Gelsons in former Haggen Stores

[storewanderer]

I went into the Carlsbad Gelson's today around 5 PM. The first thing I noticed was they still had banners for department signs and the store interior does not look upscale by any stretch. The store was pretty quiet, maybe a dozen customers shopping inside, maximum, and most were at the deli. Meat also had a couple customers. The store was well staffed and perimeters looked good, clean, center store was pretty bad and it is clear Gelson's is struggling to merchandise this amount of space.

Pricing is very high. I was in this store when it was Haggen and Haggen actually seemed busier... which isn't saying a whole lot.

Center store doesn't have a private label in a lot of categories... I understand that in the smaller Los Angeles Gelsons that are in wealthy densely populated areas but in a 55,000 square foot store in a less dense area, I am not sure about this. Natural Directions was more present than Springfield, but typically cost more than national brands.

I noticed in this store there were signs saying in January 2017 the store will be remodeled into a simpler more compact format. So they are downsizing the store, I think that means? It will be interesting to see how this goes because my impression today was of a store doing even less business than Haggen...

[pseudo3d]

I went into the Carlsbad Gelson's today around 5 PM. The first thing I noticed was they still had banners for department signs and the store interior does not look upscale by any stretch. The store was pretty quiet, maybe a dozen customers shopping inside, maximum, and most were at the deli. Meat also had a couple customers. The store was well staffed and perimeters looked good, clean, center store was pretty bad and it is clear Gelson's is struggling to merchandise this amount of space.

Pricing is very high. I was in this store when it was Haggen and Haggen actually seemed busier... which isn't saying a whole lot.

Center store doesn't have a private label in a lot of categories... I understand that in the smaller Los Angeles Gelsons that are in wealthy densely populated areas but in a 55,000 square foot store in a less dense area, I am not sure about this. Natural Directions was more present than Springfield, but typically cost more than national brands.

I noticed in this store there were signs saying in January 2017 the store will be remodeled into a simpler more compact format. So they are downsizing the store, I think that means? It will be interesting to see how this goes because my impression today was of a store doing even less business than Haggen...

Typically what I've noticed for things like WFM and Central Market is that you CAN market a 55k square feet upscale market easily, you just have to dedicate more space to perishables.

[veteran+]

I went into the Carlsbad Gelson's today around 5 PM. The first thing I noticed was they still had banners for department signs and the store interior does not look upscale by any stretch. The store was pretty quiet, maybe a dozen customers shopping inside, maximum, and most were at the deli. Meat also had a couple customers. The store was well staffed and perimeters looked good, clean, center store was pretty bad and it is clear Gelson's is struggling to merchandise this amount of space.

Pricing is very high. I was in this store when it was Haggen and Haggen actually seemed busier... which isn't saying a whole lot.

Center store doesn't have a private label in a lot of categories... I understand that in the smaller Los Angeles Gelsons that are in wealthy densely populated areas but in a 55,000 square foot store in a less dense area, I am not sure about this. Natural Directions was more present than Springfield, but typically cost more than national brands.

I noticed in this store there were signs saying in January 2017 the store will be remodeled into a simpler more compact format. So they are downsizing the store, I think that means? It will be interesting to see how this goes because my impression today was of a store doing even less business than Haggen...

Thanks for that report!

I was very curious as to how Gelson's (I'm a fan) would manage such an unfamiliar large space!

I hope someone visits the Gelson's in Rancho Mirage (formerly Pavilions then Gelson's).

That used to be a high volume Pavilions store (for the desert). Upper middles class to very wealthy neighborhood. Also hard to please and unusually High Maintenance type customers.

[storewanderer]

I also will add while I was in the store, there were at least four unattended restocking projects going on within the first five or six grocery aisles immediately following produce. Unattended U -Boats, piles of boxes, cart fulls of goods sitting at random...

My impression is this is like a continuation of the limited traffic Haggen got, but I hope Gelsons market knowledge and better perimeter is at least yielding more revenue off of the fewer customers. Center store has more mix bit it doesn't look to be working.

I'm more curious about the upcoming remodel.

[klkla]

I also will add while I was in the store, there were at least four unattended restocking projects going on within the first five or six grocery aisles immediately following produce. Unattended U -Boats, piles of boxes, cart fulls of goods sitting at random...

Gelson's stocking crews generally work from 2 pm - 11 pm instead of graveyard shifts like at other stores. They break the loads down in the back and then each stocker brings one U-Boat at a time to work his aisle. They are frequently called up to work as cashiers when busy which is probably why you saw an unattended u-boat. After working the U-Boat the stocker will immediately face his aisle. All Gelson's are faced numerous time during the day to keep the store pristine.

[klkla]

I went into the Carlsbad Gelson's today around 5 PM. The first thing I noticed was they still had banners for department signs and the store interior does not look upscale by any stretch. The store was pretty quiet, maybe a dozen customers shopping inside, maximum, and most were at the deli. Meat also had a couple customers. The store was well staffed and perimeters looked good, clean, center store was pretty bad and it is clear Gelson's is struggling to merchandise this amount of space.

Pricing is very high. I was in this store when it was Haggen and Haggen actually seemed busier... which isn't saying a whole lot.

Center store doesn't have a private label in a lot of categories... I understand that in the smaller Los Angeles Gelsons that are in wealthy densely populated areas but in a 55,000 square foot store in a less dense area, I am not sure about this. Natural Directions was more present than Springfield, but typically cost more than national brands.

I noticed in this store there were signs saying in January 2017 the store will be remodeled into a simpler more compact format. So they are downsizing the store, I think that means? It will be interesting to see how this goes because my impression today was of a store doing even less business than Haggen...

Gelson's is very high priced and sells high quality products. Generally speaking the old expression 'If you have to ask how much it is you can't afford it" applies to this chain.

They don't carry much private label because their customer base is interested in quality over price. They do have the Gelson's Finest brand which is a gourmet line. They sell some Springfield brands and Natural Directions where it makes sense but that's about it.

Exactly what did you read about a smaller more compact format? This is the first I have heard about this. The Rancho Mirage store signage indicated the remodeling would use the entire store and had diagrams in all the effected areas.

[klkla]

Thanks for that report!

I was very curious as to how Gelson's (I'm a fan) would manage such an unfamiliar large space!

I hope someone visits the Gelson's in Rancho Mirage (formerly Pavilions then Gelson's).

That used to be a high volume Pavilions store (for the desert). Upper middles class to very wealthy neighborhood. Also hard to please and unusually High Maintenance type customers.

I visited the Gelson's in Rancho Mirage at about 2:00 in the afternoon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

When I first walked in they had five checkstands open each with one customer. There was a fairly decent amount of traffic in the deli, bakery, pharmacy and liquor areas but the grocery aisles were completely empty, but pristine. The weekend after Thanksgiving is notoriously slow so I couldn't really make a judgement about the overall health of the store.

They are definitely struggling to fill up the amount of space and there were large areas with no product displays at all. They do have numerous signs pointing to improvements to come with this remodel which include the wine and craft beer bar I mentioned in the other thread, a new service cheese shop, Wolfgang Puck Pizza & Salad restaurant, a Raw Bar and expanded Service Deli among other things.

[rwsandiego]

I went into the Carlsbad Gelson's today around 5 PM. The first thing I noticed was they still had banners for department signs and the store interior does not look upscale by any stretch. The store was pretty quiet, maybe a dozen customers shopping inside, maximum, and most were at the deli. Meat also had a couple customers. The store was well staffed and perimeters looked good, clean, center store was pretty bad and it is clear Gelson's is struggling to merchandise this amount of space.

Pricing is very high. I was in this store when it was Haggen and Haggen actually seemed busier... which isn't saying a whole lot.

Center store doesn't have a private label in a lot of categories... I understand that in the smaller Los Angeles Gelsons that are in wealthy densely populated areas but in a 55,000 square foot store in a less dense area, I am not sure about this. Natural Directions was more present than Springfield, but typically cost more than national brands.

I noticed in this store there were signs saying in January 2017 the store will be remodeled into a simpler more compact format. So they are downsizing the store, I think that means? It will be interesting to see how this goes because my impression today was of a store doing even less business than Haggen...

I was rather surprised when the Carlsbad Haggen went to Gelson's, as Carlsbad didn't seem sufficiently upscale to support a Gelson's, particularly given DelMar is not that far away. My guess is they thought it would draw from Olivenhain, Encinitas, and LaCosta. What they didn't consider was Cardiff Seaside market, which has a cult following up and down the North County Coastal area, and the Whole Foods Market that opened in downtown Encinitas.

One other thing to consider: no one who works is in Carlsbad at 5:00 - they are stuck in traffic. That said, Carlsbad doesn't seem like a good fit for Gelsons.


Have you visited the Gelson's on the DelMar/Rancho Santa Fe border? Wonder how busy that store is.

[storewanderer]

The signs in the Carlsbad Gelsons about a remodel and simpler more compact store were posted in the area near dairy.

I stopped in the Del Mar Store around Noontime today. It had a fairly healthy customer count, at least 20-25 shoppers or so. It also was well staffed and the employees were upbeat and positive. The deli, meat, and produce areas all looked great. Bakery looked okay (better than Carlsbad but not great). There were even a few customers using the pharmacy. I also felt like the center store in Del Mar had a better mix of basic grocery items and some better pricing but maybe I just did not notice in Carlsbad some of these prices.

The Del Mar Store was also unremodeled and had the banners up for department signage. This was a very dressed up Albertsons to begin with and had some nicer fixtures than usual as it was. There were a couple unattended U-Boats in one aisle and some stacks of boxes on that same aisle but other than that the store was free of unattended restocking projects.

[rwsandiego]

The signs in the Carlsbad Gelsons about a remodel and simpler more compact store were posted in the area near dairy.

I stopped in the Del Mar Store around Noontime today. It had a fairly healthy customer count, at least 20-25 shoppers or so. It also was well staffed and the employees were upbeat and positive. The deli, meat, and produce areas all looked great. Bakery looked okay (better than Carlsbad but not great). There were even a few customers using the pharmacy. I also felt like the center store in Del Mar had a better mix of basic grocery items and some better pricing but maybe I just did not notice in Carlsbad some of these prices.

The Del Mar Store was also unremodeled and had the banners up for department signage. This was a very dressed up Albertsons to begin with and had some nicer fixtures than usual as it was. There were a couple unattended U-Boats in one aisle and some stacks of boxes on that same aisle but other than that the store was free of unattended restocking projects.

Ah, OK...it doesn't surprise me that the Del Mar location was busy at noontime. There are several small businesses in the area and stay at home moms and dads are not uncommon in that area. If memory serves correctly, that store had the Jewel interior before being Haggenized and when I stopped in on grand opening weekend it looked like Haggen didn't do much to the interior.