rwsandiego wrote: ↑May 16th, 2023, 4:39 pm
The farther away you go from San Diego the more Albertsons and fewer Vons you see. Albertsons had a bad reputation in San Diego proper and in the South Bay because most of their stores down there were nasty former Lucky stores that they should have remodeled but didn't. Ralphs also had some nasty stores, which they mostly closed, so Vons became the dominant grocer in the city. When I lived in Normal Heights and Albertsons opened the new store in City Heights (about 3 miles away) I did a lot of my shopping there. Likewise, when I lived in downtown San Diego, the new Albertsons in East village was my go-to instead of Ralphs.
I don't think Vons really built new stores as San Diego grew. The only ones that come to mind are Solana Beach, which was a replacement, Mission Hills, also a replacement, and maybe one in Scripps Ranch. The brand didn't grow much. Frankly, Vons improved after Albertsons took it over. (Yeah, I know - scary thought)
If the merger doesn't go through, I can see Albertsons re-branding Vons to Albertsons.
I think south of the 8 is where Albertsons didn't have the best reputation in San Diego, yes. North of there, Albertsons had/has mostly higher-end stores. Albertsons aggressively remodeled and built new stores up here from 1999-2006. Perhaps the nicest (I wouldn't be surprised it it weren't the most profitable) Albertsons in the county was Del Mar, which had an upscale version of the Jewel interior. I have friends living near that store that still refer to it as Albertsons, even though Haggen and Gelson's bought the store. The Albertsons stores in Carlsbad (La Costa) and Torrey Highlands were as gorgeous as that store (they also had the Jewel interior).
The Albertsons in City Heights was a relocation of an old Lucky. It opened in mid-2001, with the Awnings interior, yet a Grocery Palace layout. Who knows why it closed in 2014. Was a nice store though.
In California, San Diego (outside of North County) was the last frontier for Albertsons. They got south of Highway 52 via buying Lucky (with the exception of the San Ysidro store, a former Big Bear supermarket that they bought in 1994).
My parents moved to San Diego in 1995, a few years before they started having children. They came from Minneapolis, a totally different grocery market dominated by Supervalu-related chains. My parents first lived in Hillcrest, before moving to Rolando (near SDSU). They did their shopping mostly based on proximity (Ralphs and Vons, they never really shopped at Lucky).
Yet I can't figure out what interiors the Encinitas Albertsons stores had... they closed those ones during the recession.
Albertsons didn't close much stores in the county during the Supervalu era.