Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

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Re: Albertsons Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Bagels wrote: November 28th, 2020, 2:10 pm
I visited the Smith's in Mesquite as well. The store had been completely renovated since I last visited this past summer. The result was pretty nice -- even the wood flooring within the produce department was replaced with a newer, lighter (faux?) wood floor. This store also now features a new generation of furniture/fixtures in the produce department (the first time I've seen them; within the past year or so, I've been in a few new construction stores that featured the legacy versions). A step in the right direction! On the disappointing side, most of the prepared deli as well as bakery items are standardizing toward the legacy Midwestern product (which is featured in Ralph's, among other stores).

Kroger spent a lot of money on this remodel. I'm surprised, since it underwent an extensive renovation about a decade ago. The store is about 30yo and completes with a newish Walmart Supercenter nearby. There's only ~20K people living in the Mesquite area.
Was this store expanded once before? It has two doors for entry/exit which is unusual for Smiths, save for a couple stores built by Fred Meyer which were a larger model. It is possible the cut in that drug side door.

I can't find any photos online of the completed remodel.

I see one Yelp photo from September 2020. Obviously not the floor you saw, but what about the fixtures? https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/smiths- ... cX7Be1qvqw

Highly recommend Harmon's if you get all the way to St. George (their new build is in Santa Clara, UT and very nice). The St. George store is older but also quite nice.
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Re: Albertsons Las Vegas Observations

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: November 28th, 2020, 11:08 pmWas this store expanded once before? It has two doors for entry/exit which is unusual for Smiths, save for a couple stores built by Fred Meyer which were a larger model. It is possible the cut in that drug side door.

I can't find any photos online of the completed remodel.

I see one Yelp photo from September 2020. Obviously not the floor you saw, but what a the fixtures? https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/smiths- ... cX7Be1qvqw

Highly recommend Harmon's if you get all the way to St. George (their new build is in Santa Clara, UT and very nice). The St. George store is older but also quite nice.
I’m betting the Mesquite location has been enlarged, given that when it originally opened, the local population was just a few thousand. I wasn’t able to get great pictures, but here’s a few I took of the remodel:

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I’ll have to remember to visit Harmon’s next time! I did hit up the Albertsons — a pair of aged stores with the Grocery Palace interior. Not much foot traffic in them, either. I’m surprised these stores haven’t been closed, given their distance from Las Vegas (which appears to be be the division they mimic).
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

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Those new Smiths produce fixtures look decent. Looks like it may cause fruits to bruise easily and will be somewhat difficult to rotate product unless the protocol will be to let the bins empty then refill only once empty or nearly empty. The presentation reminds me of WinCo or Wal Mart, but with a nicer looking fixture. There is a small hispanic store I go to with that type of fixture as well. It seems to work well in a small size store to squeeze a lot in. I still think the larger sized Ralphs or QFC produce presentation with the square dark wood sided tables and pyramids of product looks the best. Smiths had one store with those tables here and kept some of the tables for front displays, etc.

Yes, Harmon's is by far the best operator in Utah and that new Santa Clara Store is the reason why the Albertsons up the hill in St. George was so empty of customers. It used to be a really good performing store. I think the Lin's across the street took a hit too when Harmon's opened the new store. The St. George Albertsons were switched from Intermountain to Southwest at the same time Las Vegas got switched to Southwest. I don't understand why, as Salt Lake City is a lot closer of a supply point than Phoenix area, but it was definitely helpful to make those St. George Stores have a lower pricing scale and run more competitive ads. The only reason Supervalu kept those stores when they sold the rest of Utah was due to anti-trust concerns (because of Lin's overlap). There was also a third Albertsons in St. George, you probably drove by it on the way to the one up the hill, it was in the shopping center with the now-closed Kmart (comes right before you get to the older St. George Smiths), it was an older store with blue-gray interior and Supervalu's operating skills aided by a strong Smiths effectively killed it. Southwest Division called that closure, not long after they got those 3 stores.

There is also a new build Smiths Marketplace in St. George as well as a new build Lin's near it (these two stores opened around the same time as the Santa Clara Harmon's about 2 years ago). There is probably room for one more new build store in St. George at this point, it will be interesting to see if Albertsons bites. I think Albertsons is in the worst competitive position in St. George and not many people would miss them if they left. Lin's is nothing to get excited about but has roots in the area despite now being corporate Associated Food Stores division.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: November 30th, 2020, 11:15 pm Those new Smiths produce fixtures look decent. Looks like it may cause fruits to bruise easily and will be somewhat difficult to rotate product unless the protocol will be to let the bins empty then refill only once empty or nearly empty. The presentation reminds me of WinCo or Wal Mart, but with a nicer looking fixture. There is a small hispanic store I go to with that type of fixture as well. It seems to work well in a small size store to squeeze a lot in. I still think the larger sized Ralphs or QFC produce presentation with the square dark wood sided tables and pyramids of product looks the best. Smiths had one store with those tables here and kept some of the tables for front displays, etc.

Yes, Harmon's is by far the best operator in Utah and that new Santa Clara Store is the reason why the Albertsons up the hill in St. George was so empty of customers. It used to be a really good performing store. I think the Lin's across the street took a hit too when Harmon's opened the new store. The St. George Albertsons were switched from Intermountain to Southwest at the same time Las Vegas got switched to Southwest. I don't understand why, as Salt Lake City is a lot closer of a supply point than Phoenix area, but it was definitely helpful to make those St. George Stores have a lower pricing scale and run more competitive ads. The only reason Supervalu kept those stores when they sold the rest of Utah was due to anti-trust concerns (because of Lin's overlap). There was also a third Albertsons in St. George, you probably drove by it on the way to the one up the hill, it was in the shopping center with the now-closed Kmart (comes right before you get to the older St. George Smiths), it was an older store with blue-gray interior and Supervalu's operating skills aided by a strong Smiths effectively killed it. Southwest Division called that closure, not long after they got those 3 stores.

There is also a new build Smiths Marketplace in St. George as well as a new build Lin's near it (these two stores opened around the same time as the Santa Clara Harmon's about 2 years ago). There is probably room for one more new build store in St. George at this point, it will be interesting to see if Albertsons bites. I think Albertsons is in the worst competitive position in St. George and not many people would miss them if they left. Lin's is nothing to get excited about but has roots in the area despite now being corporate Associated Food Stores division.
St. George is the last market in Utah where Albertsons has any presence save for the few Lucky stores, right?

How did Utah's Albertsons get sold? They were a legacy market (stores in the area since the 1950s, not some 1990s acquisition/entrance, which composed many of the markets Albertsons had during this time) and the competition (Smith's and a bunch of independents) doesn't seem like a particularly strong competitor to drive them out. Were they just sold by SuperValu for a cash infusion?
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

pseudo3d wrote: December 1st, 2020, 4:53 pm St. George is the last market in Utah where Albertsons has any presence save for the few Lucky stores, right?

How did Utah's Albertsons get sold? They were a legacy market (stores in the area since the 1950s, not some 1990s acquisition/entrance, which composed many of the markets Albertsons had during this time) and the competition (Smith's and a bunch of independents) doesn't seem like a particularly strong competitor to drive them out. Were they just sold by SuperValu for a cash infusion?
I'm guessing SVU sold these stores for a cash infusion. The Utah stores were profitable for Albertsons and it was pointless to sell those stores in retrospect.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by klkla »

storewanderer wrote: November 30th, 2020, 11:15 pm Those new Smiths produce fixtures look decent. Looks like it may cause fruits to bruise easily and will be somewhat difficult to rotate product unless the protocol will be to let the bins empty then refill only once empty or nearly empty.
Hopefully they cull produce as they stock. The bin shouldn't make a difference.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: December 1st, 2020, 4:53 pm
St. George is the last market in Utah where Albertsons has any presence save for the few Lucky stores, right?

How did Utah's Albertsons get sold? They were a legacy market (stores in the area since the 1950s, not some 1990s acquisition/entrance, which composed many of the markets Albertsons had during this time) and the competition (Smith's and a bunch of independents) doesn't seem like a particularly strong competitor to drive them out. Were they just sold by SuperValu for a cash infusion?
Yes, St. George are the final Utah Albertsons. The one in Tooele (which was also not sold off due to anti-trust concerns) was converted to Lucky last year. Also the Lucky in West Jordan was a store that was kept by Supervalu due to anti-trust concerns but it along with another 2-3 stores were closed about six months after the rest of the Utah Stores were sold off due to not finding a buyer. Evidently they were still hung with the lease or own it, so they reopened it as a Lucky. So I am not sure why Supervalu kept St. George and Tooele open- profitability I assume.

I think Utah's Albertsons got sold because they had a willing buyer in Associated Food Stores. At the time those stores were sold, it was rumored pretty much all of the Supervalu-owned Albertsons were for sale. But there did not seem to be many willing buyers. They did get a few others sold like in Blackfoot, ID they sold to Ridley and in Burley, ID they sold to Stoke or someone, and there was that store in White Center in Seattle they sold to Saar, but other than that it seems there were not many interested buyers.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: December 1st, 2020, 6:33 pm
storewanderer wrote: November 30th, 2020, 11:15 pm Those new Smiths produce fixtures look decent. Looks like it may cause fruits to bruise easily and will be somewhat difficult to rotate product unless the protocol will be to let the bins empty then refill only once empty or nearly empty.
Hopefully they cull produce as they stock. The bin shouldn't make a difference.
Putting things like peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, etc. that bruise and subsequently puncture and leak easily into a "bin" like that where they are piled 4-5 layers (with no cardboard in between) and damage will occur as the items get ruffled around is where I was going...

The Wal Mart and WinCo and hispanic store indy bins all have cardboard between each layer of product for items like the apples, peaches, etc.

The bin will work fine without cardboard for things like a potato, orange, lemon, etc.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by veteran+ »

I agree 100%

Produce clerks are not overwhelmingly on board with strict rotation policies and sanitation and cleaning procedures.

Produce Managers and District Produce Supervisors are hard tasked in their monitoring of the above.

Soft produce will be damaged and juices will flow and the fixture will NOT be cleaned and then you have insects and odor.

That is the reality of it. Grocers can design pretty fixtures for presentation purposes but often fail regarding upkeep (cleaning and ease of). They forget to consider worker proclivities.
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Re: Albertsons & Smith's Las Vegas Observations

Post by klkla »

The bins have hard plastic underneath the product as they do now. There is also plexiglass in front of the product. Functionally these cases are not that different than what they have already been using. They just display the product a little better and are more space efficient.
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