So far the only market where they did a banner conversion blitz type thing was Denver. Other than that, these slow conversions seem to be the strategy. It does make me wonder how things are going for them in Denver after the conversions. At this point there is little difference between the store if it has the Albertsons banner or the Safeway banner in a given market though some product mix differences do exist.
I think a one banner approach has been expected for a while now in a number of regions where there is overlap, but so far it has not happened.
Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
Albertsons and Safeway run a combined ad campaign/pricing in Phoenix -card required at Safeway. I suspect they haven’t combined here because Safeway is union, Albertsons is not
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
The Store that was a Haggen conversion that is still Haggen is in OAK Harbor, not Gig Harbor. Also the Burien store you mentioned was an Albertsons turned Haggen. Then Albertsons bought it back and became Safeway at that point.nwretail wrote: ↑March 1st, 2020, 9:45 pm I've been following this project for a while, and it's exciting to see since it's the first real mixed-use redevelopment in Magnolia. (Which, of course, means it's going to be incredibly controversial with the neighbors who want to pretend they're in the suburbs...) That being said, I'm quite surprised Albertsons is bothering with this rather than just closing the store. As several of you mentioned, it's an ancient, tiny store with a correspondingly ancient interior (I'm not sure how old or what it originally looked like, but it's clearly been a very long time since this store got significant work done to it). It's possible that it's somehow particularly profitable, but it's always been empty when I've gone by.
No surprise that the new store's going to be a Safeway though. I suspect that all of the Western Washington Albertsons will eventually be rebranded as Safeways... in addition to the stores that retailfanmitchell019 listed above, there are also ones in Mukilteo (just in the last couple weeks), Mill Creek, Burien, and Gig Harbor that changed over from Albertsons to Safeway in the last few years (the Gig Harbor one was converted as a replacement for the town's Safeway when that was sold to Haggen, and which is the sole Haggen conversion store still in operation). And that's just the ones I've noticed; I suspect there have been others, especially outside of the Seattle region, that I haven't paid attention to.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
!!!retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑March 1st, 2020, 10:27 am and Battle Ground. Fun fact: The Battle Ground store is one of the very few remaining stores to still have its original Grocery Palace decor.
I didn't know this. Sounds like I need to plan an R&R trip to the Battle Ground area.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
Salmon Creek is Vancouver. Battle Ground is a separate city. Vancouver has lost four Albertsons locations (before Safeway and Albertsons merged)retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑March 1st, 2020, 10:27 am
5 Albertsons in Washington have been rebranded as Safeway since 2017. Lynnwood (replacing a closed Safeway across the street), Yakima (weirdly enough, a former Buttrey-Osco), Liberty Lake (the Safeway across the street was sold to Haggen, now a Yoke's), Bellevue (got an exterior remodel), and Mountlake Terrace.
I could see the Albertsons name surviving in Kitsap County, where that name has more presence than Safeway; or Spokane, where Albertsons has had a presence since 1951. Both Spokane and Kitsap have some nice early 2000's model stores. In the Tri-Cities, Albertsons has 3 stores, Safeway has 2.
As for the remaning Albertsons stores in WA (stores in the Vancouver, Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett areas,) those stores are located in areas with a larger Safeway presence, so they should convert.
The two remaining Vancouver stores are in Salmon Creek and Battle Ground. Fun fact: The Battle Ground store is one of the very few remaining stores to still have its original Grocery Palace decor.
Both locations are about a mile from open Safeway stores and their future is not clear. I haven't been to Battle Ground for several years, but it seems like that one had a minor update of some sort where they changed the lighting or something. Salmon Creek received a cheap Supervalu remodel.
Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
Ugh, I swear I know the difference between Oak Harbor and Gig Harbor! Gig Harbor was probably just on my mind since it's home to the nicest Albertsons store around here. And I know about the Burien store being an Albertsons-Haggen-Safeway conversion, but there weren't a lot of those out there; most Haggen stores went back to their original brands. (Not sure why they weren't all converted to Safeways at that time, but that's a separate issue...)marshd1000 wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 8:16 am The Store that was a Haggen conversion that is still Haggen is in OAK Harbor, not Gig Harbor. Also the Burien store you mentioned was an Albertsons turned Haggen. Then Albertsons bought it back and became Safeway at that point.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
They've closed some of the former Haggens they re-claimed too. I think after the Haggen mess they just wanted to get the majority of the stores back up and running fairly quickly. To convert to Safeway takes some more serious effort, whereas converting back to the original banner was simply easier and ended the disruption to the customers. Who knows, they may have even kept the old signs and just put those back up.nwretail wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 7:31 pmUgh, I swear I know the difference between Oak Harbor and Gig Harbor! Gig Harbor was probably just on my mind since it's home to the nicest Albertsons store around here. And I know about the Burien store being an Albertsons-Haggen-Safeway conversion, but there weren't a lot of those out there; most Haggen stores went back to their original brands. (Not sure why they weren't all converted to Safeways at that time, but that's a separate issue...)marshd1000 wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 8:16 am The Store that was a Haggen conversion that is still Haggen is in OAK Harbor, not Gig Harbor. Also the Burien store you mentioned was an Albertsons turned Haggen. Then Albertsons bought it back and became Safeway at that point.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
There is an Albertsons-turned Haggen-turned Albertsons along I-5 near Lacey which has a sign on the back of the building you can see from the freeway. This one is clearly new as it appears to be an LED sign and is much brighter than the first Albertsons sign that was there.storewanderer wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 7:44 pm
They've closed some of the former Haggens they re-claimed too. I think after the Haggen mess they just wanted to get the majority of the stores back up and running fairly quickly. To convert to Safeway takes some more serious effort, whereas converting back to the original banner was simply easier and ended the disruption to the customers. Who knows, they may have even kept the old signs and just put those back up.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment
The VONS on Lake Murray Boulevard in LaMesa, CA (suburb of San Diego) went VONS -> Haggen -> VONS. It was remodeled (including new exterior signage) when it went back to being a VONS.Super S wrote: ↑March 6th, 2020, 8:55 amThere is an Albertsons-turned Haggen-turned Albertsons along I-5 near Lacey which has a sign on the back of the building you can see from the freeway. This one is clearly new as it appears to be an LED sign and is much brighter than the first Albertsons sign that was there.storewanderer wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 7:44 pm...Who knows, they may have even kept the old signs and just put those back up.