flashy locations but going for locations that need a store.

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 7th, 2019, 6:52 am
by arizonaguy
storewanderer wrote: June 6th, 2019, 6:36 pm This store should get approved and it should do well. If they can have a Tractor Supply they can certainly have a grocery store in their town.

Another missed opportunity for Ralphs... maybe too "country" for Ralphs.

Albertsons isn't building many new stores but they are being rather opportunistic seeking out underserved areas based on what I am noticing... not exactly going for flashy locations but going for locations that need a store.
That's what Safeway did in Arizona during the late 1990s / early 2000s when Fry's was on another one of their building "freezes".

Now that Fry's / Kroger is on another building "freeze" it seems that Albertsons is building a few more opportunistic stores while at the same time closing some of their less profitable stores with lots of competition.

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 7th, 2019, 4:06 pm
by rwsandiego
It is important to mention that VONS is the leading supermarket in San Diego County and has been for several years. Ralphs has ~20 stores in San Diego County (excluding Food4Less). VONS has 23 within the city limits plus another 26 in the suburbs for a total of 49.

It doesn't surprise me that a VONS is going into Valley Center. When I think back to my local VONS vs my local Ralphs, the VONS stocked a more complete selection of groceries and general merchandise than did the local Ralphs, despite the VONS being less than half the size of Ralphs. The only area of SD I can think of where there is a Ralphs but no VONS is downtown San Diego, but there is an Albertsons a mile from the Ralphs on the opposite end of Downtown and a VONS a few miles away in Mission Hills. The suburbs are similar. In fact, I can't think of any where a VONS isn't nearby. (There probably are some, I just don't know where they are)

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 14th, 2019, 7:02 am
by CalItalian
It was approved. But California style nimbyism was in full effect. https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/l ... pointment/

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 14th, 2019, 5:29 pm
by rwsandiego
CalItalian wrote: June 14th, 2019, 7:02 am It was approved. But California style nimbyism was in full effect. https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/l ... pointment/
The neighborhood surrounding the VONS I mentioned above complains endlessly about the size of the store (it is really small). The same neighborhood opposes expanding the VONS, as was done in Mission Hills. You can't have it both ways. In the case of Valley Center, they won't have a new supermarket. I guess that's better? Weird.

Re: New build Vons coming to Valley Center (near Escondido)

Posted: June 14th, 2019, 10:54 pm
by storewanderer
This is probably why Kroger doesn't bother to build stores anymore in California. It is just too much trouble. All this back and forth, delays, years of going through planning... costs a lot of money. A lot easier to build a new store in Arizona or Nevada or Ohio...

Now if this was Sprouts or Trader Joe's going into Valley Center, I do not think there would have been much of any opposition... the smaller store size would kill the complaints over store size, the fact that so many people love and get excited about Sprouts and Trader Joe's would overwhelm the few who had some sort of complaint about the store... and they may not even open their mouths knowing how outnumbered they would be.