Haggen begins conversion of former Safeway/Albertsons stores

[storewanderer]

I went to a Jensen's in Palm Springs because I heard they were upscale. I assumed that meant strong prepared foods. I went in hungry around 6:30 PM (it was off season) and left empty handed. It was a fine store; orderly and clean, but wasn't quite what I was expecting and definitely no Gelson's.

I can't wait to go see what Haggen does with San Ysidro. I hope the store stays in business long enough for me to see. Based on the rave reviews over on Yelp of the nearby Chula Vista Haggen (former Vons) with a dozen or so reviews and a rating of 2 stars of 5 stars I think they better get to work on a different strategy in that general area. The El Cajon and San Diego Haggen Stores also have ratings of 2 of 5 on Yelp based on a fair number of reviews. This is troubling since San Diego is the one market where they have critical mass...

[CalItalian]

So I'm reading on some of the Yelp reviews, such as this one for a San Diego location, that they don't accept WIC or EBT (ANY supermarket in California does). How are they going to survive in places like Chula Vista or San Ysidro? I starting to think this company is really run by a bunch of idiots. http://www.yelp.com/biz/haggen-san-diego

[BillyGr]

So I'm reading on some of the Yelp reviews, such as this one for a San Diego location, that they don't accept WIC or EBT (ANY supermarket in California does). How are they going to survive in places like Chula Vista or San Ysidro? I starting to think this company is really run by a bunch of idiots. http://www.yelp.com/biz/haggen-san-diego

That might only be temporary - sometimes it takes time to process paperwork to switch ownerships for thing like that (particularly since they didn't have a long turn around time).

[CalItalian]

So I'm reading on some of the Yelp reviews, such as this one for a San Diego location, that they don't accept WIC or EBT (ANY supermarket in California does). How are they going to survive in places like Chula Vista or San Ysidro? I starting to think this company is really run by a bunch of idiots. http://www.yelp.com/biz/haggen-san-diego

That might only be temporary - sometimes it takes time to process paperwork to switch ownerships for thing like that (particularly since they didn't have a long turn around time).

I don't believe that at all. They have an army of lawyers on this purchase and they've been able to get the pharmacy and liquor licenses, which are more difficult to exchange, without a problem.

[storewanderer]

I know it is not uncommon to be unable to process WIC and/or EBT for a short time period after an ownership change or when a new store opens sometimes. But it is usually resolved after a few days.

I find it ironic they have the money to repaint walls, install super cheap and boring looking wall signage that looks like it belongs in Oklahoma, and laminate flooring in front end and produce, yet can't get WIC and EBT set up upon conversion. They do not have their priorities straight at all.

Also the cat is out of the bag with all the marketing they said about being a cross between a Safeway and a Whole Foods. No, they are not a cross. Based on what customers think they are not even as good as Safeway. And did anyone expect them to be? Being supplied by Unified without even having a warehouse of their own in SoCal to handle fresh product like most Unified supplied chains have, they are a plain vanilla conventional at best that is trying to price and market itself as something it is not and the customers in SoCal are seeing right through it.

Hopefully Stater can take over some of these stores soon.

[marshd1000]

At the stores that were built by Haggen, they are more of a cross between Safeway and Whole Foods. I have spoken to some employees at the Burien, WA store that was Albertsons and they have had people be rude to them because of the high prices or at least perceived high prices. So I feel sorry for them. I do think the remodels are pleasant for being done quickly. But they need to get a clue and get prices in line, get rid of the perception that they are high prices on mainstream items and perhaps start a price match guarantee. When they first started talking about the conversions, they said that they wanted to give people the same experience that the former Safeway and Albertsons had and slowly add the Haggen experience. So keeping the layout the same and many of the same product offerings. But they do need to keep prices on mainstream items in the Safeway and Albertsons range. I hope they survive!

[terryinokc]

Hey...the signs belong in Oklahoma?
I admit we are seriously lacking good grocery shopping options....but we ARE moving up....
At least we have Sprouts and Whole Foods now.....WINCO and Fresh Market are on their way.
A lot of us here would be happy with a decent Safeway or Kroger owned store.

[klkla]

It looks like they are slowing the pace of conversions now:
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-finan ... rsion-pace

[BillyGr]

So I'm reading on some of the Yelp reviews, such as this one for a San Diego location, that they don't accept WIC or EBT (ANY supermarket in California does). How are they going to survive in places like Chula Vista or San Ysidro? I starting to think this company is really run by a bunch of idiots. http://www.yelp.com/biz/haggen-san-diego

That might only be temporary - sometimes it takes time to process paperwork to switch ownerships for thing like that (particularly since they didn't have a long turn around time).

I don't believe that at all. They have an army of lawyers on this purchase and they've been able to get the pharmacy and liquor licenses, which are more difficult to exchange, without a problem.

It does look like a decision they made, rather than a one time thing, after reading some of the postings. While doing the EBT shouldn't be hard, I'm surprised more stores don't refuse to do the WIC program.
Seems like that program needs a modernization - no reason that a customer should have to have 3 or 4 different checks, each requiring to be rung as a separate order, in which at least one item is always wrong making what should be a short transaction into a never ending one.
If they can do the EBT on a card and use that as part of an order (the system knowing what it applies to, then asking for another form of payment for the rest) they should be able to do the same for WIC.

Also - another thought that just popped in - it was noted that they have less selections of some items - is it possible that they don't carry the brands/sizes/types of items needed for WIC orders?

[marshd1000]

I know that the Albertsons in Oak Harbor, WA became a Safeway. Perhaps for that particular city, it made sense to do so. But I wonder if they could also be considering in some areas, to run two banners with one ad? In Anchorage, in the late 90s', Safeway bought out Carr Quality Centers. But there were also Safeway stores in Anchorage too. Ever since, the ads are for Carrs-Safeway. The stores have not changed banners. On a side note, Carrs also operated a smaller chain called Eagle. I believe that in Seward, Alaska, the community outgrew the Eagle store. So a new Safeway store was built. So would it be possible that in Southern California we would have Von-Albertsons, in Dallas, Tom Thumb-Albertsons, and in other areas Safeway-Albertsons? Just thinking out loud here!

Dear Moderator,

Can you move this to the part of the forum about Safeway and Albertsons divesting stores? I placed this here by mistake!