Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

[storewanderer]

Lake Oswego is the type of spot where the Haggen like store should have done very well. I am a little interested they are converting it back to Albertsons instead of Safeway. This is as close to an upscale store as Albertsons has around Portland under its namesake banner (the store up on Beaverton Hillsdale with the Kosher program is also pretty close to upscale, certainly moreso than usual). I am guessing this will also involve a system conversion over to Safeway systems and total resets inside the store, hence the longer conversion time.

[pseudo3d]

I am guessing this will also involve a system conversion over to Safeway systems and total resets inside the store, hence the longer conversion time.

Without new décor, conversions are just a 2-3 day work. In the 1990s and the early 2000s, Kroger picked up some of both AppleTree and Albertsons (respectively) and reopened them within a few days. More recently, we've seen it with A&P and ACME. The difference I think is the new Albertsons décor going in but they're not rushing it to get it done like Haggen tried to do.

[storewanderer]

Save Mart did 3 day turnarounds on its NorCal Albertsons and they did very similar remodels to Haggen (repaint walls and install new wall/aisle signs/checkstand lights). I am wondering if the redecoration is something Albertsons has encouraged these buyers to do (or forced them to do?).

That theory would be blown though as former Albertsons Stores sit in Oklahoma sold by LLC with their old decor.

[rwsandiego]

Save Mart did 3 day turnarounds on its NorCal Albertsons and they did very similar remodels to Haggen (repaint walls and install new wall/aisle signs/checkstand lights). I am wondering if the redecoration is something Albertsons has encouraged these buyers to do (or forced them to do?). ...

I wonder whether Haggen was attempting to build a brand identity by having a consistent decor package, rather than a collection of two different Lifestyle packages, three different Premium Fresh and Healthy packages, various versions of the Jewel package, and some ex-Lucky packages, just to name a few. Of course, one would think that would have been accompanied by an advertising campaign and sensible pricing.

[storewanderer]

That was the same situation Save Mart was in. They bought maybe a dozen stores with the blue/gray mid 1990's Albertsons decor, many stores with the red/green mid 1990's Lucky decor, 3 with a late 1990's applied Jewel looking decor, a dozen or so with the late 1990's Albertsons "white walls" interior, 3 with the early 2000's Albertsons "Grocery Palace" interior, and quite a few locations with the 2002 era Albertsons remodel with the industrial looking wall signs.

[rwsandiego]

That was the same situation Save Mart was in. They bought maybe a dozen stores with the blue/gray mid 1990's Albertsons decor, many stores with the red/green mid 1990's Lucky decor, 3 with a late 1990's applied Jewel looking decor, a dozen or so with the late 1990's Albertsons "white walls" interior, 3 with the early 2000's Albertsons "Grocery Palace" interior, and quite a few locations with the 2002 era Albertsons remodel with the industrial looking wall signs.

It is one thing when a chain has multiple decor packages of its own. That is bound to happen. When a chain has its own packages plus ones in individual stores they acquired from someone else it just looks sloppy. Reminds me of the mom-and-pop operations that bought some of the National and A&P locations when they pulled out of Chicago in the 1970's. The stores might have received paint (but most likely not). One in particular (Butera, a/k/a "Buterrible" for its reputation at the time) had a couple of decades' worth of National interiors going at one time. Not a pretty picture.

[SamSpade]

Lake Oswego is the type of spot where the Haggen like store should have done very well. I am a little interested they are converting it back to Albertsons instead of Safeway. This is as close to an upscale store as Albertsons has around Portland under its namesake banner (the store up on Beaverton Hillsdale with the Kosher program is also pretty close to upscale, certainly moreso than usual). I am guessing this will also involve a system conversion over to Safeway systems and total resets inside the store, hence the longer conversion time.

Lake Oswego has its own Lifestyle Safeway downtown in a well-merchandised Marina. There is another Safeway a few miles closer to I-5 (I think officially in Tualatin). This trade area is apparently not doing well for certain grocers. The Walmart Neighborhood Market that was up the road in an old Nature's closed in the closures announced early this year, the Haggen in Tualatin closed as Fred Meyer remodeled and New Seasons opened, Whole Foods consolidated with Wild Oats after the merger...
But, Zupans opened right across the street from Albertsons/Haggen in 2012 with a brand new store where (tired old expensive) Wizer's used to be.

[pseudo3d]

That was the same situation Save Mart was in. They bought maybe a dozen stores with the blue/gray mid 1990's Albertsons decor, many stores with the red/green mid 1990's Lucky decor, 3 with a late 1990's applied Jewel looking decor, a dozen or so with the late 1990's Albertsons "white walls" interior, 3 with the early 2000's Albertsons "Grocery Palace" interior, and quite a few locations with the 2002 era Albertsons remodel with the industrial looking wall signs.

It is one thing when a chain has multiple decor packages of its own. That is bound to happen. When a chain has its own packages plus ones in individual stores they acquired from someone else it just looks sloppy. Reminds me of the mom-and-pop operations that bought some of the National and A&P locations when they pulled out of Chicago in the 1970's. The stores might have received paint (but most likely not). One in particular (Butera, a/k/a "Buterrible" for its reputation at the time) had a couple of decades' worth of National interiors going at one time. Not a pretty picture.

I would say that Kroger has/had a lot of packages floating around, especially given that they did acquire stores from old chains (Albertsons and AppleTree in Houston), but the Albertsons situation is worse because there was a time in Albertsons history when they were pushing about 3-4 very different packages all at the same time (in the same banner).

To me, though, it makes stores more interesting. Safeway stores with Lifestyle, Kroger with the (deprecated?) Fresh Fare décor...they're everywhere. And it's maddening. With the exception of the run-down "Southwest Parkway" Kroger discussed here, I've encountered it in the last six Kroger stores I remember personally being in.

[storewanderer]

Safeway's application of lifestyle interiors was really consistent. Between lighting, flooring, tiles behind the departments, even the checkstands, they were very consistent. Once in a while there were some little quirks like a bakery with a closed door case for rolls/bagels instead of open air cases or a deli that had two big cold cases one for lunchmeats and one for salads, but really these were the exception not the norm.

I have found Kroger's recent remodels to be very inconsistent. Some have cement floors, some don't. Some have new tile behind bakery/deli, some have tile from some past decor. Bakery and deli display methods vary widely by store. Some have new checkstands, some don't. Some have tables for produce, some have odd 4 sided displays for produce with hollow space in the middle for the employee to stock produce from, some have older racks laid out in an aisle-like format for produce... Maybe Smiths division is just really inconsistent with its remodels.

[pseudo3d]

Safeway's application of lifestyle interiors was really consistent. Between lighting, flooring, tiles behind the departments, even the checkstands, they were very consistent. Once in a while there were some little quirks like a bakery with a closed door case for rolls/bagels instead of open air cases or a deli that had two big cold cases one for lunchmeats and one for salads, but really these were the exception not the norm.

I have found Kroger's recent remodels to be very inconsistent. Some have cement floors, some don't. Some have new tile behind bakery/deli, some have tile from some past decor. Bakery and deli display methods vary widely by store. Some have new checkstands, some don't. Some have tables for produce, some have odd 4 sided displays for produce with hollow space in the middle for the employee to stock produce from, some have older racks laid out in an aisle-like format for produce... Maybe Smiths division is just really inconsistent with its remodels.

Well, I can say for Kroger that the remodels do seem to often leave the layout in place. One of the stores was a former AppleTree (one of the last Safeway branded stores in Houston, though I'm not 100% sure if it was actually by the REAL Safeway given that they spun off before being forced to change names) that has a maddening layout where the "perimeter departments" (bakery, deli) are in the center of the store and the "center aisle" merchandise is broken into two different parts of the store. Another was a otherwise delightfully preserved Greenhouse store, complete with an unchanged floor plan and a really low ceiling in the pharmacy.