Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

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rwsandiego
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: February 12th, 2022, 1:07 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: February 12th, 2022, 12:25 pm
Competition in the immediate area is a Whole Foods, a Vietnamese supermarket north of there a mile, a Trader Joe's 3 miles south, and a Stater Bros 2 miles west.
There is also an Albertsons a mile east on Edinger (mid 90's original Albertsons that got a Jewel remodel 15 or so years ago).

I kind of agree that CA's traditional supermarkets don't tailor stores well to ethnic neighborhoods, although there are exceptions- there are strong performing Albertsons stores in predominantly Hispanic areas, such as Chula Vista. That Chula Vista Albertsons (a former Lucky/Sav-on) is probably one of the most profitable Albertsons in the county. You have to give that store credit, as there is tough competition nearby, like Northgate and Carnival (which took over the Vons/Haggen down the street)
There has been something historically with Albertsons in SoCal making some serious attempts to keep stores going in neighborhoods where you would not expect them to survive. I'm not sure exactly what they have done in some of these locations to keep the stores viable but there seems to be something they do, differently than Vons, that keeps stores going in ethnic locations specifically Hispanic areas, that other chains would be unable to keep going. Tough to imagine they are benefiting from goodwill Lucky built with Hispanic customers in the 90's but I suppose it is possible.
I think it is a result of goodwill Albertsons built by keeping full-line stores in ethnic urban neighborhoods after other chains closed up shop. Chula Vista is one example. Prior to being required to divest stores during the Safeway merger Albertsons had several full-line, albeit old and small, stores in urban San Diego. Although they didn't remodel most of them for several years, they did clean them up from the Lucky days.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: February 12th, 2022, 10:33 pm

I think it is a result of goodwill Albertsons built by keeping full-line stores in ethnic urban neighborhoods after other chains closed up shop. Chula Vista is one example. Prior to being required to divest stores during the Safeway merger Albertsons had several full-line, albeit old and small, stores in urban San Diego. Although they didn't remodel most of them for several years, they did clean them up from the Lucky days.
It is interesting. Perhaps a combination of consistently having a moderately priced deli, above average mix of non food, those 10 for $10 sales they pushed hard, and a decent private label program did the trick to keep them relevant in these neighborhoods. Being they were the last "full line" grocer in some of these locations, I think helped them. The smaller store size may have actually helped too, as it enabled them to not do as high of a sales volume yet still run a profitable operation. That Chula Vista Store is a pretty large store and I remember being surprised how busy it was when I went into it (during the Haggen period when Haggen was open nearby).
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by luckysaver »

Albertsons (pre-Safeway merger) had a number of 80K jumbo sized stores, often branded as "Albertsons-Savon". Some of those buildings were ex-Smiths/Food4Less and others might have been converted out of their own Max Foods format or even Lucky-Savon. Those stores were HUGE - lots of aisle space to move around so they filled it with seasonal/general merchandise, video rental or Savon photo express (remember those departments?), a bank or credit union, etc. The Savon pharmacies are generally a bit bigger than the average in-store Savon/Osco pharmacies (800-1000 sq ft).

The Westminster Vons store is likely closing because there's an existing Albertsons on the western edge of the city that is pretty close by. According to a brief history on Pavilions, this was one of the very first locations, established during Vons' famed Bill Davila era when Vons operated several different formats (Vons/Vons Food & Drug/Vons Express Catalina, Pavilions/Pavilions Place, Expo, Tianguis, William Bros, The Pantry). I think Baldwin Park was their second location (currently Home Depot). The most prospective Asian market that might take its place could be Tawa 99 Ranch (they were founded in Westminster in 1984) but the latest calendar lists new stores in Eastvale (near Corona) and the UCLA area, however 99's "168 Market" banner could also be a possibility. If no Asian supermarket would move in, the space could either be a hispanic supermarket (El Super/Superior/Northgate), or be subdivided with a smaller supermarket moving in (such as Aldi, Trader Joes, or Grocery Outlet).

This might be a trend that Albertsons might be closing stores that too close to each other but again they often cite as a reason for closure as either lease expiration or in Kroger's case with 5 LA area stores, COVID hero pay. Currently, the South Pasadena Pavilions is getting a complete remodel and when finished, they could possibly close the Vons right across the street. In the Los Feliz area of LA City, the Albertsons-Savon on Hillhurst is pretty close to the Vons adjacent to Children's Hospital and it appears one of those stores might go (the hospital recently bought the Vons building and allowed Albertsons to continue to lease the building until they decide to close). But they currently have some exceptions - in Glendora, Albertsons is keeping both stores (an Albertsons-Savon on Route 66 and a newly remodeled Vons on Foothill) and in San Dimas (an old 1982 Vons on Via Verde and an Albertsons-Savon on Bonita).

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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by steps »

luckysaver wrote: February 13th, 2022, 2:20 am I think Baldwin Park was their second location (currently Home Depot).
Westminster was the 2nd store to open after Garden Grove in 86/87. I have an article somewhere showing only Garden Grove and the new Westminster location grand opening as the only 2 locations.

Pavilions has lost it's way since the Safeway buyout and that did not help it's reputation, even Vons has lost some of its reputation from the Safeway buyout. The Vons in Arcadia was a Pavilions but I don't understand the downgrade. The Arcadia store is very busy as Vons and I'm sure it was the same as a Pavilions. It's still a Pavilions on the inside.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by steps »

Bluelightspecial wrote: February 12th, 2022, 12:17 am Not really surprising. I believe it's been on the "watch list" for years. The location was never great and the initial Pavilions leases were notorious for being to high. Westminster opened as a new Pavilions.....most of those have closed or changed to "Vons" branding. Most of the successful Pavilions that are still open came after the Safeway buyout of Vons. Many are previous Safeway locations.....West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Woodland Hills, South Pasadena......I think there are only a few left that opened as Pavilions that are still Pavilions...Other than the Orange County ones that opened as Pavilions I can think of only Long Beach, Burbank and maybe Thousand Oaks. I'm really surprised the Long Beach location is still a Pavilions, If I had to bet I'd say that was the next to go.
It's the other way around. The Vons buyout of Safeway locations in 1988 brought them prime locations that were converted into Pavilions. I did some reach and there are 7 stores that are original Vons built locations. There are a few I'm not sure about, specifically the ones in Laguna Hills and New Port Beach. The remaining open Pavilions are all former Safeway and Pantry stores.

Culver City
Long Beach
Mission Viejo
Thousand Oaks
Burbank
Rancho Santa Margarita
West Hills

Long Beach is a massive store in a nice area but the Grocery Outlet near by throws me off. The Ralphs near by closed recently so maybe that will help with business.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by storewanderer »

steps wrote: February 13th, 2022, 10:50 am

Long Beach is a massive store in a nice area but the Grocery Outlet near by throws me off. The Ralphs near by closed recently so maybe that will help with business.
Grocery Outlet is opening in various location types. They go into locations that are in nice areas as well. They seem to be targeting that for their expansion. They do make some mix adjustments in nicer areas including a cheese island, additional wine/wine tasting, more floral, and larger mix of Natural/Organic. How it pans out long term remains to be seen. There seems to be a network of "nice" product that they can buy and run a closeout format with as well. It isn't just limited to over-runs and dented cans to be sold in low income neighborhoods like in the 80's. This is a chain that has really made some positive changes as it has expanded. Whether or not they keep it up remains to be seen, and the quality of the locations can really vary depending on the operator. If you get ones with a good operator they are a fantastic store. If you get a not so good operator it isn't great; but they seem to cycle those operators through. Still a couple in my area that are not run well but they did address one of those locations with an operator change and a relocation; just the relocation will be a huge help hopefully the new operator will actually want to run their store.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by klkla »

steps wrote: February 10th, 2022, 11:00 pm Word from employees the rent was raised to $90,000 a month and the store was making $350K a month.
$350,000 a week in sales sounds more likely, not monthly. It was never a great performing store and I'm actually surprised it lasted this long.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: February 13th, 2022, 7:33 pm
steps wrote: February 10th, 2022, 11:00 pm Word from employees the rent was raised to $90,000 a month and the store was making $350K a month.
$350,000 a week in sales sounds more likely, not monthly. It was never a great performing store and I'm actually surprised it lasted this long.
Could volume possibly be that low with an 80k square foot store and the sales bump that has come from COVID? If so I am also shocked it made it this long... looking at the photos on Google I don't see many customers... but I see full and fresh looking perimeter departments... lots of open space... there used to be a Round Table Pizza inside this store as a kiosk in open space near one of the doors, it appears to have closed before COVID. That is a big chunk of the open space.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by Bluelightspecial »

steps wrote: February 13th, 2022, 10:50 am
Bluelightspecial wrote: February 12th, 2022, 12:17 am Not really surprising. I believe it's been on the "watch list" for years. The location was never great and the initial Pavilions leases were notorious for being to high. Westminster opened as a new Pavilions.....most of those have closed or changed to "Vons" branding. Most of the successful Pavilions that are still open came after the Safeway buyout of Vons. Many are previous Safeway locations.....West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Woodland Hills, South Pasadena......I think there are only a few left that opened as Pavilions that are still Pavilions...Other than the Orange County ones that opened as Pavilions I can think of only Long Beach, Burbank and maybe Thousand Oaks. I'm really surprised the Long Beach location is still a Pavilions, If I had to bet I'd say that was the next to go.
It's the other way around. The Vons buyout of Safeway locations in 1988 brought them prime locations that were converted into Pavilions. I did some reach and there are 7 stores that are original Vons built locations. There are a few I'm not sure about, specifically the ones in Laguna Hills and New Port Beach. The remaining open Pavilions are all former Safeway and Pantry stores.

Culver City
Long Beach
Mission Viejo
Thousand Oaks
Burbank
Rancho Santa Margarita
West Hills

Long Beach is a massive store in a nice area but the Grocery Outlet near by throws me off. The Ralphs near by closed recently so maybe that will help with business.
Actually this is not correct. Culver City (in it's current location) opened as a Pavilions. Long Beach, Mission Viejo, Thousand Oaks & Rancho Santa Margarita opened as Pavilions, never Safeways. Burbank replaced a Vons across the street with a Pavilions. West Hills was a Safeway (originally a Thriftymart) The only Pavilions left that used to be a Pantry is in Pasadena. In Long Beach there has been a lot of high end competition near that Pavilions that has opened, including Whole Foods and Gelsons. Because the Long Beach store is in the 80K range, this is why If I had to guess it doesn't have much longer.
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Re: Vons Westminster, CA 16450 Beach Blvd

Post by CalItalian »

Bluelightspecial wrote: February 12th, 2022, 12:17 am Not really surprising. I believe it's been on the "watch list" for years. The location was never great and the initial Pavilions leases were notorious for being to high. Westminster opened as a new Pavilions.....most of those have closed or changed to "Vons" branding. Most of the successful Pavilions that are still open came after the Safeway buyout of Vons. Many are previous Safeway locations.....West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Woodland Hills, South Pasadena......I think there are only a few left that opened as Pavilions that are still Pavilions...Other than the Orange County ones that opened as Pavilions I can think of only Long Beach, Burbank and maybe Thousand Oaks. I'm really surprised the Long Beach location is still a Pavilions, If I had to bet I'd say that was the next to go.
Culver City was built as a Pavilions. It received a mini-remodel just before Albertsons takeover.
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