Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by storewanderer »

There is an Albertsons in Richland too. White logo store that got an extensive remodel by Supervalu (by Supervalu standards).

I am a little curious they have this market that had 4 Albertsons and 2 Safeways and they are converting anything to Safeway. So it appears the Albertsons banner was more dominant than the Safeway banner in this market for some reason. Well Safeway did absolutely terrible in markets with significant Hispanic populations and this market fits that. This may be a test to see if it is worth converting the remaining Albertsons to Safeway in that market. The name on the store probably doesn't matter as much as the pricing and operation.

And converting to Safeway implements the mandatory club card.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: March 29th, 2021, 6:28 pm There is an Albertsons in Richland too. White logo store that got an extensive remodel by Supervalu (by Supervalu standards).

I am a little curious they have this market that had 4 Albertsons and 2 Safeways and they are converting anything to Safeway. So it appears the Albertsons banner was more dominant than the Safeway banner in this market for some reason. Well Safeway did absolutely terrible in markets with significant Hispanic populations and this market fits that. This may be a test to see if it is worth converting the remaining Albertsons to Safeway in that market. The name on the store probably doesn't matter as much as the pricing and operation.

And converting to Safeway implements the mandatory club card.
Worth noting that they didn't do the club card in Florida when they converted those stores, but then again, Florida was always a weird market for post-Safeway Albertsons.

The Pueblo Albertsons on Prairie Avenue in Colorado that closed a few years back (the one that was a former Food Maxx and had unusual vaguely Hispanic-themed décor, a clearly Albertsons-produced package that had a passing resemblance to the "Blue & Green Awnings" decor in parts) had a Safeway nearby (much smaller than the Albertsons) that still seems to be open, so for whatever reason they kept that one.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: March 29th, 2021, 6:51 pm
Worth noting that they didn't do the club card in Florida when they converted those stores, but then again, Florida was always a weird market for post-Safeway Albertsons.

The Pueblo Albertsons on Prairie Avenue in Colorado that closed a few years back (the one that was a former Food Maxx and had unusual vaguely Hispanic-themed décor, a clearly Albertsons-produced package that had a passing resemblance to the "Blue & Green Awnings" decor in parts) had a Safeway nearby (much smaller than the Albertsons) that still seems to be open, so for whatever reason they kept that one.
I think the issue in Pueblo where they closed the Grocery Warehouse format store which was rebranded as Albertsons by LLC was they were not doing very well in either store and the smaller former Safeway with the paper lifestyle sign interior, they decided they could support. There is still an Albertsons and a more legitimate lifestyle Safeway (run down and needs remodeled) in the nicer part of North Pueblo. The Albertsons does better volume and was remodeled recently into a not very common, but still obviously Albertsons, interior. I'm not sure what I think of the interior, but it has Albertsons logos all over the walls, aisle hangers, etc. I think they are regretting their decision to convert Colorado Albertsons locations over to Safeway which has a lousy reputation in Colorado, and that is why these last couple haven't converted.

If Safeway people had been in control of things I suspect the Albertsons name would be gone from OR, WA, CA, AZ, maybe NV, and kept only in ID and not much anywhere else. The only reason the banner is hanging on in a lot of these markets where Supervalu or the old corp ran itself into the ground is because you have a bunch of Albertsons veterans in upper management running things.

But the Albertsons banner... once it cleans up, which it largely has (maybe not in CA) actually can put out a good store. Not as sterile and boring as Safeway and with what feels like a larger selection of items. Certainly better execution on deli and meat than Safeway as well, even if selling the same items at this point.

At this point the Albertsons banner sits with 393 stores (this doesn't include whatever United is running) and the Safeway banner sits with 901 stores. If you took Albertsons banner out of the scattered markets where Safeway is dominant, you'd be left with barely 100 stores. If someone wanted to beef up the Safeway banner the obvious move would be to convert most of the Albertsons to it in mass quickly. But so far, someone knows better.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: March 29th, 2021, 8:21 pm
pseudo3d wrote: March 29th, 2021, 6:51 pm
Worth noting that they didn't do the club card in Florida when they converted those stores, but then again, Florida was always a weird market for post-Safeway Albertsons.

The Pueblo Albertsons on Prairie Avenue in Colorado that closed a few years back (the one that was a former Food Maxx and had unusual vaguely Hispanic-themed décor, a clearly Albertsons-produced package that had a passing resemblance to the "Blue & Green Awnings" decor in parts) had a Safeway nearby (much smaller than the Albertsons) that still seems to be open, so for whatever reason they kept that one.
I think the issue in Pueblo where they closed the Grocery Warehouse format store which was rebranded as Albertsons by LLC was they were not doing very well in either store and the smaller former Safeway with the paper lifestyle sign interior, they decided they could support. There is still an Albertsons and a more legitimate lifestyle Safeway (run down and needs remodeled) in the nicer part of North Pueblo. The Albertsons does better volume and was remodeled recently into a not very common, but still obviously Albertsons, interior. I'm not sure what I think of the interior, but it has Albertsons logos all over the walls, aisle hangers, etc. I think they are regretting their decision to convert Colorado Albertsons locations over to Safeway which has a lousy reputation in Colorado, and that is why these last couple haven't converted.

If Safeway people had been in control of things I suspect the Albertsons name would be gone from OR, WA, CA, AZ, maybe NV, and kept only in ID and not much anywhere else. The only reason the banner is hanging on in a lot of these markets where Supervalu or the old corp ran itself into the ground is because you have a bunch of Albertsons veterans in upper management running things.

But the Albertsons banner... once it cleans up, which it largely has (maybe not in CA) actually can put out a good store. Not as sterile and boring as Safeway and with what feels like a larger selection of items. Certainly better execution on deli and meat than Safeway as well, even if selling the same items at this point.

At this point the Albertsons banner sits with 393 stores (this doesn't include whatever United is running) and the Safeway banner sits with 901 stores. If you took Albertsons banner out of the scattered markets where Safeway is dominant, you'd be left with barely 100 stores. If someone wanted to beef up the Safeway banner the obvious move would be to convert most of the Albertsons to it in mass quickly. But so far, someone knows better.
Well, if you really look at where the banners came from, the Seattle and Denver divisions were imported straight from Safeway, which probably explains why they were so gung-ho on it, whereas Southwest had more Albertsons LLC influence.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: March 29th, 2021, 8:21 pm At this point the Albertsons banner sits with 393 stores (this doesn't include whatever United is running)
Actually up to 394, as a new store in El Paso opens sometime this week
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by BatteryMill »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: March 26th, 2021, 11:21 am Albertsons should keep their name in Kitsap County and Spokane. They have done much better in those areas, investing heavily there in the early 2000's.
ACI only seems to want to convert Albertsons stores to Safeway in towns where there are no Safeways... like Mountlake Terrace and Millcreek. Yet they have done nothing to the Albertsons name in Oregon.

Thanks a lot Supervalu!!! This is what damaging a supermarket chain with a long history in Washington gets you!!!
What about Safeway? That merger did open the company to chisel far more Albertsons/Safeway territorial overlaps. I'm not familiar with said region, so I can't tell if these closings have been necessary to stay under antitrust laws.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by pseudo3d »

BatteryMill wrote: April 4th, 2021, 12:25 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: March 26th, 2021, 11:21 am Albertsons should keep their name in Kitsap County and Spokane. They have done much better in those areas, investing heavily there in the early 2000's.
ACI only seems to want to convert Albertsons stores to Safeway in towns where there are no Safeways... like Mountlake Terrace and Millcreek. Yet they have done nothing to the Albertsons name in Oregon.

Thanks a lot Supervalu!!! This is what damaging a supermarket chain with a long history in Washington gets you!!!
What about Safeway? That merger did open the company to chisel far more Albertsons/Safeway territorial overlaps. I'm not familiar with said region, so I can't tell if these closings have been necessary to stay under antitrust laws.
They're not, they had to divest the stores that the government wanted them to divest back in 2015, and since then, several have reopened or otherwise fallen back into Albertsons' hands. Meanwhile, there were still a few areas where Safeway and Albertsons (or their brands) competed head to head, and since then, those are no longer competing (probably because neither of them were big hits by themselves).

There's nothing preventing Albertsons from opening more stores--arguably, they've been one of the most active in building full-scale supermarkets these days as Kroger and others have slumped, but a lot of their stores do marginal business while their competitors are booming. (Their post-ASC/pre-LLC days were full of stores that crashed and burned, being open for two years or less and never serving as a grocer again).

For an example of a chain that can build/keep/acquire supermarkets across the street from each other and get away with it, take a look at Publix.
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

2 more Albertsons in WA converted to Safeway in the past week: Snohomish and Tumwater.
Stop the madness, ACI!!
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by kr.abs.swy »

These stores are operating the same programs, are using combined marketing, and are even using a combined plastic bag in Washington. Both brands are well known to consumers, so it's not like they are introducing, for example, Food Lion to Seattle. Why on earth would they keep both names? It costs more money, adds complexity and dilutes their marketing. Since Safeway and Albertsons are, for all intents and purposes, the same store now, they will get more out of their marketing dollars if they focus on whichever name is stronger. In almost all of Washington, that's Safeway. In Vegas, that's Albertsons. In places like Northern Idaho and parts of California, it's more complicated. If they were going to somehow keep Safeway and Albertsons separate, with separate programs, separate positioning, separate marketing, etc., it would be a different story. But operations inside these stores are essentially identical. No sense in pretending they aren't.
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 6th, 2021, 1:00 pm 2 more Albertsons in WA converted to Safeway in the past week: Snohomish and Tumwater.
Stop the madness, ACI!!
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Re: Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

Post by storewanderer »

kr.abs.swy wrote: April 6th, 2021, 5:08 pm These stores are operating the same programs, are using combined marketing, and are even using a combined plastic bag in Washington. Both brands are well known to consumers, so it's not like they are introducing, for example, Food Lion to Seattle. Why on earth would they keep both names? It costs more money, adds complexity and dilutes their marketing. Since Safeway and Albertsons are, for all intents and purposes, the same store now, they will get more out of their marketing dollars if they focus on whichever name is stronger. In almost all of Washington, that's Safeway. In Vegas, that's Albertsons. In places like Northern Idaho and parts of California, it's more complicated. If they were going to somehow keep Safeway and Albertsons separate, with separate programs, separate positioning, separate marketing, etc., it would be a different story. But operations inside these stores are essentially identical. No sense in pretending they aren't.

Safeway is arguably stronger in most spots in WA and OR. Higher store count in every case except Southern Oregon.

It seems like in general the Seattle Division is moving to quit using the Albertsons name as stores are remodeled. What happens to store performance after these banner changes will probably dictate how many more banner changes-remodels they do. If they get a sales lift after the banner change they will probably move quickly to convert the rest.
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