New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by veteran+ »

CalItalian wrote: September 29th, 2022, 1:53 pm
storewanderer wrote: September 24th, 2022, 9:31 pm
CalItalian wrote: September 24th, 2022, 9:19 pm I have cable & pretty much every tv streaming app. I haven't seen Ralphs lately on L.A. tv but I have on both Pluto & Roku channels. They may have moved more of their advertising budget to streaming. One caveat, my local Ralphs in Menifee just completed a complete remodel & had a Grand Re-Opening two weeks ago. Streaming is targeted advertising so possibly that's why I'm seeing Ralphs ads. But they aren't localized.
How did the remodel come out? Did they improve anything or just redecorate?
I thought Vons remodels were crappy. This takes the cake. Nothing was moved around. Lot of new paint, signage & they repolished the hideous concrete floors. Checkstands, self-checkout untouched. There was a Union Bank that closed over a year ago on the left side of the store next to the bakery & all they did was put up a low bank of refrigerated drinks. One aisle was taken out near the right side of the store to make a large aisle with bins.

One of the most disappointing remodels I've ever seen. Ralphs Murrieta, which was remodeled in late 2019, is a much nicer store.

There is no pharmacy at all in this large shopping center (previously a Target & Sav-on were in this center decades ago - now a Living Spaces & Ross) & they didn't even add that.

See my photos on Yelp. I uploaded them just now. Over 30 photos.

https://yelp.to/SACkNnK6Itb
I agree 100%..........................................ugly ugly ugly!

It looks like all the Ralphs in my neighborhood, but add worn out, dirty and in disrepair (I live in the Beverly Hils - West Hollywood area).
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by storewanderer »

CalItalian wrote: September 29th, 2022, 1:53 pm I thought Vons remodels were crappy. This takes the cake. Nothing was moved around. Lot of new paint, signage & they repolished the hideous concrete floors. Checkstands, self-checkout untouched. There was a Union Bank that closed over a year ago on the left side of the store next to the bakery & all they did was put up a low bank of refrigerated drinks. One aisle was taken out near the right side of the store to make a large aisle with bins.

One of the most disappointing remodels I've ever seen. Ralphs Murrieta, which was remodeled in late 2019, is a much nicer store.

There is no pharmacy at all in this large shopping center (previously a Target & Sav-on were in this center decades ago - now a Living Spaces & Ross) & they didn't even add that.

See my photos on Yelp. I uploaded them just now. Over 30 photos.

https://yelp.to/SACkNnK6Itb
I think this is on an equal level with the bad Safeway remodels that don't touch the floors. I was just in Sparks last night and noticing how the damaged all over/coming up Lifestyle floors around service deli/refrigerated solid dairy look quite awful against brighter lights and the Florida decor.

I wonder if they have a lease restriction against having a pharmacy.

This Ralphs- terrible. Great photos you took though. Terrible merchandising too. Looks like a downscale Smiths. The produce department looks okay. The rest of it- just- terrible. I cannot believe after two attempts to refinish the floor that it still shows glue marks all over the place from the old tile floor. Really- just put back in a tile floor or plank or whatever. It would make this place look infinitely better. The top shelves are for storage of excess inventory, they've done this at Smiths too. That is an old Safeway program from the 90's/00's to reduce out of stocks and works great. The painted decals on the floor like the ones in front of seafood are a first, I don't know where that idea came from but they take tacky to a new level of tacky, reminds me of when Raleys in the early 00's put special floor tiles in taking the space of like 8 tiles, with a big Q that said "enhancing the quality of life" or something- they removed them all when they changed their slogan....

I've been shopping more at Smiths lately for price reasons and it is interesting one store I shop in still has tile floors and fairly wide aisles and I still enjoy the atmosphere there. Another one I go to, has cement floors, narrow aisles, awful use of space throughout, and once I am past the bakery/deli/produce area (which is nice and spacious), I just want OUT of there; it is dreary and miserable.
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by CalItalian »

storewanderer wrote: September 29th, 2022, 9:31 pm
CalItalian wrote: September 29th, 2022, 1:53 pm I thought Vons remodels were crappy. This takes the cake. Nothing was moved around. Lot of new paint, signage & they repolished the hideous concrete floors. Checkstands, self-checkout untouched. There was a Union Bank that closed over a year ago on the left side of the store next to the bakery & all they did was put up a low bank of refrigerated drinks. One aisle was taken out near the right side of the store to make a large aisle with bins.

One of the most disappointing remodels I've ever seen. Ralphs Murrieta, which was remodeled in late 2019, is a much nicer store.

There is no pharmacy at all in this large shopping center (previously a Target & Sav-on were in this center decades ago - now a Living Spaces & Ross) & they didn't even add that.

See my photos on Yelp. I uploaded them just now. Over 30 photos.

https://yelp.to/SACkNnK6Itb
I think this is on an equal level with the bad Safeway remodels that don't touch the floors. I was just in Sparks last night and noticing how the damaged all over/coming up Lifestyle floors around service deli/refrigerated solid dairy look quite awful against brighter lights and the Florida decor.

I wonder if they have a lease restriction against having a pharmacy.

This Ralphs- terrible. Great photos you took though. Terrible merchandising too. Looks like a downscale Smiths. The produce department looks okay. The rest of it- just- terrible. I cannot believe after two attempts to refinish the floor that it still shows glue marks all over the place from the old tile floor. Really- just put back in a tile floor or plank or whatever. It would make this place look infinitely better. The top shelves are for storage of excess inventory, they've done this at Smiths too. That is an old Safeway program from the 90's/00's to reduce out of stocks and works great. The painted decals on the floor like the ones in front of seafood are a first, I don't know where that idea came from but they take tacky to a new level of tacky, reminds me of when Raleys in the early 00's put special floor tiles in taking the space of like 8 tiles, with a big Q that said "enhancing the quality of life" or something- they removed them all when they changed their slogan....

I've been shopping more at Smiths lately for price reasons and it is interesting one store I shop in still has tile floors and fairly wide aisles and I still enjoy the atmosphere there. Another one I go to, has cement floors, narrow aisles, awful use of space throughout, and once I am past the bakery/deli/produce area (which is nice and spacious), I just want OUT of there; it is dreary and miserable.
A number of the ceiling tiles are discolored. You can see some over produce & over the beer aisle (at least the Vons in Temescal Valley & Sun City replaced or repainted them). They added track lighting into Aisle #1 (beer & liquor) because the lighting for liquor was poor. Darkest area of the store. That's the only additional lighting they added.

Vons Temescal Valley floring wasn't replaced during the remodel - except a small patch at each entrance where they added faux wood - and there are now flooring issues in front of checkstands & entrances. Sun City got all new flooring & it looks good. But they needed it.

Except for one aisle, that was removed, nothing was moved at Menifee Ralphs (these two aisles were consolidated into one). I found this store very cluttered prior to the remodel & it still is. It does have good business, though.

This Ralphs keeps their carts inside the store. But you can only get them from the right entrance side. I never understood that & they didn't fix it with the cheap remodel.

Next time I'm in I'll take pics of all the painted floor decals. There's a lot of them.
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by storewanderer »

CalItalian wrote: September 29th, 2022, 10:26 pm A number of the ceiling tiles are discolored. You can see some over produce & over the beer aisle (at least the Vons in Temescal Valley & Sun City replaced or repainted them). They added track lighting into Aisle #1 (beer & liquor) because the lighting for liquor was poor. Darkest area of the store. That's the only additional lighting they added.

Vons Temescal Valley floring wasn't replaced during the remodel - except a small patch at each entrance where they added faux wood - and there are now flooring issues in front of checkstands & entrances. Sun City got all new flooring & it looks good. But they needed it.

Except for one aisle, that was removed, nothing was moved at Menifee Ralphs (these two aisles were consolidated into one). I found this store very cluttered prior to the remodel & it still is. It does have good business, though.

This Ralphs keeps their carts inside the store. But you can only get them from the right entrance side. I never understood that & they didn't fix it with the cheap remodel.

Next time I'm in I'll take pics of all the painted floor decals. There's a lot of them.
I've noticed in these cheap Safeway remodels, ceiling tiles are one of the things they do actually look at and address. Save Mart doesn't do anything to the ceilings in their cheap remodels and someone should really look at that. Smiths remodels in recent years have always addressed ceiling tiles.

Those floor decals, I wonder how they remove them. I guess they can buy rugs. Kroger doesn't like to spring for rugs though, it is very very difficult to get Kroger to send rugs to a store but to cover up bad floors is one thing that they will send them for.
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by SamSpade »

CalItalian wrote: September 29th, 2022, 10:26 pmExcept for one aisle, that was removed, nothing was moved at Menifee Ralphs (these two aisles were consolidated into one). I found this store very cluttered prior to the remodel & it still is. It does have good business, though.
. . .
Next time I'm in I'll take pics of all the painted floor decals. There's a lot of them.
Other than the floor decals, this looks like the remodels Kroger did to the larger QFCs here. Sad as they were remodeled out of that beautiful Ralph's "Fresh Fare" look.

The smallest QFC actually has a different set, which you can see in this photo:
https://goo.gl/maps/v3519hnQB5jtB1M39
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: September 30th, 2022, 9:25 am

Other than the floor decals, this looks like the remodels Kroger did to the larger QFCs here. Sad as they were remodeled out of that beautiful Ralph's "Fresh Fare" look.

The smallest QFC actually has a different set, which you can see in this photo:
https://goo.gl/maps/v3519hnQB5jtB1M39
My opinion is the old Ralphs Fresh Fare interior (especially the food graphics for department signs) could have been kept and the walls basically not touched in a remodel. They could have gone in and fixed up the floors as I notice those were not in the best shape in multiple stores, redone some displays perhaps, etc., but there was really no reason to redecorate.

That small QFC it is tough to tell is that the Main & Vine interior?
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by marshd1000 »

storewanderer wrote: September 30th, 2022, 11:29 pm
SamSpade wrote: September 30th, 2022, 9:25 am

Other than the floor decals, this looks like the remodels Kroger did to the larger QFCs here. Sad as they were remodeled out of that beautiful Ralph's "Fresh Fare" look.

The smallest QFC actually has a different set, which you can see in this photo:
https://goo.gl/maps/v3519hnQB5jtB1M39
My opinion is the old Ralphs Fresh Fare interior (especially the food graphics for department signs) could have been kept and the walls basically not touched in a remodel. They could have gone in and fixed up the floors as I notice those were not in the best shape in multiple stores, redone some displays perhaps, etc., but there was really no reason to redecorate.

That small QFC it is tough to tell is that the Main & Vine interior?
No, that is not the “Main & Vine” interior. That is probably the second generation of the “Fresh Fare” interior. I had seen that used in the now closed Des Moines, WA store.
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: September 24th, 2022, 11:58 am Ralphs clearly has strength in and very near Los Angeles County but beyond that.... they fade more and more. Albertsons/Vons is really not a great operator at all. Terrible really due to the outrageous pricing and inconsistent quality from store to store. If the stores executed consistently I'd at least say their quality is pretty good but between low volume stores and poorly executed stores their quality which starts good doesn't always end good due to problems at the store level (lack of volume, lack of labor, too high of a price so stuff isn't moving, etc.). Okay on price for the person with the right coupons on their digital account but I can't seem to access those scenarios when I am in the area.
The Albertsons branded stores left in SoCal are generally nicer. I'd say they've closed or divested about 3/5 of what was the store count pre-breakup.
Albertsons/Vons is still the big dog in San Diego. Their stores down here have nice remodels and decent quality, but mediocre pricing. They are building a store in Valley Center, near Escondido. Likely to be a Vons.

I don't know why Stater is investing more in San Diego County. They have remodeled their stores (just completed a remodel to their Oceanside store at Mission Ave. That is a former ASC Super Saver/Lucky/Food Basket divested during the ABS/ASC merger).
The only new store Stater built in the county was the store in the new-money Bressi Ranch area of Carlsbad (that one opened in 2009). One of the nicest Stater Bros stores.
The store on Vista Way in O'side still has a Lucky interior repaint. This one opened as a Lucky/Sav-on.
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 1st, 2022, 8:45 pm
The Albertsons branded stores left in SoCal are generally nicer. I'd say they've closed or divested about 3/5 of what was the store count pre-breakup.
Albertsons/Vons is still the big dog in San Diego. Their stores down here have nice remodels and decent quality, but mediocre pricing. They are building a store in Valley Center, near Escondido. Likely to be a Vons.

I don't know why Stater is investing more in San Diego County. They have remodeled their stores (just completed a remodel to their Oceanside store at Mission Ave. That is a former ASC Super Saver/Lucky/Food Basket divested during the ABS/ASC merger).
The only new store Stater built in the county was the store in the new-money Bressi Ranch area of Carlsbad (that one opened in 2009). One of the nicest Stater Bros stores.
The store on Vista Way in O'side still has a Lucky interior repaint. This one opened as a Lucky/Sav-on.
Stater had a chance to get some good entries into San Diego with the Haggen mess and they let that slip away. They clearly want to be on the perimeter and that is about it for them for whatever reason(s).

I think what is left with the Albertsons banner in San Diego is nicer but would agree those are probably above average Vons too. Albertsons had some real junk stores from Lucky but over time those seem to all be gone.

When you figure San Diego if you look at late 80's to present is basically the accumulation of Safeway+Vons+Alpha Beta+Lucky+Albertsons they absolutely are the dominant chain because basically everyone has rolled into them. I would pose this: had Alpha Beta in San Diego ended up with Ralphs like it did in the rest of SoCal, would the picture have been different?
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Re: New Stater Bros. Riverside replacement store opening

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: October 1st, 2022, 10:18 pm Stater had a chance to get some good entries into San Diego with the Haggen mess and they let that slip away. They clearly want to be on the perimeter and that is about it for them for whatever reason(s).

I think what is left with the Albertsons banner in San Diego is nicer but would agree those are probably above average Vons too. Albertsons had some real junk stores from Lucky but over time those seem to all be gone.

When you figure San Diego if you look at late 80's to present is basically the accumulation of Safeway+Vons+Alpha Beta+Lucky+Albertsons they absolutely are the dominant chain because basically everyone has rolled into them. I would pose this: had Alpha Beta in San Diego ended up with Ralphs like it did in the rest of SoCal, would the picture have been different?
Now that you mentioned that, I think the reason is that Stater probably wants their stores within a 100 mile drive from their distribution center. That explains why they haven't gone to the Central Coast region, or into the heart of San Diego by acquiring divested Albertsons/Vons stores.
Stater's southernmost store is in Rancho Penasquitos (north San Diego neighborhood). That one is a former Lucky/Alpha Beta. That store was divested as Albertsons had a land site 2 miles up the street, and one down in Mira Mesa that they were planning to build on, which they did for both.
Stater may still have the Albertsons land site in Fallbrook, which they haven't built on yet. My guess is they are trying to keep out competition there.

Albertsons lost maybe a third of their pre-breakup store count within the county by today. Most of it was divestitures to Haggen.

More of a Groceteria topic, but Vons entered the county 50 years ago by acquiring DeFalco's, an obscure supermarket chain owned by whoever owned the Two Guys department store. They were related to Food Giant, an LA/OC chain which was sold to Smith's in 1971.
Ralphs entered San Diego County in 1982 by acquiring some FedMart stores.
Albertsons entered the county in 1972 with a store in Oceanside (built next to a Kmart).
Another factor was Big Bear Markets (not related to the Ohio chain), which Albertsons bought 4 stores from when they went out of business in 1994. The rest went to Fleming, which rebranded those stores as IGA.
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