Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by ClownLoach »

Romr123 wrote: May 10th, 2022, 5:56 am One more thing--it's interesting that of the "low-to-middle-brow" grocers of the 90s that really only Stater and Market Basket (New England) are thriving--really the rest of the comparative set (Food Lion/Winn-Dixie) really faded away. The Southeast is scarcely a low-growth environment (but it is a low-income environment--perhaps that's the distinction...income levels of the population).
I never thought of Stater as intentionally low end because of their strong focus on service meat and seafood. Their challenge was that they owned most of their real estate but it consisted of small stores about 10 aisles across built in the 1960's that did not have room for modern amenities such as service bakery. So their real estate was low end. But the various mergers have been a godsend for them. They acquired many larger divested Albertsons and Lucky stores in that merger, then they have slowly picked up closed Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons one at a time. Outside of their stronghold in San Bernardino County I would estimate at least half of their stores were built by a competitor and these acquired stores hover around 45,000 square feet for about double the footage of their older locations. They also were first to land in New growing communities in the IE such as French Valley, Wildomar, etc. and when they do have a chance to relocate one of their older smaller boxes they don't hesitate to do it. They also have quietly been redoing those old 10 aisle stores when they can't expand and otherwise do good business; a good example is in Buena Park where they put a complete new storefront on one so it looks modern and current despite being at least 50 years old.
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by veteran+ »

Romr123 wrote: May 10th, 2022, 5:37 am I think Vons/Albertsons, though, is carving out the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs to Indio/Coachella) and running the pricy coastal program there...the prices are silly high. Stater's been doing a pretty good job of differentiating Palm Springs (as glitzy as it gets for them) from Cat City (perfectly nice but not quite as glitzy). The bigger issue is familiarity, as you say. They probably could squeeze another store into Palm Springs in the old Stein Mart center near the turn of Palm Canyon (probably when the new condos/housing development are in---apparently the location for Cody Place condos was a Mayfair back in the day as mentioned in a different thread).
That Stein Mart was a Ralphs (I believe a test store for the "Fresh Fare" format) before (quite beautiful).
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: May 11th, 2022, 7:28 am
Romr123 wrote: May 10th, 2022, 5:37 am I think Vons/Albertsons, though, is carving out the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs to Indio/Coachella) and running the pricy coastal program there...the prices are silly high. Stater's been doing a pretty good job of differentiating Palm Springs (as glitzy as it gets for them) from Cat City (perfectly nice but not quite as glitzy). The bigger issue is familiarity, as you say. They probably could squeeze another store into Palm Springs in the old Stein Mart center near the turn of Palm Canyon (probably when the new condos/housing development are in---apparently the location for Cody Place condos was a Mayfair back in the day as mentioned in a different thread).
That Stein Mart was a Ralphs (I believe a test store for the "Fresh Fare" format) before (quite beautiful).
Stater could probably make a go of it in that location.

I wonder how Stein Mart did. It seems like Palm Springs would have been an excellent location for Stein Mart's products and concept. Too bad there is nothing like Stein Mart that could have moved in there.
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by veteran+ »

storewanderer wrote: May 11th, 2022, 11:14 pm
veteran+ wrote: May 11th, 2022, 7:28 am
Romr123 wrote: May 10th, 2022, 5:37 am I think Vons/Albertsons, though, is carving out the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs to Indio/Coachella) and running the pricy coastal program there...the prices are silly high. Stater's been doing a pretty good job of differentiating Palm Springs (as glitzy as it gets for them) from Cat City (perfectly nice but not quite as glitzy). The bigger issue is familiarity, as you say. They probably could squeeze another store into Palm Springs in the old Stein Mart center near the turn of Palm Canyon (probably when the new condos/housing development are in---apparently the location for Cody Place condos was a Mayfair back in the day as mentioned in a different thread).
That Stein Mart was a Ralphs (I believe a test store for the "Fresh Fare" format) before (quite beautiful).
Stater could probably make a go of it in that location.

I wonder how Stein Mart did. It seems like Palm Springs would have been an excellent location for Stein Mart's products and concept. Too bad there is nothing like Stein Mart that could have moved in there.
Stein Mart did NOT perform well there at all.

I lived 2 blocks away and I do not believe that would work for Staters.
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by Romr123 »

It was not a very visible Stein Mart, as the orientation was perpendicular to Palm Cyn Drive with parking in front. I'm only thinking with Cody Place condos right next to the wash and the new housing development on the other side of Palm Cyn up against the mountain there's going to be a bunch more households in proximity where it would be the closest supermarket (I really do hate the two Ralphs on Sunrise, as I've said before).
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by veteran+ »

Romr123 wrote: May 12th, 2022, 12:15 pm It was not a very visible Stein Mart, as the orientation was perpendicular to Palm Cyn Drive with parking in front. I'm only thinking with Cody Place condos right next to the wash and the new housing development on the other side of Palm Cyn up against the mountain there's going to be a bunch more households in proximity where it would be the closest supermarket (I really do hate the two Ralphs on Sunrise, as I've said before).
Exactly!

I think Trader Joes, Sprouts or Whole Foods. The area is upscale enough for that.
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by Romr123 »

Whole Foods or Sprouts would be an interesting addition to the west side of the valley...
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by klkla »

veteran+ wrote: May 11th, 2022, 7:28 am That Stein Mart was a Ralphs (I believe a test store for the "Fresh Fare" format) before (quite beautiful).
Indeed it was. It was a beautiful store way ahead of it's time but that area was not ready for it. That area was very tourist centric back them with a lot of hotels and motels and not a lot of full-time residents to support it. They were smart to take the old Vons down the street when Vons and Safeway merged. Safeway decided to keep their store and convert it to a Vons but the store Ralphs took is in a better location and does more business even if it is a lot older than the other two stores.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8045488 ... 384!8i8192
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Re: Stater Bros. New Decor - back to the 80s?

Post by storewanderer »

https://www.supermarketnews.com/executi ... -president

And this type of promotion is exactly why Stater keeps ticking along successfully. Someone who started as a bagger, was a store manager in the 1999 Lucky/Albertsons divest mess, and kept moving around after being promoted above store level at Stater into various positions.

While competitors go around hiring people from other retailers, some who didn't even spend their full career in retail, to fill these positions, you have in the case of Stater promoting someone who has spent their entire career in the region and involved with the stores.

It is no wonder this is the only conventional chain that is growing in SoCal. It is the only one with a strong bench of talent who has experience in the market.
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