Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

[SoCalShopper1023]

It looks like the Walla Walla Albertsons is also being converted to Safeway. Some recent photos on Google Maps indicate this store is getting remodeled to the Barnwood Colorful Lifestyle (I think some people have called it Colorful Oregon on this site) that I know is in one of the Bend, OR Safeway's. It looks like the sign hasn't been changed out yet but a Facebook post indicates this Albertsons is being rebannered as a Safeway. Funny the post also mentions how the Albertsons brand is being ditched in Washington State, almost like the writer knows something:



I'm wondering if Albertsons is trying to start to diversify remodels beyond Modern with this store, as well as the Gig Harbor Albertsons being allegedly remodeled to Pavilions decor.

The former Pasco Albertsons also finished its conversion to Safeway and recently held its grand opening. This one did get Modern.



I think the days of the Albertsons brand in WA are numbered. I wonder which stores will be next...

One thing I noticed with the decor package in that video, is that department signage is in English, and has smaller print in Spanish underneath. This is the first time I see a Safeway store doing something like this. Is this a heavily Hispanic area?

I'm surprised that they haven't done something like this with any of the stores in Southern California. I know Kroger has dual language signage in a few Ralphs store, but mostly in Food 4 Less stores.

[retailfanmitchell019]

One thing I noticed with the decor package in that video, is that department signage is in English, and has smaller print in Spanish underneath. This is the first time I see a Safeway store doing something like this. Is this a heavily Hispanic area?

I'm surprised that they haven't done something like this with any of the stores in Southern California. I know Kroger has dual language signage in a few Ralphs store, but mostly in Food 4 Less stores.

Yes, Pasco is a majority-Hispanic town.

A history lesson:
The Yakima Valley/Columbia Plateau is an agricultural area that was initially populated by white farmers from the Plains states (like Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota) during the Great Depression, and then Braceros (Mexican farm workers) when farm labor was in short supply, during World War II. Around 47,000 Braceros came to the PNW, and the Mexican American community in the Columbia River Basin grew dramatically. Many of the farm workers were also Tejanos (Mexican Texans). In the postwar era, Mexican immigrants continued to settle in the Yakima Valley/Columbia Plateau.

[storewanderer]

Safeway has always been terrible at catering to Hispanic customers. Under Burd they had a Hispanic initiative in a segment of stores; execution was terrible, mixed, and the program died off slowly and in different ways over a number of years.

Albertsons has had various efforts over the years that seemed to stick and be somewhat successful in limited store locations. It appears we are seeing one of those programs here with this remodeled store.

For a store attempting to cater to Hispanic customers, they should have kept the Albertsons banner.

[marshd1000]

To cater to Hispanic communities, I'm wondering if Albertsons should have the United division launch Amigos in places like Pasco or Hispanic areas of Southern California?

[pseudo3d]

I know several Krogers (even non-Hispanic oriented ones) in the Houston area have bilingual signage.

Safeway has always been terrible at catering to Hispanic customers. Under Burd they had a Hispanic initiative in a segment of stores; execution was terrible, mixed, and the program died off slowly and in different ways over a number of years.

Most of Safeway-era Burd was tone-deaf to most of its markets and token efforts at best, but it was never enough. Their action, or lack thereof, couldn't save Dominick's. Randalls was already in a bit of a pinch but Safeway didn't have time or effort to retool the stores in blue-collar neighborhoods; they simply closed. (One of the 2005 closures is now an extremely popular H Mart).

I wouldn't write off this new Safeway just yet; it might actually be a better choice. One of the reasons why H-E-B has been so successful is that it's been able to adapt its stores to blue-collar neighborhoods under the same name and not a different one ("Mi Tienda", a store specifically for Hispanic consumers, exists but it never really took off).

This might be changing as recent H-E-B stores have been pigeonholed as a 100k sq. ft. suburban concept and openings as Joe V's Smart Shop have ramped up, with Joe V's adding a "by H-E-B" for brand awareness/better integration.

For a store attempting to cater to Hispanic customers, they should have kept the Albertsons banner.

The only time we've remotely seen this post-merger is the opening of Irving as an Albertsons, but there's not enough evidence to have Albertsons as the "low-end" brand there (nor were any Tom Thumb stores converted to Albertsons). Meanwhile, the same division opened Albertsons in Oklahoma as a much nicer store (not Tom Thumb).

To cater to Hispanic communities, I'm wondering if Albertsons should have the United division launch Amigos in places like Pasco or Hispanic areas of Southern California?

The last Amigos (there are only four) opened in Hereford in 2014, starting construction before the sale to Albertsons was finalized. The store in Hereford is the only one of the three I believe that is new and not converted. Their last venture into the business was of course El Rancho Supermercado but during the merger era Apollo bought that from them.

[retailfanmitchell019]

Another one gone, Lake Forest Park Albertsons is now a Safeway: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Safew ... FQAw%3D%3D

Here's a interior image of this store circa 2011, with the Broadway interior:

Credit to @storewanderer

[storewanderer]

Another one gone, Lake Forest Park Albertsons is now a Safeway: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Safew ... FQAw%3D%3D

Here's a interior image of this store circa 2011, with the Broadway interior:

Credit to @storewanderer

I forget if this one got a Haggen conversion or not.

Kind of a weird application of the Larry interior. It seems like a blend between Industrial Larry and Upscale Larry with some of the rounded department signs and angled signs. Industrial Larry was mostly flat department signs as I recall, and typically they applied it over the old blue gray walls (with checkerboard backgrounds remaining). You can see in this one they smoothed off those old checkerboard backgrounds from when the store had the blue gray in the distant past.

Around that part of Seattle it probably makes a lot of sense to convert to Safeway banner. Albertsons was just not strong there, ever.

[retailfanmitchell019]

Around that part of Seattle it probably makes a lot of sense to convert to Safeway banner. Albertsons was just not strong there, ever.

Albertsons was #3 in Metro Seattle market share at the time of the Supervalu purchase.

Albertsons’ weakness in the Seattle area was lack of penetration in Seattle’s urban core. Safeway was already stronger to being with, as they had better penetration in urban Seattle. In outstate Washington, Albertsons had a lack of penetration in smaller towns (some that were big enough for a Walmart).

Then again, Albertsons’ mentality in the 80s and 90s was building in suburban areas.
Albertsons talked about buying QFC back in 1997, however.

[storewanderer]

Around that part of Seattle it probably makes a lot of sense to convert to Safeway banner. Albertsons was just not strong there, ever.

Albertsons was #3 in Metro Seattle market share at the time of the Supervalu purchase.

Albertsons’ weakness in the Seattle area was lack of penetration in Seattle’s urban core. Safeway was already stronger to being with. In outstate Washington, Albertsons had a lack of penetration in smaller towns (some that were big enough for a Walmart).

Some of these Albertsons in immediate Seattle were pretty terrible stores. This store here we are discussing- it was a very old store and expanded on the sides but it was not in that great of condition. The still open but part of a redevelopment that will happen sometime and reopen as Safeway (or is it being redeveloped finally?) Albertsons in Seattle is a real dive. There was another Albertsons down in White Center that was also a complete dive, it may still be open as a Sarrs Super Saver Foods. Some of the newer Albertsons out in edges of the area were better.

Their penetration in the state was a little strange. They had that (also outdated and not great) store up in Bellingham but I don't think they had any other stores between Marysville and Canada (though you also got into heavy Haggen territory up there).

[Super S]

Around that part of Seattle it probably makes a lot of sense to convert to Safeway banner. Albertsons was just not strong there, ever.

Albertsons was #3 in Metro Seattle market share at the time of the Supervalu purchase.

Albertsons’ weakness in the Seattle area was lack of penetration in Seattle’s urban core. Safeway was already stronger to being with. In outstate Washington, Albertsons had a lack of penetration in smaller towns (some that were big enough for a Walmart).

Some of these Albertsons in immediate Seattle were pretty terrible stores. This store here we are discussing- it was a very old store and expanded on the sides but it was not in that great of condition. The still open but part of a redevelopment that will happen sometime and reopen as Safeway (or is it being redeveloped finally?) Albertsons in Seattle is a real dive. There was another Albertsons down in White Center that was also a complete dive, it may still be open as a Sarrs Super Saver Foods. Some of the newer Albertsons out in edges of the area were better.

Their penetration in the state was a little strange. They had that (also outdated and not great) store up in Bellingham but I don't think they had any other stores between Marysville and Canada (though you also got into heavy Haggen territory up there).

In both Washington and Oregon, Safeway had far greater penetration. Albertsons had large gaps with no stores, such as between Olympia and Vancouver. (Longview once had a small Albertsons in the Triangle Center which was closed by the mid-80s, later Shop 'N Kart) Safeway also had many locations along the Oregon Coast. Albertsons I think had a store at Coos Bay and that was it. Safeway also has locations where they are basically the only store in town such as Clatskanie, Oregon, a store which is still open but lacks service departments, there isn't even a bakery. Safeway is definitely the stronger brand.

Albertsons is the stronger brand east of Baker City as well as Idaho, where Safeway was gone by the mid-1980s.