For what it's worth, at least the former Safeway divisions DO operate districts (with a small staff), not unlike what Kroger does. No reason to have an entire division for a tiny fleet.klkla wrote:I tend to agree with you. All the back end offices and distribution will be merged into Albertson's at some point but they will keep a small operations management focused on operating the Haggen branded stores which will have much higher margins than Albertsons/Safeway branded stores.marshd1000 wrote:I could be wrong, but I actually CAN see them keeping this division.
I'm not sure I get the analogy. Main & Vine is a one store test that's barely a month old. Haggen's failure in Southern California was under totally different circumstances. There's no indication that Albertson's wants to position the legacy Haggen stores any different than they are now. If anything I think they want to avoid changing the format on these remaining stores and risk alienating shoppers that have long been loyal to the Haggen name.[/quote]pseudo3d wrote:- I wonder if Albertsons will try to position this as their answer to Main & Vine. Is that even a good idea? After all, Main & Vine never was driven out of SoCal on a rail.
Well, it's no stranger to how Albertsons operates. Kroger's family of stores were bought and procured as market leaders. King Soopers, Fry's, JayC...all these are top-notch brands (at least in terms of market share), while Albertsons operates a similar group of names, often long-running ones in their markets, though due to mismanagement have fallen behind in market share and reputation. ACME, Randalls, Shaw's...and Haggen is no different. This is the chain that thoroughly embarrassed itself in a high-profile divestment disaster, while Main & Vine is dazzling the industry with a new fresh foods concept. It's a difference in night and day.
Of course, Haggen isn't competing directly with Main & Vine, but if Kroger builds more stores of that pedigree...