Albertsons announces strategic review of company

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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by marshd1000 »

Super S wrote: March 15th, 2022, 9:47 am
babs wrote: March 14th, 2022, 5:47 pm

Fred Meyer plus QFC makes Kroger #1 in market share in the Puget Sound market. Kroger and Albertsons are just about tied in the Portland market. I don't know where you are getting you info from that Albertsons is dominating. It's a lot closer than that. In northern California Kroger has no stores so that's obvious. I haven't checked recently but in Southern California I believe Kroger and Albertsons are close in market share there as well.
Outside of the larger metro areas, there are many areas where Albertsons and/or Safeway has stores, but Fred Meyer and QFC are nonexistent. Fred Meyer/QFC actually has no stores in Eastern Oregon, where Safeway and Albertsons have many. Safeway/Albertsons does have stores in many smaller towns in both Washington and Oregon and, by store count, has far more locations.
Actually Fred Meyer does have stores in Eastern Oregon. They are in The Dalles, Bend and Klamath Falls. But all of them are towards the western portion of Eastern Oregon. They are indeed missing in Pendleton, Hermiston, Baker City and Ontario. Probably all served by Albertons/Safeway.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by CalItalian »

Bagels wrote: March 14th, 2022, 2:06 pm
ClownLoach wrote: March 14th, 2022, 9:23 am
storewanderer wrote: March 13th, 2022, 9:54 pm

Well, on the west coast, Albertsons is the dominant competitor. You figure Albertsons is running close to 1,000 stores in CA/OR/WA. Kroger in those states has maybe 450 stores total? The QFCs barely count as a store most are very small. Also not even sure I'd consider F4L/FoodsCo a potential Amazon competitor so Kroger is really almost a non-factor against Amazon in the west. The west is also one of the few regions where Kroger has yet to even start constructing an Ocado site- they are claiming they have 4 sites on their way (2 in Pacific Northwest and 2 in SoCal) to be announced at a later date. Given how quick and eager they are to announce exact sites in places like Austin, Oklahoma City, and various other mid-US areas I am guessing based on the lack of saying where these specific sites are in the Pacific Northwest and in SoCal that said sites do not even exist yet and they are still attempting to find sites.
Yet those 450 or so Kroger units probably bring in more revenue than the 1000 Albertsons units on the West Coast.
Kroger crushes Albertsons in the Los Angeles-area, but Albertsons dominates most of the West. I haven’t looked in awhile, but I doubt much has changed: in the late 2010s, Abertsons bettered or equaled Kroger’s revenue per sq ft. They even surpassed Kroger in Las Vegas, which is pretty remarkable given that the Albertsons-branded locations were considered zombie stores for many years. Of course, they’re the 800 lb. Gorilla in NorCal.

In 2019, Kroger had 130 fewer stores in SoCal but greater market share. This is almost entirely Los Angeles - Albertsons betters Kroger in San Diego & both chains have largely given up on the Inland Empire and desert.

I’m sure Vons has some core stores around LA, but it’s noticeable in Orange County for example just how badly Albertsons performs. Very little traffic compared to Smith’s.
100% absolutely NOT TRUE that Albertsons/Vons has given up on the Inland Empire. I live in the Inland Empire. In the biggest growth area of the Inland Empire. Albertsons and Vons are thriving here. Of all chains during the pandemic, they are the ones that grew the most traffic and have kept it. Most every Albertsons and Vons in the Inland Empire has now been remodeled which started at the end of 2019 with the Lake Elsinore Albertsons. Do remember that Albertsons has been approved to build a new Pavilions in La Quinta, also.

Ralphs & Food 4 Less is a different story. They continue to miss out on the growth that has gone on in the Inland Empire especially during the pandemic. Their stores do well but they are far and few between. Kroger also seems to be the chain that is facing the most increased competition around their stores. In my city, Menifee, over the last few years, a new Sprouts opened last November, a new Barron's, a new Aldi, a new Stater Bros. and a newly remodeled & upgraded Super Target (which is currently partially being remodeled again after just two years) are all within one mile of the long standing Ralphs (which could use a remodel). In Perris, Food 4 Less is next door to a Walmart Supercenter and a newly built Aldi opened last November. In Murrieta, a proposed shopping center with unnamed grocery store is currently winding its way through the approval process within a mile of Ralphs.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by ClownLoach »

CalItalian wrote: March 15th, 2022, 10:50 am
Bagels wrote: March 14th, 2022, 2:06 pm
ClownLoach wrote: March 14th, 2022, 9:23 am

Yet those 450 or so Kroger units probably bring in more revenue than the 1000 Albertsons units on the West Coast.
Kroger crushes Albertsons in the Los Angeles-area, but Albertsons dominates most of the West. I haven’t looked in awhile, but I doubt much has changed: in the late 2010s, Abertsons bettered or equaled Kroger’s revenue per sq ft. They even surpassed Kroger in Las Vegas, which is pretty remarkable given that the Albertsons-branded locations were considered zombie stores for many years. Of course, they’re the 800 lb. Gorilla in NorCal.

In 2019, Kroger had 130 fewer stores in SoCal but greater market share. This is almost entirely Los Angeles - Albertsons betters Kroger in San Diego & both chains have largely given up on the Inland Empire and desert.

I’m sure Vons has some core stores around LA, but it’s noticeable in Orange County for example just how badly Albertsons performs. Very little traffic compared to Smith’s.
100% absolutely NOT TRUE that Albertsons/Vons has given up on the Inland Empire. I live in the Inland Empire. In the biggest growth area of the Inland Empire. Albertsons and Vons are thriving here. Of all chains during the pandemic, they are the ones that grew the most traffic and have kept it. Most every Albertsons and Vons in the Inland Empire has now been remodeled which started at the end of 2019 with the Lake Elsinore Albertsons. Do remember that Albertsons has been approved to build a new Pavilions in La Quinta, also.

Ralphs & Food 4 Less is a different story. They continue to miss out on the growth that has gone on in the Inland Empire especially during the pandemic. Their stores do well but they are far and few between. Kroger also seems to be the chain that is facing the most increased competition around their stores. In my city, Menifee, over the last few years, a new Sprouts opened last November, a new Barron's, a new Aldi, a new Stater Bros. and a newly remodeled & upgraded Super Target (which is currently partially being remodeled again after just two years) are all within one mile of the long standing Ralphs (which could use a remodel). In Perris, Food 4 Less is next door to a Walmart Supercenter and a newly built Aldi opened last November. In Murrieta, a proposed shopping center with unnamed grocery store is currently winding its way through the approval process within a mile of Ralphs.
I agree that every Vons or Albertsons I've seen in Riverside county has been newly remodeled and they're large format busy stores. Only one Vons that needs work and that's in Temecula with a Vons gas station - directly across the street from a nice large Albertsons. Not sure how that intersection missed the divestiture list. But they both seem to be busy enough that if they closed the Vons which seems older I think the Albertsons would become slammed beyond capacity. That Albertsons has a new full colorful lifestyle interior and reminds me of their better Las Vegas stores.

Only been in two Ralphs and they were lackluster at best. Saw a Menifee location that looks like a bootleg Ralphs with a sign that looks like the vinyl cutter wasn't working at the sign shop and the letters are twisted like the really old Denny's logo but nobody cared to reject the sign. Terrible branding. I have no doubt in conventional markets in IE Albertsons/Vons is likely 2nd to Stater Bros and Ralphs is very distant. Agree that Ralphs and Stater could combine out there and take the Stater brand without overlap I think.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by ClownLoach »

ClownLoach wrote: March 15th, 2022, 3:32 pm
CalItalian wrote: March 15th, 2022, 10:50 am
Bagels wrote: March 14th, 2022, 2:06 pm

Kroger crushes Albertsons in the Los Angeles-area, but Albertsons dominates most of the West. I haven’t looked in awhile, but I doubt much has changed: in the late 2010s, Abertsons bettered or equaled Kroger’s revenue per sq ft. They even surpassed Kroger in Las Vegas, which is pretty remarkable given that the Albertsons-branded locations were considered zombie stores for many years. Of course, they’re the 800 lb. Gorilla in NorCal.

In 2019, Kroger had 130 fewer stores in SoCal but greater market share. This is almost entirely Los Angeles - Albertsons betters Kroger in San Diego & both chains have largely given up on the Inland Empire and desert.

I’m sure Vons has some core stores around LA, but it’s noticeable in Orange County for example just how badly Albertsons performs. Very little traffic compared to Smith’s.
100% absolutely NOT TRUE that Albertsons/Vons has given up on the Inland Empire. I live in the Inland Empire. In the biggest growth area of the Inland Empire. Albertsons and Vons are thriving here. Of all chains during the pandemic, they are the ones that grew the most traffic and have kept it. Most every Albertsons and Vons in the Inland Empire has now been remodeled which started at the end of 2019 with the Lake Elsinore Albertsons. Do remember that Albertsons has been approved to build a new Pavilions in La Quinta, also.

Ralphs & Food 4 Less is a different story. They continue to miss out on the growth that has gone on in the Inland Empire especially during the pandemic. Their stores do well but they are far and few between. Kroger also seems to be the chain that is facing the most increased competition around their stores. In my city, Menifee, over the last few years, a new Sprouts opened last November, a new Barron's, a new Aldi, a new Stater Bros. and a newly remodeled & upgraded Super Target (which is currently partially being remodeled again after just two years) are all within one mile of the long standing Ralphs (which could use a remodel). In Perris, Food 4 Less is next door to a Walmart Supercenter and a newly built Aldi opened last November. In Murrieta, a proposed shopping center with unnamed grocery store is currently winding its way through the approval process within a mile of Ralphs.
I agree that every Vons or Albertsons I've seen in Riverside county has been newly remodeled and they're large format busy stores. Only one Vons that needs work and that's in Temecula with a Vons gas station - directly across the street from a nice large Albertsons. Not sure how that intersection missed the divestiture list. But they both seem to be busy enough that if they closed the Vons which seems older I think the Albertsons would become slammed beyond capacity. That Albertsons has a new full colorful lifestyle interior and reminds me of their better Las Vegas stores.

Only been in two Ralphs and they were lackluster at best. Saw a Menifee location that looks like a bootleg Ralphs with a sign that looks like the vinyl cutter wasn't working at the sign shop and the letters are twisted like the really old Denny's logo but nobody cared to reject the sign. Terrible branding. I have no doubt in conventional markets in IE Albertsons/Vons is likely 2nd to Stater Bros and Ralphs is very distant. Agree that Ralphs and Stater could combine out there and take the Stater brand without overlap I think.
Actually I haven't done a lot of comparison but I think Albertsons/Vons is running lower prices in Riverside County vs OC/LA areas too. I think their volumes must be higher than OC/LA area stores too. They are always busy with full staffing on all the registers when I'm out there on the weekends and I can't say the same in OC. Meat stacked high in the cases and fresh vs the same three ribeye steaks that sit for days in OC.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by Super S »

marshd1000 wrote: March 15th, 2022, 10:22 am

Actually Fred Meyer does have stores in Eastern Oregon. They are in The Dalles, Bend and Klamath Falls. But all of them are towards the western portion of Eastern Oregon. They are indeed missing in Pendleton, Hermiston, Baker City and Ontario. Probably all served by Albertons/Safeway.
I guess they could be Eastern in a sense as they are east of the Cascades. But that area is considered by most as Central Oregon. I always thought it was a little strange though that Fred Meyer has so little coverage in Eastern Oregon when you consider they started in Oregon, but they have stores in Idaho.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by Bagels »

CalItalian wrote: March 15th, 2022, 10:50 am]100% absolutely NOT TRUE that Albertsons/Vons has given up on the Inland Empire. I live in the Inland Empire. In the biggest growth area of the Inland Empire. Albertsons and Vons are thriving here. Of all chains during the pandemic, they are the ones that grew the most traffic and have kept it. Most every Albertsons and Vons in the Inland Empire has now been remodeled which started at the end of 2019 with the Lake Elsinore Albertsons. Do remember that Albertsons has been approved to build a new Pavilions in La Quinta, also.

Ralphs & Food 4 Less is a different story. They continue to miss out on the growth that has gone on in the Inland Empire especially during the pandemic. Their stores do well but they are far and few between. Kroger also seems to be the chain that is facing the most increased competition around their stores. In my city, Menifee, over the last few years, a new Sprouts opened last November, a new Barron's, a new Aldi, a new Stater Bros. and a newly remodeled & upgraded Super Target (which is currently partially being remodeled again after just two years) are all within one mile of the long standing Ralphs (which could use a remodel). In Perris, Food 4 Less is next door to a Walmart Supercenter and a newly built Aldi opened last November. In Murrieta, a proposed shopping center with unnamed grocery store is currently winding its way through the approval process within a mile of Ralphs.
They may be hanging onto some incumbent locations, but during the heavy growth period of the IE, both chains waived the white flag to Stater Bros; I'm pretty sure SB has more stores than Albertsons/ Vons/ Ralphs/ F4L combined. Kroger's store count (which is about the same as Albertsons IIRC) in the IE is less than half of that of Metro Atlanta or Metro Detroit - both of which have similar populations. And Albertsons/Kroger have both closed locations in recent years... several of which later became SB.
storewanderer wrote: March 14th, 2022, 6:46 pmWhere have you seen that Smiths is lower market share than Albertsons in Las Vegas?
I was using sales per sq ft, not market share. Albertsons passed Kroger in this metric several years ago, and planned additional stores, which forced Kroger to pour additional resources into the market (including several new build stores, in an era in which new store growth is otherwise stagnant). This should have never happened - in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the Albertsons-bannered stores performed so poorly, they were expected to close. I recall a LVRJ article from the early 2010s in which a local expert predicted Kroger would acquire the Albertsons-banned stores (which wouldn't face regulatory hurdles, due to poor sales), and would keep the best of Smiths / F4L / Albertsons, ultimately rebranding the consolidated chain under the Kroger name (he noted that many loyal Kroger shoppers that moved to LV didn't recognize Smith's as part of the chain). He also thought that Safeway would close the Vons locations by mid-decade, as the stores skewed older and had yet to see renovation. Of course, they later accelerated the Lifestyles concept and even planned an additional store or two.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by CalItalian »

Bagels wrote: March 16th, 2022, 7:23 am
CalItalian wrote: March 15th, 2022, 10:50 am]100% absolutely NOT TRUE that Albertsons/Vons has given up on the Inland Empire. I live in the Inland Empire. In the biggest growth area of the Inland Empire. Albertsons and Vons are thriving here. Of all chains during the pandemic, they are the ones that grew the most traffic and have kept it. Most every Albertsons and Vons in the Inland Empire has now been remodeled which started at the end of 2019 with the Lake Elsinore Albertsons. Do remember that Albertsons has been approved to build a new Pavilions in La Quinta, also.

Ralphs & Food 4 Less is a different story. They continue to miss out on the growth that has gone on in the Inland Empire especially during the pandemic. Their stores do well but they are far and few between. Kroger also seems to be the chain that is facing the most increased competition around their stores. In my city, Menifee, over the last few years, a new Sprouts opened last November, a new Barron's, a new Aldi, a new Stater Bros. and a newly remodeled & upgraded Super Target (which is currently partially being remodeled again after just two years) are all within one mile of the long standing Ralphs (which could use a remodel). In Perris, Food 4 Less is next door to a Walmart Supercenter and a newly built Aldi opened last November. In Murrieta, a proposed shopping center with unnamed grocery store is currently winding its way through the approval process within a mile of Ralphs.
They may be hanging onto some incumbent locations, but during the heavy growth period of the IE, both chains waived the white flag to Stater Bros; I'm pretty sure SB has more stores than Albertsons/ Vons/ Ralphs/ F4L combined. Kroger's store count (which is about the same as Albertsons IIRC) in the IE is less than half of that of Metro Atlanta or Metro Detroit - both of which have similar populations. And Albertsons/Kroger have both closed locations in recent years... several of which later became SB.
storewanderer wrote: March 14th, 2022, 6:46 pmWhere have you seen that Smiths is lower market share than Albertsons in Las Vegas?
I was using sales per sq ft, not market share. Albertsons passed Kroger in this metric several years ago, and planned additional stores, which forced Kroger to pour additional resources into the market (including several new build stores, in an era in which new store growth is otherwise stagnant). This should have never happened - in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the Albertsons-bannered stores performed so poorly, they were expected to close. I recall a LVRJ article from the early 2010s in which a local expert predicted Kroger would acquire the Albertsons-banned stores (which wouldn't face regulatory hurdles, due to poor sales), and would keep the best of Smiths / F4L / Albertsons, ultimately rebranding the consolidated chain under the Kroger name (he noted that many loyal Kroger shoppers that moved to LV didn't recognize Smith's as part of the chain). He also thought that Safeway would close the Vons locations by mid-decade, as the stores skewed older and had yet to see renovation. Of course, they later accelerated the Lifestyles concept and even planned an additional store or two.
FYI, in my general area, only Vons Hemet & Vons Lake Elsinore have been closed since home building started to kick back up after the 2008 crisis. Dating back to late 2014, Vons Hemet closed. Hemet is a city many companies have vacated for some obvious reasons if you know anything about the city. Vons Lake Elsinore on Grape Street closed in 2018. The Walmart in the same center also closed last year and moved two exits north as a new supercenter. The entire center has just a handful of stores & mostly fast food restaurants, no anchor tenants, remaining. It's right at the center of the newly moved exit for I-15 Northbound so hopefully someone takes over at least one of two large spaces. So far, and the city of Lake Elsinore made it a requirement for Walmart to shop their space for approval to move, no bites.

Going a little further north, a Riverside Vons closed in 2015. This is 2022.

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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by Knight »

arizonaguy wrote: March 9th, 2022, 8:29 am Another article suggests underperforming divisions might be sold:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/acme-albert ... U5PELydwec

My 2 cents is that an Albertsons / Ahold Delhaize merger makes perfect sense with Albertsons offloading its Mid Atlantic and Northeastern stores (The Giants and Stop and Shop are much stronger than Safeway Eastern / Acme / Shaw's). The Food Lion concept could also then be expanded nationwide in stores that no longer warrant the full "full service" offering.

Albertsons / Ahold Delhaize would be #1 or 2 on good parts of the East and West coasts, Chicago, and the Intermountain West. The Mid Atlantic / Northeastern stores would be a good fit for Publix, Kroger or some of the European grocers (Aldi, Lidl).
Albertson's and Ahold Delhaize combining would be interesting. Albertson's would have to divest Acme, Safeway,, and Shaw's/Star Market as Ahold Delhaize has Giant (Landover, Maryland), Giant/Martin's (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) Hannaford, and Stop & Shop.,

If something is broken, it needs to be fixed before it expands. Food Lion is constantly broken. It has not fixed itself internally.

Publix Super Markets could have interest in Safeway and Acme stores in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Virginia is an existing state for Publix to further expand beyond its 19 retail locations.

Could limited assortment/discount grocers Aldi and Lidl consider entering the supermarket segment of food retailing?
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by pseudo3d »

Bagels wrote: March 16th, 2022, 7:23 am I was using sales per sq ft, not market share. Albertsons passed Kroger in this metric several years ago, and planned additional stores, which forced Kroger to pour additional resources into the market (including several new build stores, in an era in which new store growth is otherwise stagnant). This should have never happened - in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the Albertsons-bannered stores performed so poorly, they were expected to close. I recall a LVRJ article from the early 2010s in which a local expert predicted Kroger would acquire the Albertsons-banned stores (which wouldn't face regulatory hurdles, due to poor sales), and would keep the best of Smiths / F4L / Albertsons, ultimately rebranding the consolidated chain under the Kroger name (he noted that many loyal Kroger shoppers that moved to LV didn't recognize Smith's as part of the chain). He also thought that Safeway would close the Vons locations by mid-decade, as the stores skewed older and had yet to see renovation. Of course, they later accelerated the Lifestyles concept and even planned an additional store or two.
From what I've seen, the Albertsons banner seems to do better in LV than Vons these days. One of the locations that Safeway was building as Vons (put on hold during the recession and remained a half-built shell) eventually was finished and opened as an Albertsons, not as Vons.
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Re: Albertsons announces strategic review of company

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: March 16th, 2022, 8:32 pm
Bagels wrote: March 16th, 2022, 7:23 am I was using sales per sq ft, not market share. Albertsons passed Kroger in this metric several years ago, and planned additional stores, which forced Kroger to pour additional resources into the market (including several new build stores, in an era in which new store growth is otherwise stagnant). This should have never happened - in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the Albertsons-bannered stores performed so poorly, they were expected to close. I recall a LVRJ article from the early 2010s in which a local expert predicted Kroger would acquire the Albertsons-banned stores (which wouldn't face regulatory hurdles, due to poor sales), and would keep the best of Smiths / F4L / Albertsons, ultimately rebranding the consolidated chain under the Kroger name (he noted that many loyal Kroger shoppers that moved to LV didn't recognize Smith's as part of the chain). He also thought that Safeway would close the Vons locations by mid-decade, as the stores skewed older and had yet to see renovation. Of course, they later accelerated the Lifestyles concept and even planned an additional store or two.
From what I've seen, the Albertsons banner seems to do better in LV than Vons these days. One of the locations that Safeway was building as Vons (put on hold during the recession and remained a half-built shell) eventually was finished and opened as an Albertsons, not as Vons.
I am highly doubtful Albertsons has higher per square foot sales in Las Vegas than Smiths based on what I have seen of the stores in both chains. The only way that is possible is if Smiths Stores are that much larger (I don't think they are), or there are serious performance issues with the F4L conversions (this may be it but my observation is they have a lot of foot traffic and appear to have higher per basket sales than F4L had).

As far as the performance of Albertsons under Supervalu in Las Vegas, they still had a number of 00's build stores in various newer parts of Las Vegas/Henderson that were performing well even under Supervalu despite everything that was going wrong (similar to how the central coast Albertsons still looked pretty good at that point in time). The converted Lucky stores in the center core of Las Vegas suffered significantly under Supervalu; many ethnic stores had opened, Kroger was going at them with both Smiths and F4L, it was a very competitive environment.

As for Vons in Las Vegas, Vons never did great there, but Safeway completely ran it into the ground.

I think Vons was around 20 stores in Las Vegas/Henderson in 2000.

The Vons on Durango, Windmill (LV), Windmill (H), Horizon Ridge all have the first generation Lifestyle interior.
The Vons on Twain, Sky Point, and Desert Inn never even got Lifestyle remodels (they had the last interior prior to Lifestyle).
The Vons at Anthem Village which I believe Safeway built was built with the later Lifestyle interior.
The Vons on Tropicana is a Cardboard Lifestyle store.

In 2021, Albertsons has done a couple of remodels to Vons units but kept them named Vons:
fairly extensive remodel into Florida package for Anthem Village
low budget remodel for Sky Point

I think the Twain, Sky Point, and Desert Inn Vons were opened right around the time the Lifestyle program got going. So it is possible those never got remodeled because they would be "last on the list" for a remodel and performance of the market was so bad for Safeway that by the time those should have been remodeled, they opted to just not remodel them. Desert Inn, in particular, is a quite attractive looking store and I think it performs okay. It has an exposed ceiling and the interior is very nicely done. Twain is a dog store in the wrong location and Sky Point it appears to me they did a cheap remodel to see if they can save the store.

Safeway did not do any Lifestyle remodels in Las Vegas in the 10's so I am not sure what was accelerated there. Other than perhaps store closures. So I am not sure what you mean as acceleration of the Lifestyle concept. At the time Albertsons got Las Vegas basically only 2/3 of the stores were even Lifestyle stores (and I am generously including Cardboard Tropicana as a Lifestyle store- I shouldn't include it) and most just first generation lifestyle. This was a very low rate as at the time of the merger with Albertsons over 90% of the store base had a lifestyle remodel. While there was an odd pockets like Southeast Colorado where most stores were not lifestyle stores, other than that, you'd find a few non-lifestyle stores here and there around VA, OR, or CA, but if you looked it at on a division basis every division was well over 90% lifestyle stores.

I see little reason for the Vons banner to exist in Las Vegas given its perpetual failures in the market and low store count. If they were a unique format it would be one thing. But they are not. Given the stores are run by Southwest Division, they aren't even a real Vons Store comparable to what someone from SoCal would expect who is used to SoCal Vons. They are basically the same as the Albertsons in the market, but require a club card for sale pricing, and called Vons. 6 of the stores are long overdue for remodels at this point and maybe that is part of why they keep them as Vons. Maybe they will get them all remodeled then do a conversion to Albertsons. Not sure Tropicana or Twain are worthy of the Albertsons banner. Would like to see Twain converted to Lucky format similar to what is being done in Utah- might be viable- but warehouse/hard discount formats don't seem to catch on too well in Las Vegas and often fail fast (Food Source failed so fast in 1999 if you blinked you missed it, same for Mega, Save a Lot, Grocery Outlet, etc.).
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