Lucky Store Closing

[romleys]

One more Lucky Store is closing, this time in Milpitas,CA...
http://www.themilpitaspost.com/ci_11783381

[Alpha8472]

A few years ago a new Safeway opened up practically across the street. The Safeway was huge and brand new. I guess that the old Lucky store could not compete against it.

Also there is a Save Mart just down the street from the Lucky. These two stores are so close to each other, that it makes sense for them combine all the employees over to the Save Mart. The Save Mart serves a different neighborhood and is very busy.

The Longs Drugs next to the Lucky store will most likely suffer. Once the supermarket is gone, the drug store will not receive as much business. When the Longs name disappears the drug store will lose so much business that it will probably close as well. This small shopping center will soon be completely dead.

[storewanderer]

Albertsons spent a fortune doing an interior remodel in this store a couple years after they got it, relocating departments and such.

I've been into this store a couple times since the conversion to Lucky and it always had traffic. The service was terrible and it seemed poorly run. Then again that is how most stores Save Mart bought from Albertsons are.

I suspect the closure is to send business to the Save Mart down the street.

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... t%20Lucky/

Some photos of this closing store on the front page there.

The condition of this store was pretty good since Albertsons spent a lot in there on the remodel sometime in the early 2000s. The condition of the Lucky that is being kept open, on Park Victoria, is not good; the store is smaller and older, and not in great condition.

The Milpitas Save Mart is also smaller and older, but in an excellent location and seemed to be run quite well; very friendly employees. http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... as%20Blvd/

With Safeway undercutting Save Mart/Lucky on price more and more, and a lot of promotional activity out of Raleys, I don't think it is looking good for this company unless they make some major changes to their pricing and operations, and fast. They are getting kicked around miserably here in Reno where they make a (poor) effort to compete against every competitor they can think of having around (Safeway, Raleys, Scolaris, Wal Mart Supercenter, Smiths, WinCo, etc.).

[alexh1013]

This is the 2nd Save Mart Lucky I heard closing. The Lucky at Southland Mall in Hayward closed in August 2008.

[Alpha8472]

In the Southland Mall case, that Lucky was so old that they decided not to renew the lease. That old store would have needed major repairs. The floor was in terrible condition. That one did not get much business because it was so old and small. Spending tons of money to fix a tiny store would not be worth it. A small store in a bad location doesn't attract many customers.

This Milpitas store was doing well, until a new Safeway opened up practically across the street. The new Safeway killed this Lucky's business. The Safeway is huge and new with a gigantic parking lot.

This Lucky store could not expand since it is locked in by other stores and a Longs Drugs. The parking lot is also quite small compared to Safeway's lot.

The only way for Lucky to compete against Safeway would have been to demolish the Lucky store, Longs Drugs, and completely rebuild a new store. That would have cost a ton of money and probably not be worth it just to match the new Safeway.

[storewanderer]

If all it takes is for Safeway to open across the street to put a Save Mart-owned store out of business, the chain is living on borrowed time. I have been in this store at least twice since that Safeway opened and it seemed to have traffic to me.

I'm guessing this is to send sales to the Save Mart up the street; the one that has a lower scale union contract and pays the employees less, and has fewer management employees.

This was not a small store; it was at least 40,000 square feet if not larger. The Park Victoria Milpitas Lucky is very small, the one that is being kept open.

Then again why would anyone shop Save Mart over Safeway? Worse selection, way higher prices, worse store conditons, and far lower product quality. I was in Save Mart again this past week to see if they have made any improvements, and they have made none. The perishables still look below average, prices are higher than anywhere else, and store conditions are average at best.

[Alpha8472]

The truth is that there are nicer Lucky stores in the Bay Area. For example, the Pleasant Hill Lucky. That store is surprisingly well kept. The Safeway across the street from that one is a dumpy Safeway and is poorly stocked. After 5 PM, it looks like vultures have cleaned out the bread aisle. In that case, I much prefer the Lucky, since it is well stocked and not insanely crowded.

Most people who shop at Lucky are the average white bread and soda people. They are not into the expensive gourmet products. Basic common items are sold at both stores and are usually on sale. The sale prices at Lucky are reasonably competitive and you can always find good deals.

For bakery products Safeway wins with more gourmet products. However, I rarely find the need for obscure varieties of Italian bread that I can't even pronounce. Lucky seems to sell a decent selection of common grocery store products. I don't have a problem shopping at my Lucky, since I usually stick to the basic common items.

Just today we had a critique on the Claycord Blog, that asked everyone their opinion on the remodeled Clayton Safeway. I was very surprised. A lot of people said that Safeway remodeled and actually reduced the selection of many products. They added some new items, but eliminated other items just for the space. The aisles were also reorganized in a completely bewildering pattern with columns ending up in the middle of aisles. Getting rid of some customers' favorite items has frustrated many people.

Many have commented that products that used to be carried at Safeway can now only be found at Lucky.

Some improvements made by Save Mart include the expansion of Italian and Polish food selections in the store. However, those who are not into Italian or Polish foods would not even notice.

Granted, I have not stepped foot into a Albertsons turned Save Mart. Save Mart stores have different ads and prices than Lucky. I have only seen the Albertsons turned Lucky stores. The ones near me, seem to be nicely kept thanks in part to attentive employees.

[storewanderer]

Save Mart hasn't added anything to the former Albertsons Stores in this area. Many products and services are gone. Drug items are cut way back, same for perimeter like bakery, seafood, and deli. Another odd one that was cut back is bagged coffee. They have absolutely no bagged coffee beyond Starbucks, some Organic offering, and Pacific Coast. While the Pacific Coast is just fine, the lack of selection is poor when I can go to any other grocer and see a host of bagged coffees (and way better pricing).

I did notice Save Mart had a cleaning crew in the store the other night cleaning the glass dairy doors and glass frozen foods doors using bottles of 409. I don't think that is an approved chemical to use in a grocery store, but, at least they were cleaning. That particular Save Mart sure needs it.

Safeway's bakery products are not only higher quality than Save Mart, but also priced lower and larger in size. Take a look at the weights on the packages of the basic items like cookies, muffins, cakes, etc. and SWY's per ounce price is lower (sometimes drastically, especially on the muffins that Save Mart keeps downsizing) than Save Mart's unit price on inferior product. I don't care about gourmet product; I just want basic items that taste okay at a reasonable price. Save Mart provides poor quality at the highest prices around. It just doesn't add up.

Safeway has a weak selection on a lot of center store categories, I've noticed. But, at least Safeway has most of the basic expected items, along with a very unpredictable mix of "hard to find" items. I've found Safeway to be especially lacking in non food areas like pet.

[Alpha8472]

Strangely enough, it seems like each store is different.

I went to Lucky today and they had a large selection of coffee from many brands. The prices were not higher than the local Safeway. The Lucky stores in the Bay Area seem to be run very differently from the Save Mart stores up in Nevada. Everytime I hear about the Save Mart stores in Nevada, it's like listening to horror stories about the other sister that the family keeps locked away from the public.

[storewanderer]

I noticed the Lucky Stores had a larger coffee selection than Save Mart (more brands).

If you want to see (too much) coffee selection, go to Fred Meyer. For starters, they have four (at least) different bulk brands. Combine that with far more bagged coffee than I've ever seen anywhere. If that isn't enough, they have two more bulk coffee brands in addition to more bagged coffee in the nutrition department.

There is little difference between the Save Marts in Reno and Sacramento. Same lousy operation. The Sacramento stores may be cleaner. They probably are doing less business, so they are cleaner.