Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. No non-grocery posts.
Post Reply
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by storewanderer »

Not clear what is happening with the facility but they are auctioning off some equipment.
Some real interesting equipment, most of it looks brand new/never used.

I think this the thing that sits in the former Kmart on Parkcenter.
https://www.proxibid.com/SAM-Auctions/A ... log/220512
Romr123
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 693
Joined: February 1st, 2021, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 56 times
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by Romr123 »

Odd that ABS would own the equipment to sell--if I were Electrolux/Stoelting/... I'd be slavering to get my equipment in their new specification for stores, but I'd provide the equipment on-spec...to be returned if not chosen.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by storewanderer »

Romr123 wrote: April 16th, 2022, 6:16 am Odd that ABS would own the equipment to sell--if I were Electrolux/Stoelting/... I'd be slavering to get my equipment in their new specification for stores, but I'd provide the equipment on-spec...to be returned if not chosen.
I wonder what the situation is. A lot of this equipment looks brand new. Top of the line stuff for sure. You would think somewhere in Albertsons it would be useful, but it must be that the prospect of finding placement for then transporting dozens of pieces of equipment all over the US isn't cost effective for them.
Romr123
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 693
Joined: February 1st, 2021, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 56 times
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by Romr123 »

The issue with much of the cooking equipment is that it needs to be programmed to cook whatever it's intended to make; and ABS doesn't necessarily have the expertise to readily create that programming. For example, the ovens used at Starbucks/Subway/... receive specific programming to, for example, toast a bagel or warm a croissant or heat up a slice of lemon cake. These each have different combinations of microwave, convection, steam, infrared and impingement to get the desired result (and handle the differing quantities; which aren't directly multiplicative). The fast fooders have squads of chefs and food scientists both on-staff and on contract to optimize and create the programming to generate the desired results time after time.

ABS doesn't really have that expertise (it's not a product or category management role) , and doing one-off programming just isn't their jam. I worked for about 3 years in the quality department of KFC as a mystery shopper out in the field at corporate locations nationwide. One assignment I had was to get 50 individual orders of red beans and rice from Popeyes (10 cups from 5 locations) as KFC wanted to see what was being served to reverse-engineer the product. I chased all around Atlanta to get these orders; assembled them, froze them and sent them in. Some of the things they were looking at: fat content and composition (butter/lard/vegetable); pepper level (and type: piperine (black) capsaicin (red) etc etc.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by storewanderer »

Romr123 wrote: April 16th, 2022, 8:23 pm

One assignment I had was to get 50 individual orders of red beans and rice from Popeyes (10 cups from 5 locations) as KFC wanted to see what was being served to reverse-engineer the product. I chased all around Atlanta to get these orders; assembled them, froze them and sent them in. Some of the things they were looking at: fat content and composition (butter/lard/vegetable); pepper level (and type: piperine (black) capsaicin (red) etc etc.
Most of Popeyes recipies and products, including the red beans and rice (but excluding the new chicken sandwich...), come from a separate company owned by the founder Al Copeland's family. I was under the understanding the red beans and rice were just a pre-made product with a spice packet mix in, and I've found them to be quite consistent. The proportion of red beans to rice seems to be where the inconsistency comes in, also sometimes the red beans are waterier than other times. When I went to Hong Kong I learned there was a Popeyes in the airport and one of the first things I did upon arrival half asleep was finding the Popeyes and ordering a cup of Red Beans and Rice to see if it tasted the same as the one in the US (didn't order anything else), and interestingly the Red Beans part was dead on in flavor and texture, but the rice there was different (more sticky, less buttery).

KFC's sides are terrible. Whatever reverse engineering they did to the items in the current line up, didn't work out. KFC other than the bone-in chicken and the chicken sandwiches which are quite solid, is pretty terrible. Even their chicken strips are lousy (seem to be very rubbery now) and biscuit tastes off, also the "honey sauce" is so low quality it basically ruins the biscuit. At least the "honey sauce" at Popeyes, actually has enough honey in it to taste like honey. Or go to Chickfila where they still give out packets of real honey. The one at KFC may as well just be called liquid sugar.

But the Reno KFC franchisee (locations were so low volume they looked like they were barely staying afloat) did so well during COVID (since they actually had their locations open as surrounding fast food places kept closing early or not opening various days), they just bought a block of locations in OK and KS. So there is that. Being open certainly made me go to KFC quite a few times the past couple years when I would have preferred something else.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3851
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: April 16th, 2022, 1:45 am Not clear what is happening with the facility but they are auctioning off some equipment.
Some real interesting equipment, most of it looks brand new/never used.

I think this the thing that sits in the former Kmart on Parkcenter.
https://www.proxibid.com/SAM-Auctions/A ... log/220512
I think it was specifically done in a former Gordmans (that took up half of the store) and apparently some fixtures remain...the "Guest Services" hanging signage in the first pic is neither from Kmart nor Albertsons; however, from old Google Street View, Gordmans took the right side, the side that ABS Innovation later took was the left side (vacant when Gordmans was still active).

It's possible that a new tenant has leased the entire former Kmart and ABS Innovation is being booted from it.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by Super S »

This building, to the best of my knowledge, was supposed to be a "test" area for Albertsons. It is entirely possible they brought equipment in to evaluate here, before rolling it out to stores.

With that said, a couple things could be going on, keeping in mind that Albertsons headquarters is just down the road.

Albertsons might have held the lease in case the "Market Street" format rolled out in Meridian took off. However, I do believe the adjacent Albertsons was remodeled fairly recently, so I am not sure about that. But with the Broadway store also not far away from HQ, it's possible.

Albertsons might also attempt another format altogether, and it would certainly have the space to experiment with different layouts etc. and could work as a "test" store, if open to the public.

I would not rule out another retailer moving in. Target comes to mind, and reportedly has looked at the former Shopko on Broadway and is considering a location on this end of town. Keep in mind this did start life as a Kmart.

It would make more sense to me to have a store here bringing money in, but Albertsons might be spending enough here to justify the current situation.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Albertsons "Innovation" Center

Post by storewanderer »

Albertsons also added a top of the line gas station and convenience store to the parking lot at this store. It seems like it would make sense to have the current store either expanded or significantly renovated into something at the level of the Market Street unit or Broadway unit.
Post Reply