Albertsons continues to disappear from WA

[storewanderer]

Albertsons is pushing the club card pretty hard. If you don't use a club card there, you get a long print out with your receipt with some kind of incentives for signing up for the club card. The self checkout at Albertsons also comes up with a club card/phone number prompt on the self checkout itself (in addition to on the pinpad) after you press finish/pay and you have to acknowledge it by either skipping, scanning a card, or pressing enter phone number. At Safeway or Vons if you go to self checkout and you do not use a club card the machine just lets you go right ahead and pay- it doesn't ever ask you for a club card.

There are also more digital only deals in the ads now which makes avoiding the club card at Albertsons that much more difficult.

I think the ability to run the club card is a big driver in these conversions away from the Albertsons banner.

No club card at highly successful grocery retailers like WinCo, Trader Joe's, Publix, Hy Vee, or Wal Mart. The grocery industry really needs to take the hint, but I don't think it will. At least we have had a ton of club card programs consolidate into a smaller number of programs due to all these mergers, I guess...

[Super S]

Albertsons is pushing the club card pretty hard. If you don't use a club card there, you get a long print out with your receipt with some kind of incentives for signing up for the club card. The self checkout at Albertsons also comes up with a club card/phone number prompt on the self checkout itself (in addition to on the pinpad) after you press finish/pay and you have to acknowledge it by either skipping, scanning a card, or pressing enter phone number. At Safeway or Vons if you go to self checkout and you do not use a club card the machine just lets you go right ahead and pay- it doesn't ever ask you for a club card.

There are also more digital only deals in the ads now which makes avoiding the club card at Albertsons that much more difficult.

I think the ability to run the club card is a big driver in these conversions away from the Albertsons banner.

No club card at highly successful grocery retailers like WinCo, Trader Joe's, Publix, Hy Vee, or Wal Mart. The grocery industry really needs to take the hint, but I don't think it will. At least we have had a ton of club card programs consolidate into a smaller number of programs due to all these mergers, I guess...

The main gripe I have had about Safeway is how some locations will use a "store" card in smaller towns, while others absolutely will not budge at all if you do not have a card. I also don't like how they have at times had specials which require the use of the card, app, AND a coupon. (Fred Meyer had a special where you had to jump through all the same hoops on butter not long ago also) A chain as big as Albertsons/Kroger will be after the merger should be able to offer lower prices without the card and all the other hoops you have to jump through. Unfortunately, shopping at one of the "card" retailers is unavoidable in some areas, and some chains such as WinCo are continuing to have issues with out-of-stocks and questionable items such as milk and produce where the quality is inconsistent from one visit to the next.

Thinking about several mergers which should have brought lower prices but never delivered, and are now struggling or gone altogether: Sears/Kmart, OfficeMax/Office Depot, Albertsons/Safeway, Thrifty/PayLess, and their acquisition by Rite Aid. I am going to throw Kroger/Fred Meyer in there too as regular shelf prices have been steadily rising since Fred Meyer went to the card pricing model. I have little to no hope that the merger of Albertsons/Kroger will bring lower prices.

[pseudo3d]

Albertsons is pushing the club card pretty hard. If you don't use a club card there, you get a long print out with your receipt with some kind of incentives for signing up for the club card. The self checkout at Albertsons also comes up with a club card/phone number prompt on the self checkout itself (in addition to on the pinpad) after you press finish/pay and you have to acknowledge it by either skipping, scanning a card, or pressing enter phone number. At Safeway or Vons if you go to self checkout and you do not use a club card the machine just lets you go right ahead and pay- it doesn't ever ask you for a club card.

There are also more digital only deals in the ads now which makes avoiding the club card at Albertsons that much more difficult.

I think the ability to run the club card is a big driver in these conversions away from the Albertsons banner.

No club card at highly successful grocery retailers like WinCo, Trader Joe's, Publix, Hy Vee, or Wal Mart. The grocery industry really needs to take the hint, but I don't think it will. At least we have had a ton of club card programs consolidate into a smaller number of programs due to all these mergers, I guess...

The card situation at Albertsons is now up to regional management. In the Southern division, Randalls no longer uses the card for sales but Tom Thumb still does.

[storewanderer]

The card situation at Albertsons is now up to regional management. In the Southern division, Randalls no longer uses the card for sales but Tom Thumb still does.

There are a few Safeways in Grand Junction, CO that do not use the card for sale prices. Yet in the same region (Intermountain) there are Safeways up in MT that do use the card for sale prices.

Also no card for sale prices at Jewel, Shaws, or Acme..

I was disappointed Bob Miller did not get rid of the card program at the Safeway units. Not sure what stopped that from happening.

[Super S]

I had to take somebody to the Portland airport today, and noticed on the way back that the freeway sign for the Albertsons at Salmon Creek now says Safeway. I am curious if this store is being remodeled at all (it needs it), or if it's just a sign change. I am also curious what will happen with the existing Safeway in Salmon Creek, a mile south. This marks the end of Albertsons in Vancouver. It is also worth noting that Fred Meyer is right in between the two Salmon Creek locations.

Not sure if anything has changed in Battle Ground, where there is an Albertsons and Safeway about a mile apart and also a Fred Meyer in between the two stores. But, if that is still an Albertsons, it is now the last one in southwest Washington.

Interesting that these changes are taking place with the possibility of merging with Kroger....

[storewanderer]

That Salmon Creek store isn't the best and is a very prime candidate to divest in my opinion. I am guessing it got some remodeling, they seem to be doing remodels when they rebrand. Also a pretty heavy reset occurs to get the stores configured like a Safeway (cut back on drug items and way spread out the chips and water).

This Portland-based management clearly does not want to continue with the Albertsons banner.

[ClownLoach]

I still think they mismanaged the Albertsons brand so severely in the PNW that it is toxic. I can't believe how many Yelp comments on Albertsons banner stores up there complain about pricing, service, policies etc. And basically say "I've had it, I'm only shopping Safeway now" without any recognition whatsoever they're the same store. There are people who haven't set foot in the Albertsons branded store in a decade or more because of some perceived wrong and keep driving past it to go to a Safeway that in many cases is smaller, older, and otherwise same service and pricing. Whenever I discuss either brand with my friends in the area they talk about Albertsons as if it is a tier below Walmart in quality with pricing at Nordstrom levels, yet they love Safeway. Same store and nobody noticed they merged up there. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Clearly they have recognized that changing the sign increases sales and profits. If they had the same results in SoCal we would have seen either the Albertsons or Vons banner go away too. Obviously the results from the very few re-bannering projects in SoCal didn't pay for themselves (mostly stores that divested to Haggen and were bought back but with the opposite banner, or the rebrands to Pavilions etc.).

[veteran+]

I still think they mismanaged the Albertsons brand so severely in the PNW that it is toxic. I can't believe how many Yelp comments on Albertsons banner stores up there complain about pricing, service, policies etc. And basically say "I've had it, I'm only shopping Safeway now" without any recognition whatsoever they're the same store. There are people who haven't set foot in the Albertsons branded store in a decade or more because of some perceived wrong and keep driving past it to go to a Safeway that in many cases is smaller, older, and otherwise same service and pricing. Whenever I discuss either brand with my friends in the area they talk about Albertsons as if it is a tier below Walmart in quality with pricing at Nordstrom levels, yet they love Safeway. Same store and nobody noticed they merged up there. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Clearly they have recognized that changing the sign increases sales and profits. If they had the same results in SoCal we would have seen either the Albertsons or Vons banner go away too. Obviously the results from the very few re-bannering projects in SoCal didn't pay for themselves (mostly stores that divested to Haggen and were bought back but with the opposite banner, or the rebrands to Pavilions etc.).

Funny how that works............................

Turning what you believe into an immutable "fact".

[storewanderer]

I still think they mismanaged the Albertsons brand so severely in the PNW that it is toxic. I can't believe how many Yelp comments on Albertsons banner stores up there complain about pricing, service, policies etc. And basically say "I've had it, I'm only shopping Safeway now" without any recognition whatsoever they're the same store. There are people who haven't set foot in the Albertsons branded store in a decade or more because of some perceived wrong and keep driving past it to go to a Safeway that in many cases is smaller, older, and otherwise same service and pricing. Whenever I discuss either brand with my friends in the area they talk about Albertsons as if it is a tier below Walmart in quality with pricing at Nordstrom levels, yet they love Safeway. Same store and nobody noticed they merged up there. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Clearly they have recognized that changing the sign increases sales and profits. If they had the same results in SoCal we would have seen either the Albertsons or Vons banner go away too. Obviously the results from the very few re-bannering projects in SoCal didn't pay for themselves (mostly stores that divested to Haggen and were bought back but with the opposite banner, or the rebrands to Pavilions etc.).

The only thing is is odd is when Supervalu ran it, the operation in metro Seattle was absolute rock bottom. Dirty/smelly stores, poor perimeters, bad service, shorter hours, and highest in market prices. The stores in metro Portland were not quite that bad, but generally older/needed remodeling so in total they weren't much better. But if you went out to Spokane or down to Medford, under Supervalu, while they still had the extremely high pricing, the stores looked great other than that.

How many divested Albertsons reopened as Vons in SoCal? Isn't it like 2 stores, one out in Santa Barbara and one in the northern part of San Diego? Then in Las Vegas there is one divested Vons that reopened as Albertsons.

[pseudo3d]

I still think they mismanaged the Albertsons brand so severely in the PNW that it is toxic. I can't believe how many Yelp comments on Albertsons banner stores up there complain about pricing, service, policies etc. And basically say "I've had it, I'm only shopping Safeway now" without any recognition whatsoever they're the same store. There are people who haven't set foot in the Albertsons branded store in a decade or more because of some perceived wrong and keep driving past it to go to a Safeway that in many cases is smaller, older, and otherwise same service and pricing. Whenever I discuss either brand with my friends in the area they talk about Albertsons as if it is a tier below Walmart in quality with pricing at Nordstrom levels, yet they love Safeway. Same store and nobody noticed they merged up there. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Clearly they have recognized that changing the sign increases sales and profits. If they had the same results in SoCal we would have seen either the Albertsons or Vons banner go away too. Obviously the results from the very few re-bannering projects in SoCal didn't pay for themselves (mostly stores that divested to Haggen and were bought back but with the opposite banner, or the rebrands to Pavilions etc.).

Funny how that works............................

Turning what you believe into an immutable "fact".

That is how most people operate, and it goes all ways, from sociopolitics to grocery preference.

And customer perception in the retail industry is in fact extremely important.