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First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 2nd, 2018, 10:58 pm
by CalItalian

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 3rd, 2018, 1:04 am
by rwsandiego
It's about time!

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 3rd, 2018, 3:58 pm
by klkla
It will be interesting to see how the store does. The store immediately to the north in Solana Beach and to the south in La Jolla would seem to be good candidates if this works out for them. The direct competitor for this particular store is a Ralphs Fresh Fare that has a good reputation.

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 3rd, 2018, 8:56 pm
by storewanderer
I think La Jolla would have been a more logical selection. They are clearly going after the nearby Ralphs which sits in a very upscale shopping center and is overcrowded.

It will be interesting to see how this works out for them.

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 3rd, 2018, 11:47 pm
by rwsandiego
I would have chosen Mission Hills over all three. Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, and the western portion of University Heights all have the right demographics.

My guess is they chose Carmel Valley because of its proximity to old money Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe, new-ish money Del Mar Heights (where there is a very small VONS), and upper-middle-class Carmel Valley where I believe they are still building new homes.

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 4th, 2018, 10:45 am
by submariner
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first time Albertsons has shown interest in expanding, let alone opening a new Pavilions since the merger?

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 4th, 2018, 11:48 am
by storewanderer
Yes, really the first geographic expansion attempt on Pavilions since Vons was an independent company...

Albertsons has been selling upscale remodels (a couple Pavilions they did) as part of their strategies going forward to better their performance. When you look at this combined with things like moving a Market Street into Santa Fe, NM, or into Idaho, while a couple stores won't rescue them from all their debt and various other problems, at least it is something...

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 4th, 2018, 12:31 pm
by klkla
rwsandiego wrote: July 3rd, 2018, 11:47 pm I would have chosen Mission Hills over all three. Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, and the western portion of University Heights all have the right demographics.
I agree Mission Hills would also be a good candidate. The difference between the Del Mar Heights store and La Jolla, Solana Beach and Mission Hills is that it was an average performer as a Vons so there wasn't as much downside if the rebranding fails. The other three stores are already very successful so it makes more sense to test out the waters in DMH first.

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 4th, 2018, 8:50 pm
by Bluelightspecial
My guess is that this is just the first and you will see stores like La Jolla, Mission Hills, and Escondido converting to Pavilions. Years ago Vons was going to expand Pavilions into San Diego and make these locations Pavilions, but stopped when Safeway bought them.

Re: First Pavilions in San Diego County

Posted: July 5th, 2018, 7:14 pm
by rwsandiego
klkla wrote: July 4th, 2018, 12:31 pm
rwsandiego wrote: July 3rd, 2018, 11:47 pm I would have chosen Mission Hills over all three. Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, and the western portion of University Heights all have the right demographics.
I agree Mission Hills would also be a good candidate. The difference between the Del Mar Heights store and La Jolla, Solana Beach and Mission Hills is that it was an average performer as a Vons so there wasn't as much downside if the rebranding fails. The other three stores are already very successful so it makes more sense to test out the waters in DMH first.
The converted store is in Carmel Valley, not in Del Mar proper nor in Del Mar Heights. I believe it opened after I moved to San Diego, which was in Autumn 2000, but I could be wrong. The Del Mar Heights store is still a VONS and it is teeny-tiny. If they rebranded it they would have to call it "Pavilion." ;-)