Retail Watchers

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 18th, 2024, 11:43 pm The freestanding west coast RIte Aids are around 18,000 square feet. That should be sufficient size for an Aldi but as ClownLoach points out you have the issues with the loading dock and other issues since those are not legitimate "grocery" buildings.

Aldi continues to lease larger sites in CA.

The 99 sites seem to often be too large for Aldi.

Aldi is probably a pretty good replacement for 99 Only. Also if you have a 35k square foot 99 Only you can take and split off 25k square feet for Aldi and throw 10k square feet to Dollar General/Dollar Tree and basically have the exact same type of program going that 99 Only had...

Aldi usually is taking stores over 20K now when it's a lease of an existing building, especially when it is "in line" and not freestanding as it is usually much harder to get the right shape. I definitely saw something that was obviously a former freestanding Rite Aid with the diamond cut out windows traveling somewhere, unfortunately can't remember where I was as it was long ago. That Aldi could have been expanded to fix the logistics too, it was not immediately obvious as the diamond windows were on the back of one side and entrance was not where it would have been for a Rite Aid. They had fully redone the facade to their usual silver cladding and sign pylon but the few diamond windows blacked out gave it away. It could have been in New Jersey? Or New York? Was East Coast. But not every site could be expanded to fix logistics if needed, for example a newer prototypical freestanding RA near me in Wildomar backs up to a 30+ retaining wall straight up so nowhere to dig out a dock well without removing the entire alley behind it which would remove necessary fire dept. ingress and egress that is already poor on the site due to the hills and grading.

The logistics are the key. They don't have the ability to handle oddball logistics and they don't run a 24 hour operation to reduce costs and energy use. This is a major difference between Aldi and Trader Joe's who does seem to run 24 hour operations and has many stores with very bad logistics as discussed by @veteran+ although they are actively working on replacing as many of these old stores as they can.

What makes me think they would try to swallow as many 99's as possible is that Aldi don't seem to have any problems taking larger boxes. They're good at carving them up to shape the store to their specific prototype especially if they can get it for a discount. I think one in Cerritos is a giant former Babies R Us for example, they just walled the extra space as if they built a store inside a store box. Remember someone noted on a post about 6 months ago Aldi had leased a massive box that was probably intended to be a BB&B multi concept with a Harmon inside; obviously the entire space was available and they wanted it so they'll subdivide and lease out the rest of the space. I have also seen where they will carve a good block of the extra space out and use it as a training center for a few years for the area. I think they just did this at their new South Temecula store where they walled off to the left and the right inside a former furniture store that is around 30K Sq ft. It used to be more obvious, they would have a storefront and it would have a sign on the door that said Aldi training center. Last time I saw one signed was in Fountain Valley, but they cleared it out and prepared that suite for leasing a few years ago. The same configuration is visible in South Temecula (indicative of a training center) but the doors are completely blacked out to hide it. Probably a good idea as I can imagine lots of job seekers stepping in and interrupting things, customers walking in oblivious and wondering why the store is tiny and empty.

If they build from scratch their exact prototype then they don't need as much space since it's the exact design they want. The exact prototype today is 18,756 Sq ft and that is designed without one inch of extra space. They have information on a website Google found showing it is less (+/- 17K) but it is over ten years old and since then I specifically recall Aldi discussing that they were going larger with the newest generation of stores which would include the California expansion they were beginning.

Source on the exact prototype size is their architect
https://dlz.com/projects/aldi-stores-pr ... are%20feet.

Also I was looking at the Aldi jobs site and saw nothing whatsoever about a new Northern California division. They aren't looking for District Managers or HR managers or any other signs of a expansion into that area nor the Moreno Valley division. They use the name of the servicing DC to name divisions, SoCal is the Moreno Valley division and I'm going to assume right now whatever operations they have in Arizona are being serviced from there. No other DC out West at all and I don't see them trying to run food from Moreno Valley to Sacramento. Too many hours by truck and too many required rest breaks.

I still think there is strong truth to a Norcal expansion plus additional Arizona stores and possibly Las Vegas all via former 99 locations, it just makes sense especially with the expedited closures of many stores in those areas. But I am very concerned about any ad that doesn't line up with the actual company job website.

I mentioned I'm looking for a job right now and I do use the job sites but if I see a listing I'm interested in I close the 3rd party job site (Indeed, LinkedIn etc) and find the actual company website then apply there directly. I never click a link from a 3rd party website to apply, I treat that just like not clicking links in email unless I am sure they're legitimate and not spam or hackers. I am very surprised there isn't more news coverage about all the fake job postings right now that hackers and identity thieves are posting. Unfortunately fake jobs are showing up everywhere and they're usually formatted as a giant list where "We are hiring for all positions, cashier, stocking, manager at all these locations, click below to apply." Normal job postings are for a single job category at a singular location. If you are looking for a job I strongly caution you to be extraordinarily careful about providing any kind of personal identifying information unless you are absolutely sure you're really talking to an actual person from the actual company (like their email is the company's real domain name, example johnsmith@kroger.com or janedoe@cvs.com). Just because you can find the name of the alleged recruiter asking for your information doesn't mean that you're actually talking to them especially if the domain name does not look right (janedoe@cvs.jobs-site.com for example would be suspicious as all hell to me). Again I know someone is impersonating a deceased HR person from one of my former companies and people are posting their name on Reddit because they were allegedly emailed by that person after clicking on a job posting on Monster.

ClownLoach wrote: ↑April 19th, 2024, 7:15 am Also I was looking at the Aldi jobs site and saw nothing whatsoever about a new Northern California division. They aren't looking for District Managers or HR managers or any other signs of a expansion into that area nor the Moreno Valley division. They use the name of the servicing DC to name divisions, SoCal is the Moreno Valley division and I'm going to assume right now whatever operations they have in Arizona are being serviced from there. No other DC out West at all and I don't see them trying to run food from Moreno Valley to Sacramento. Too many hours by truck and too many required rest breaks.

I still think there is strong truth to a Norcal expansion plus additional Arizona stores and possibly Las Vegas all via former 99 locations, it just makes sense especially with the expedited closures of many stores in those areas. But I am very concerned about any ad that doesn't line up with the actual company job website.

I mentioned I'm looking for a job right now and I do use the job sites but if I see a listing I'm interested in I close the 3rd party job site (Indeed, LinkedIn etc) and find the actual company website then apply there directly. I never click a link from a 3rd party website to apply, I treat that just like not clicking links in email unless I am sure they're legitimate and not spam or hackers. I am very surprised there isn't more news coverage about all the fake job postings right now that hackers and identity thieves are posting. Unfortunately fake jobs are showing up everywhere and they're usually formatted as a giant list where "We are hiring for all positions, cashier, stocking, manager at all these locations, click below to apply." Normal job postings are for a single job category at a singular location. If you are looking for a job I strongly caution you to be extraordinarily careful about providing any kind of personal identifying information unless you are absolutely sure you're really talking to an actual person from the actual company (like their email is the company's real domain name, example johnsmith@kroger.com or janedoe@cvs.com). Just because you can find the name of the alleged recruiter asking for your information doesn't mean that you're actually talking to them especially if the domain name does not look right (janedoe@cvs.jobs-site.com for example would be suspicious as all hell to me). Again I know someone is impersonating a deceased HR person from one of my former companies and people are posting their name on Reddit because they were allegedly emailed by that person after clicking on a job posting on Monster.

Very important advice here about job hunting, THANK YOU!

My friend (unemployed Executive HR Director) is dealing with all that crap as well. It is truly ubiquitous and overwhelming and depressing and malicious.

They're scamming employers by cold contacting with "potential recruits" too. Ton of employment scams out there on all angles.

I guess Aldi can do okay with an expansion into NorCal but I really dislike their poorly run and poorly stocked CA Stores.

They should quit trying to have larger stores because they can't stock them or staff them properly. Not sure if they plan future mix expansion or what. Mix expansion kind of defeats the purpose of Aldi... they are already selling stuff I'm surprised to see them selling and are over SKUed in certain categories.

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 20th, 2024, 11:47 pm They're scamming employers by cold contacting with "potential recruits" too. Ton of employment scams out there on all angles.

I guess Aldi can do okay with an expansion into NorCal but I really dislike their poorly run and poorly stocked CA Stores.

They should quit trying to have larger stores because they can't stock them or staff them properly. Not sure if they plan future mix expansion or what. Mix expansion kind of defeats the purpose of Aldi... they are already selling stuff I'm surprised to see them selling and are over SKUed in certain categories.

I see the exact opposite in my area. Aldi wasn't great when they first opened up, produce was especially bad and stores were sloppy and poorly recovered/stocked. Now they are absolutely flying. The assortments are customized to the area very well, store conditions are spotless and clean, produce is properly rotated and fresh (plus they have more CA produce than Kroger or Albertsons including California avocados cheaper than Costco). As far as size goes they are not making more merchandising space. They use the same amount of linear footage of shelves, coolers, freezers etc. chain wide. The main reason for larger buildings is because they're reusing more existing space than they originally planned on (smart because they're not making the mistake Fresh & Easy did with mostly expensive new builds). I don't know their exact dimensions but let's say they want a 180 ft by 100 ft box, they find a dead box that is 220 by 120 and they'll settle for it. But if a box doesn't meet whatever their minimum length and width and logistics requirements are they won't take it. If they build in California from scratch, freestanding, they build the same size store they would in Ohio or wherever else because it's their exact prototype design with minimal wasted space.

Not my experience at all this weekend. I encountered a messy store with one checkout open and the line going down the aisle (it did move fast though- I waited about 8 minutes), and as I was waiting in that line thinking about and observing the store conditions I was thinking to myself this place is the Dollar General of grocery stores.

Also no self checkout. I guess if you only have one employee up front that can't work.

Also do they have any security? I don't see any. I went to a beat up Vons down the street from this store, and it has 2 security guards.

After seeing Ralphs and Vons current pricing i can see why people are shopping Aldi unfortunately. I'd rather see more WinCos.

I was in a rather new one in Ohio a couple weeks ago. It was clean, busy and well kept. What struck me was the odd contrasts--they've spent some more on "decor" (3-d graphics and bright colors) particularly toward the back fo the store, whereas the front end is plain and nondescript. The open box displays seem odd in the "decorated" part of the store. This one had a beer/wine license and that area did a very good business as did the non-food "special buys" or whatever they called them, which were a mix of housewares picnic supplies. The overall selection wasn't much different from what I remembered from the last time I'd been in an Aldi---if the store was a little bigger it was the alcohol and close-out non-foods that filled out the space and those areas had plenty of customers. They seem to have less name brand food than Lidl, although they do slip in the occasional high end name brand.

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2024, 1:03 am Not my experience at all this weekend. I encountered a messy store with one checkout open and the line going down the aisle (it did move fast though- I waited about 8 minutes), and as I was waiting in that line thinking about and observing the store conditions I was thinking to myself this place is the Dollar General of grocery stores.

Also no self checkout. I guess if you only have one employee up front that can't work.

Also do they have any security? I don't see any. I went to a beat up Vons down the street from this store, and it has 2 security guards.

After seeing Ralphs and Vons current pricing i can see why people are shopping Aldi unfortunately. I'd rather see more WinCos.

Definitely agree that there's a need for Winco to keep expanding. They seem to have slowed in Southern California? I can't recall their last new opening but I'm sure it was 5+ years ago. They put pressure on everyone from Costco to Walmart and run a solid operation. I fear that our inflated construction costs are pricing them out of the market... Along with the fact that the older white space they like to redevelop is getting sucked up by luxury apartment complexes despite the overwhelming evidence that there is a major discrepancy between the housing numbers and population numbers that needs to be investigated and better understood... On paper we had a 3+ million housing unit SURPLUS on the 2020 Census and have built millions more since... We don't have a housing shortage, we have a government sanctioned greed problem where everyone inflates their prices on account of a fake shortage while corporate landlord profits skyrocket.

I wonder if some of the rougher areas are too much for the low payroll Aldi model? Or if they are struggling to find staffing for those areas? I could see employees getting rather frustrated with the bare bones model and stores that get trashed by rough clientele. When Aldi first opened here I think they were offering around $18/hour for full time non management jobs but I wonder what they're paying now... I wonder if they haven't kept up or even backed off those wages.

Here there is a mix of new stores with lots of self checkout and older stores without it. I have seen three and even four of the five checkstands open on random weekday visits in the stores without self checkout. I prefer the self checkout with their model because theirs is easy, nearly every package of their own branded products has a barcode making it fast and then I can bag immediately as I scan.

But I've been to every store in my little area here and they are all very good. I hesitate to say excellent because their newest store is having growing pains as the staff are learning on the job so their conditions aren't as consistent.

I do agree that the newer design with plain sparse front half and well decorated back half is odd. It must be to keep drawing the customer away from the register... Keep browsing and find more to buy...

Time will tell, they obviously need to increase the staffing or whatever is holding them back at the bad stores you're still finding... Consistency is king in retail.

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2024, 1:03 am Also no self checkout. I guess if you only have one employee up front that can't work.

They have added self-checkout to many of their stores (especially new ones) in this area, and it works fine no matter how many employees are working on regular registers.

The only issue is that they made them all only taking cards, none for cash, which makes no sense in this store, as the self-checkouts are good for those with a few items, who are also more likely to pay with cash for $5 or $10 purchases rather than being in a line with several people with large orders (even though they do move quite fast).

ClownLoach wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2024, 8:14 am

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2024, 1:03 am Not my experience at all this weekend. I encountered a messy store with one checkout open and the line going down the aisle (it did move fast though- I waited about 8 minutes), and as I was waiting in that line thinking about and observing the store conditions I was thinking to myself this place is the Dollar General of grocery stores.

Also no self checkout. I guess if you only have one employee up front that can't work.

Also do they have any security? I don't see any. I went to a beat up Vons down the street from this store, and it has 2 security guards.

After seeing Ralphs and Vons current pricing i can see why people are shopping Aldi unfortunately. I'd rather see more WinCos.

Definitely agree that there's a need for Winco to keep expanding. They seem to have slowed in Southern California? I can't recall their last new opening but I'm sure it was 5+ years ago. They put pressure on everyone from Costco to Walmart and run a solid operation. I fear that our inflated construction costs are pricing them out of the market... Along with the fact that the older white space they like to redevelop is getting sucked up by luxury apartment complexes despite the overwhelming evidence that there is a major discrepancy between the housing numbers and population numbers that needs to be investigated and better understood... On paper we had a 3+ million housing unit SURPLUS on the 2020 Census and have built millions more since... We don't have a housing shortage, we have a government sanctioned greed problem where everyone inflates their prices on account of a fake shortage while corporate landlord profits skyrocket.

I wonder if some of the rougher areas are too much for the low payroll Aldi model? Or if they are struggling to find staffing for those areas? I could see employees getting rather frustrated with the bare bones model and stores that get trashed by rough clientele. When Aldi first opened here I think they were offering around $18/hour for full time non management jobs but I wonder what they're paying now... I wonder if they haven't kept up or even backed off those wages.

Here there is a mix of new stores with lots of self checkout and older stores without it. I have seen three and even four of the five checkstands open on random weekday visits in the stores without self checkout. I prefer the self checkout with their model because theirs is easy, nearly every package of their own branded products has a barcode making it fast and then I can bag immediately as I scan.

But I've been to every store in my little area here and they are all very good. I hesitate to say excellent because their newest store is having growing pains as the staff are learning on the job so their conditions aren't as consistent.

I do agree that the newer design with plain sparse front half and well decorated back half is odd. It must be to keep drawing the customer away from the register... Keep browsing and find more to buy...

Time will tell, they obviously need to increase the staffing or whatever is holding them back at the bad stores you're still finding... Consistency is king in retail.

I think the 99 Only and Rite Aid closures will be a real estate jackpot for Aldi. Many of those SoCal Rite Aids are in that 22k square foot range (former Thrifty units) with the grocery co-anchor long gone so I expect Aldi can move in. I do not think Aldi is a good addition to the market but it is what it is and it is a lower cost option so there is a definite need for it. Also a great real estate opportunity for Grocery Outlet. But there are some issues over at Grocery Outlet with inventory right now and it is becoming more and more evident the lack of close out merchandise and higher costs for what they are finding to sell. I don't see that inventory issue with Aldi- Aldi knows how to get inventory and has suppliers they seem to be working with who can "scale up" for their growth.

WinCo is about to spend $4 million on a remodel in Reno. I am surprised by this. The store is looking a little worn out but I'd rather see them spend their money building new stores. I am wondering if they are having a strategy shift. I don't see what type of ROI they'll get on a remodel unless the store is starting to fall apart in non-customer areas and they need to address it for maintenance reasons.

Aldi runs in a lot of rougher areas in various cities so that shouldn't be an issue. I always thought they were a good fit for rougher areas due to the smaller store size, lack of branded products (less shrink cost if people do take stuff), and low costs/shorter hours. I think the issue may be the larger stores.

The other thing I notice is those "custom" type items you refer to that are slotted in specific stores but not others seem to be selling at prices that are not very good... and they do not appear to be selling very well. I wonder how they source these items. Is having those items helping them or is it hurting their price image? Maybe they can get away with it given the absolutely terrible Albertsons/Vons pricing and the pretty terrible Ralphs pricing...

I'm amazed you see that many registers open. I've NEVER seen more than two registers open in a CA Aldi. No matter how long the lines are. And getting a second lane open takes forever. They usually seem to only have 3-4 employees on duty. And yes I contact them and complain, take receipt survey, etc. They do not care.

So even if I don't like them I see the place for them in SoCal and I see reasons to shop there...