Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

bryceleinan wrote:
storewanderer wrote: June 4th, 2022, 1:24 pm
HCal wrote: June 4th, 2022, 2:12 am
From what I understand, Raley's primarily buys through Topco. I haven't seen similar changes at other Topco-supplied stores, so this is probably their own choice. I wonder if they get a better price when buying more of one brand. This seems like a good move to me, but I'm not the type of person who is loyal to brands. I imagine they may lose some customers whose favorite brand product disappeared, but they make it up in efficiencies.
There is no widescale program going on at Raleys that is involving cutting SKUs or eliminating certain brands. They do these resets every year. Raleys always carries significantly more SKUs than Safeway in given categories especially those noted in this thread like tea and ethnic foods. In a lot of cases because Raleys will carry SKUs that other stores do not carry, those SKUs end up being discontinued by the manufacturer but then new items pop up and Raleys jumps on those and picks them up to replace the items that go away. So Raleys will often have more "clearance" items when they do category resets, than competitors out west have.

The bigger entire center store resets are on a store by store basis. Raleys has its stores segmented into a number of different merchandising models (ONE, "Premium," and various base models) based on their loyalty card data. Stores move from one segment to another from time to time but that tends to be a more major process.

Raleys gets most dry groceries from the same warehouse as Save Mart (SSI) but handles some items in its own distribution center as well, particularly perishables. Raleys gets most natural/organic/ethnic from UNFI/Supervalu (old Certified Market Center). Raleys slots Top Care for drug/HBA per contract with Topco and that is also coming from UNFI/Supervalu (they are slotting that stuff special for Raleys in CA due to the agreement Raleys has with Topco to carry Topco brands, and due to the agreement Raleys has with UNFI/Supervalu to buy non food from them; it is not an optimal arrangement as UNFI/Supervalu wants to sell their Equaline items, not Topco items). Raleys own private label is very extensive and has standard groceries, Organic, and limited drug/HBA (vitamins and soap). They do slot Topco labels for drug (as described above), pet and paper products (finally consistent with Save Mart on those categories so they can pull from SSI).

I have seen a few instances where Raleys will do a widescale SKU cut to a given store. To give an example, there is a store in Sparks on Pyramid and McCarran. This used to be a very busy store. What felt like a 10 year roadwork project in front of the store (I think it was more like a 4 year road work project) absolutely killed business at the store for a number of years. This store is a big store and it was very heavily merchandised. After a year or two into the road work this store was in awful shape in terms of customer traffic and was having massive spoilage; they covered some of the produce cases up, pulled out aisles, didn't fill entire perimeter, and did major center store resets cutting out a ton of SKUs because the store no longer had the traffic to justify the mix it once had. Since the road work finally completed the store has been picking traffic up again and they have recovered most of the perimeter but so far center store is not yet what it once was, but even a cut center store mix at Raleys is more extensive than a Safeway center store mix.

Another store I've seen Raleys do widespread SKU cuts to is the store at Stateline at South Lake Tahoe (casino area). This store is basically a tourist snack and liquor store, not a place people go do full shops at. So this store also has gone through multiple widescale SKU cuts over the years.

So it is possible the store lake is referring to is doing something like re-segmenting itself (moving from a base model to a premium model, eliminating some Natural items since a ONE is opening nearby if it is in Roseville, etc.) or something has happened in a localized manner that is causing these changes.
I think there are going to be more changes in store if they wind up closing their remaining pharmacy locations, similar to the trajectory of Bi-Mart. Not sure if the Bashas acquisition changes things any for Raley's, however, I do not know how strong of a player they are in pharmacy any more.
Don't think raleys will bail out of the pharmacy business outright,some of their go-forward pharmacy locations (8389-91 Folsom,former miracle mart) don't have any pharmacy competition for more than a mile in any direction.

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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

bryceleinan wrote: June 4th, 2022, 5:22 pm
I think there are going to be more changes in store if they wind up closing their remaining pharmacy locations, similar to the trajectory of Bi-Mart. Not sure if the Bashas acquisition changes things any for Raley's, however, I do not know how strong of a player they are in pharmacy any more.
Raleys has really scaled back their pharmacy operation after closing a number of pharmacies (pretty clear where they chose to close the pharmacies- in the less affluent neighborhoods). They have also reduced hours of operation at the remaining pharmacies.

However Raleys pharmacy operation that is still going, is quite good. During the COVID period they did not administer COVID vaccines (they still did administer flu shots) when every other store did and this made for a much more smooth operation of the pharmacy during that time period when it was literal madness at the major pharmacy chains due to the increased demand on staff to administer COVID vaccines in addition to normal tasks. I think this also helped Raleys out with staff retention in the pharmacies as the stress level there never got anywhere close to the stress level seen at CVS/Walgreens.

To this day CVS/Walgreens have not recovered. This week alone in Reno multiple CVS Stores have posted signs of reduced pharmacy hours- like 10-6 M-F and 10-5 S-S, until further notice. Walgreens doesn't allow signs like that to be posted, instead you just go back and see if the pharmacy is open or not when you go into the store.

Raleys pharmacy fills prescriptions quickly and has efficient service. It is a much better experience than the chain drug stores. No comparison really. If your insurance is accepted there...
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

Raleys ONE in Reno has officially removed the "nutritionist" kiosk (this thing was rarely staffed). They have filled the space with various odd non food decor type items that are priced way too high and will not sell.

They also continue to do resets to add in more and more conventional products, which are now in spaces closer to waist-level and no longer segregated to just the bottom shelf.

The store continues to have very low traffic compared to every other surrounding store but it is probably doing more than double the volume it did at its worst at this time in 2021- Safeway is still absolutely crushing them.

Still waiting for these guys to convert this back to a normal Raleys and restore the full assortment. They can take all of the aisles they shortened in length and the ton of refrigeration space with ice and cold drinks and put actual relevant products back in those spaces, like they had BEFORE this store was converted to Raleys ONE and back when it was one of their highest profit stores before they ruined it by converting it to Raleys ONE.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by bryceleinan »

storewanderer wrote: July 17th, 2023, 9:49 pm Raleys ONE in Reno has officially removed the "nutritionist" kiosk (this thing was rarely staffed). They have filled the space with various odd non food decor type items that are priced way too high and will not sell.

They also continue to do resets to add in more and more conventional products, which are now in spaces closer to waist-level and no longer segregated to just the bottom shelf.

The store continues to have very low traffic compared to every other surrounding store but it is probably doing more than double the volume it did at its worst at this time in 2021- Safeway is still absolutely crushing them.

Still waiting for these guys to convert this back to a normal Raleys and restore the full assortment. They can take all of the aisles they shortened in length and the ton of refrigeration space with ice and cold drinks and put actual relevant products back in those spaces, like they had BEFORE this store was converted to Raleys ONE and back when it was one of their highest profit stores before they ruined it by converting it to Raleys ONE.
In the meantime, the Steamboat Safeway laughs all the way to the bank.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

bryceleinan wrote: July 23rd, 2023, 8:06 pm

In the meantime, the Steamboat Safeway laughs all the way to the bank.
And the two Safeways in El Dorado Hills (one also a brand new store).

Supposedly Raleys ONE is doing well in Roseville with its new build store though. I haven't gone to look at it yet.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

Evidently it was a great holiday season for the Raleys ONE in Reno.

They started in the past few days a major reset of the store. They have installed what looks like a "normal" Raleys cleaning supply aisle/laundry detergent aisle and a "normal" pet food aisle. They even have products like Tide (in orange bottles even) and Friskies Cat Food selling at EYE LEVEL. No more of that bottom shelf thing. It is really funny to see "new item" tags on so many very basic/common items, but it just highlights how stupid this ONE format was/is.

Not a lot of movement on the food aisles yet so I can't tell how extensive the reset there will be.

Supposedly the store is still going to be Raleys ONE, not shift back to a normal Raleys.

What does ONE even mean at this point? The Truckee one still operates with the banned ingredient list and doesn't run a weekly ad (it is excluded from the ONE ad). The Roseville one has a radically different perimeter program than the others have.

Amazing how they ruined what was a perfectly functioning store in Reno, super high volume, super high profit, waste money on ONE remodel that was not needed (store looks great though, but it looked great before too), and waste all this money on constantly changing marketing methods, resets, etc. Watching this and continuing to watch it have made me lose a lot of the positive perception I had of Raleys before they got into this ONE fiasco.

Slowly they are returning this Reno Store to being a normal Raleys again. I don't know why they can't just do a full reset, get back the products that were cut ALL AT ONCE (just like they cut them ALL AT ONCE, bring them back ALL AT ONCE), do a marketing campaign to the local zip code that the store is back to how it was before, and get their customers back once and for all.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by HCal »

storewanderer wrote: January 14th, 2024, 12:48 am Evidently it was a great holiday season for the Raleys ONE in Reno.

They started in the past few days a major reset of the store. They have installed what looks like a "normal" Raleys cleaning supply aisle/laundry detergent aisle and a "normal" pet food aisle. They even have products like Tide (in orange bottles even) and Friskies Cat Food selling at EYE LEVEL. No more of that bottom shelf thing. It is really funny to see "new item" tags on so many very basic/common items, but it just highlights how stupid this ONE format was/is.

Not a lot of movement on the food aisles yet so I can't tell how extensive the reset there will be.

Supposedly the store is still going to be Raleys ONE, not shift back to a normal Raleys.

What does ONE even mean at this point? The Truckee one still operates with the banned ingredient list and doesn't run a weekly ad (it is excluded from the ONE ad). The Roseville one has a radically different perimeter program than the others have.

Amazing how they ruined what was a perfectly functioning store in Reno, super high volume, super high profit, waste money on ONE remodel that was not needed (store looks great though, but it looked great before too), and waste all this money on constantly changing marketing methods, resets, etc. Watching this and continuing to watch it have made me lose a lot of the positive perception I had of Raleys before they got into this ONE fiasco.

Slowly they are returning this Reno Store to being a normal Raleys again. I don't know why they can't just do a full reset, get back the products that were cut ALL AT ONCE (just like they cut them ALL AT ONCE, bring them back ALL AT ONCE), do a marketing campaign to the local zip code that the store is back to how it was before, and get their customers back once and for all.
If they change it back, the media will report that the new format failed, which will make them look bad and possibly hurt sales at the other ONE locations. They might be better off just quietly turning it into a regular Raley's in all but name, which lets them save face. Hopefully word will spread locally about the new products, and they will slowly get customers back without drawing attention to the failure.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: January 14th, 2024, 2:46 am

If they change it back, the media will report that the new format failed, which will make them look bad and possibly hurt sales at the other ONE locations. They might be better off just quietly turning it into a regular Raley's in all but name, which lets them save face. Hopefully word will spread locally about the new products, and they will slowly get customers back without drawing attention to the failure.
They're leaving a lot of volume on the table for their pride following your logic. I guess as a private company they can do whatever they want but as far as I'm concerned this ONE format has NO future anywhere.

Word has already been spreading locally about items added back in and every time they add another chunk of new products back in, the store picks up some more traffic. But it is still nothing like it was before they ruined it. Before they ruined it, this store was so packed you could barely park. They had 4-6 registers open inside all day/into early evening plus a long line at self checkout. Now even before Christmas they were lucky to have 2 checkouts open and the self checkouts (lines were kind of long) since they've cut so much staffing in the store. I did see 4 registers open one day recently but it was brief and when I left they were back down to 2 registers again. One day recently I had an extended transaction at the deli and was standing there for 10-15 minutes; it was during peak hours and that entire time not one other customer patronized the service deli, bakery, coffee bar, or hot food bar areas, and only a couple people looked at the refrigerated/prepack areas of bakery/deli. Pre-conversion to ONE, that area would have had 15-20 customers alone during that time period.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by ClownLoach »

HCal wrote: January 14th, 2024, 2:46 am
storewanderer wrote: January 14th, 2024, 12:48 am Evidently it was a great holiday season for the Raleys ONE in Reno.

They started in the past few days a major reset of the store. They have installed what looks like a "normal" Raleys cleaning supply aisle/laundry detergent aisle and a "normal" pet food aisle. They even have products like Tide (in orange bottles even) and Friskies Cat Food selling at EYE LEVEL. No more of that bottom shelf thing. It is really funny to see "new item" tags on so many very basic/common items, but it just highlights how stupid this ONE format was/is.

Not a lot of movement on the food aisles yet so I can't tell how extensive the reset there will be.

Supposedly the store is still going to be Raleys ONE, not shift back to a normal Raleys.

What does ONE even mean at this point? The Truckee one still operates with the banned ingredient list and doesn't run a weekly ad (it is excluded from the ONE ad). The Roseville one has a radically different perimeter program than the others have.

Amazing how they ruined what was a perfectly functioning store in Reno, super high volume, super high profit, waste money on ONE remodel that was not needed (store looks great though, but it looked great before too), and waste all this money on constantly changing marketing methods, resets, etc. Watching this and continuing to watch it have made me lose a lot of the positive perception I had of Raleys before they got into this ONE fiasco.

Slowly they are returning this Reno Store to being a normal Raleys again. I don't know why they can't just do a full reset, get back the products that were cut ALL AT ONCE (just like they cut them ALL AT ONCE, bring them back ALL AT ONCE), do a marketing campaign to the local zip code that the store is back to how it was before, and get their customers back once and for all.
If they change it back, the media will report that the new format failed, which will make them look bad and possibly hurt sales at the other ONE locations. They might be better off just quietly turning it into a regular Raley's in all but name, which lets them save face. Hopefully word will spread locally about the new products, and they will slowly get customers back without drawing attention to the failure.
Sounds like it's going to be watered down just like the meaningless Fresh Fare moniker at Ralphs. About a net 5% SKU mix difference, maybe a few specialty produce/meat/seafood items, and different wall decor. They changed the sign to green, right? My guess is they'll change the sign back to red, and then at some point later the "One" letters will be unceremoniously removed overnight just like we are seeing Ralphs remove Fresh Fare letters now.
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Re: Raleys converting Reno Store to ONE Market Format

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: January 15th, 2024, 6:58 pm

Sounds like it's going to be watered down just like the meaningless Fresh Fare moniker at Ralphs. About a net 5% SKU mix difference, maybe a few specialty produce/meat/seafood items, and different wall decor. They changed the sign to green, right? My guess is they'll change the sign back to red, and then at some point later the "One" letters will be unceremoniously removed overnight just like we are seeing Ralphs remove Fresh Fare letters now.
At this point it is worse than a normal Raleys. They took away the nutritionist kiosk/ "Education" part of O-N-E. Sure they have Organics but Raleys has always had a heavy assortment of Organic products, they were the first major chain to start slotting in Organic produce out west back in the mid 90's and had Nutrition departments in their stores going back to the late 70's era "Superstore" format which none of the competitors in NorCal had.

Where this store lacks is since it still does not have the full assortment of typical products like a normal Raleys, they also don't put as much meat, bakery, deli, or produce out as the store did before so it is lacking in those areas too. Multiple bakery/deli items I have asked them for and get told "we don't carry that in this store anymore" or "we don't carry that in the ONE Stores" or similar. A few instances, the items I ask about seem to show up a couple weeks after I have a talk with store management about the missing items which I find interesting; they make no promise they will bring the item back but it seems to show back up, maybe just a coincidence.

At least as of last summer the 4 "ONE" Stores were in a separate district with a separate district manager from the other stores. Not sure if that changed.
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