Holiday opening new Auburn Store 7/31

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storewanderer
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Holiday opening new Auburn Store 7/31

Post by storewanderer »

Holiday will open its replacement store in Auburn on 7/31. This store sits out along Highway 49 and is about 30k square feet. The store it is replacing is rather hidden up the road, and probably about 12k square feet.

This was supposed to be a Bel Air site 10-15 years ago and I'm not sure what happened but this site is a great catch for Holiday. Really good to see some growth like this from a smaller chain. Holiday has really turned around its operation in the past decade.
storewanderer
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Re: Holiday opening new Auburn Store 7/31

Post by storewanderer »

Well, the new store didn't end up opening until 8/7. Also the old store is still open for a liquidation sale until 8/11 (currently 50% off all items; previous sale prices apply so it is 50% off some sale prices in the old store as well). This is interesting- I have not seen a grocer relocate before and keep the old store open for a liquidation sale. Given the situation here (they were trying to keep the old store fully stocked/functional before the new store opened, and were still restocking the old store as recently as last week due to the one week delay on the new store) with the new store opening delayed a week this may have been the best solution to provide consistent service to the area.

The new store, is very nice. Raleys was foolish to abandon this site a decade ago; this is a really good site. And there are no other sites nearby (and good luck getting approval if trying to piece anything together). Very visible and with excellent access. The new store has direct access to and from Highway 49 so it is great for passing by traffic on the way back to Grass Valley and there is a turn lane across the highway into the store as well (unlike the other businesses at this shopping center which you have to turn off onto Combie to get into/out of). You can also access the store from Combie by going behind the CVS/Chevron area.

Now for the store: this store is only 30,000 square feet. The front of the store is very open. When you enter both sides have large open space then checkout is between; there are about 5 regular checkouts and 8 self checkouts (4 are very small walk up ones along the front wall, the other 4 are full size). One side is floral, the other side has a currently unused salad bar, large beverage station (fountain drink, coffee, etc.), and a small alcove with a seating area (there is also an outside seating area accessed through a side door out there).

The aisle area has about a dozen aisles and has a good mix of items. Produce area is good sized. Meat area is very small with no service counter. Deli is good sized with most space taken by a sandwich counter and small service counter for lunchmeat, then refrigeration with self serve items on both sides and a small amount of hot food prepackaged. No formal bakery counter, but there is a case for individual pastries and there is an island display with breads, rolls, cookies, pastries, etc. that are obviously store made.

The store has a nice looking decor package and I think it uses its space very well. It feels spacious and complete despite the low square footage. Overall this store is great and I think it will make an excellent addition to the area as well as to the Holiday chain (this should become their second best store in short order).

The store was very well staffed and everything was in good order throughout the store. All of the employees were exceedingly friendly and seemed well trained.

There are various photos on their store facebook.

This is quite a turnaround from the last new store Holiday built from the ground up, in Cool over a decade ago- which opened with no decor package and fixtured with fixtures from Ralphs NorCal store closures (to be fair the equipment was in good shape) and an old Ralphs store manager (that made for a very well run store). They have since done some additional finishing work in Cool, and a lot of other remodels. Holiday did open a replacement store in Corning last year for their Sav-Mor there, which appears to be a pre-fab building.
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