Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

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Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by storewanderer »

This store closure also includes a gas station which has what are practically brand new gas pumps on site. Odd the newer/larger Safeway (not clear if it is a heavily remodeled/expanded older store) failed there, given they converted at least one Albertsons in the tri-cities to the Safeway banner recently. They are also supposedly remodeling the Kennewick Albertsons now (no gas station there- has a Speedway Express maybe they can try to get back) and will be converting it into a Safeway but there seems to be some conflict in the articles regarding what exactly is happening there. The Kennewick Albertsons was I guess an old Buttrey, and did not see much investment over the years; the current remodel even into the Florida decor definitely improves that store.

The other very interesting thing about this is WinCo opened in Kennewick a few years ago, and is very close to the Albertsons, but a bit further from the Safeway. WinCo is basically between the two stores. Not surprised one went away, but a bit surprised which one went away. Safeway is also closer to the Fred Meyer.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: October 7th, 2022, 7:01 pm This store closure also includes a gas station which has what are practically brand new gas pumps on site. Odd the newer/larger Safeway (not clear if it is a heavily remodeled/expanded older store) failed there, given they converted at least one Albertsons in the tri-cities to the Safeway banner recently. They are also supposedly remodeling the Kennewick Albertsons now (no gas station there- has a Speedway Express maybe they can try to get back) and will be converting it into a Safeway but there seems to be some conflict in the articles regarding what exactly is happening there. The Kennewick Albertsons was I guess an old Buttrey, and did not see much investment over the years; the current remodel even into the Florida decor definitely improves that store.

The other very interesting thing about this is WinCo opened in Kennewick a few years ago, and is very close to the Albertsons, but a bit further from the Safeway. WinCo is basically between the two stores. Not surprised one went away, but a bit surprised which one went away. Safeway is also closer to the Fred Meyer.
They haven't converted the Pasco Albertsons yet, which is an original early 80's era store. That one has the LLC interior.

Who knows if the Kennewick Albertsons will take the Safeway name. The store looks to have completed its remodel. It previously had what you refer to as the Larry interior, but still had a Buttrey floor. Definitely is an old Buttrey- there is a store in Williston, ND with this exterior design, and similar flooring. That is the only Albertsons in ND, one of the few Albertsons in the upper midwest (arguably, the upper midwest extends into northeastern MT).

Apart from some store conversion in Aloha (Portland suburb) they seem to be leaving the Albertsons banner alone in Oregon. All Albertsons left in the state (29 stores) seem to have the SuperValu PF&H interior at the oldest.
It's too bad that Jewel interior store in Wilsonville didn't make it.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 8th, 2022, 12:39 pm
They haven't converted the Pasco Albertsons yet, which is an original early 80's era store. That one has the LLC interior.

Who knows if the Kennewick Albertsons will take the Safeway name. The store looks to have completed its remodel. It previously had what you refer to as the Larry interior, but still had a Buttrey floor. Definitely is an old Buttrey- there is a store in Williston, ND with this exterior design, and similar flooring. That is the only Albertsons in ND, one of the few Albertsons in the upper midwest (arguably, the upper midwest extends into northeastern MT).

Apart from some store conversion in Aloha (Portland suburb) they seem to be leaving the Albertsons banner alone in Oregon. All Albertsons left in the state (29 stores) seem to have the SuperValu PF&H interior at the oldest.
It's too bad that Jewel interior store in Wilsonville didn't make it.
I'm not sure what is going to happen to the Pasco Albertsons, but I think it did add self checkout.

I suspect these conversions of Albertsons banner to Safeway banner are generally a flop in these divisions like the OR/WA that run and merchandise the stores exactly the same no matter which banner they are under. I see no point in doing a banner change unless they have a run into the ground Albertsons they are trying to revive and feel the Albertsons name is so damaged in that market they need to rebrand (with as poorly as Supervalu ran Albertsons in OR/WA that may well be the case sometimes but I think most stores under that scenario have already gone out of business). But now, the store is going to be exactly the same no matter what banner is on it, the only difference is if it requires the club card for sale pricing or not.

I don't think customers have a more or less positive perception of Safeway or Albertsons; neither are great operators, both are known for high prices, and while there are certain things some people like about one of the chains or the other (maybe someone thinks Safeway has great floral but how often do you buy that; maybe someone thinks Albertsons has great fried chicken, etc.), it just isn't enough to say one chain has an overwhelmingly greater number of things the customer likes about it so that name should continue.

What is odd is there in Renton there is that one Albertsons remodeled to that Heritage or whatever it is interior (I don't like that interior much), recently. Then the Pueblo, CO Albertsons also recently was remodeled to that interior. That interior obviously is going to mean the store stays Albertsons since it has clovers all over.

Now if you are going to run the store differently depending what banner it has, then there may need to be some consideration for what banner is used. And I think the Albertsons banner goes better in ethnic/working class type locations. The Albertsons banner typically focused on cheaper meat promotions, more mainstream type center store offerings, fried chicken, larger center store variety, those "10 for 10" sales, more drug, higher emphasis on service meat counter which aggressively pushed low cost items like bacon, chicken breasts, and ground beef, and such. Safeway banner always trying to play upscale with O Organics and the mood lighting but in reality had the worst pricing and didn't do anything special.

Let me put it this way: if I think back to what the Albertsons offer was back in 2005-2007 when it left NorCal, that offer was more appealing to me than Safeway's current marginal quality and way overpriced storewide product offer. Albertsons had better mix, the meat program was far better due to better promotions and the ability to obtain any size package at the front page ad prices via service meat counter, they had more reasonable pricing on non food especially tied to those 10 for $10 sales, and their bakery quality was many levels better. Going into a recession if this company wants to be successful they need to get down to basics and abandon the awful Safeway merchandising, pricing, and promotional strategies they are using.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by babs »

storewanderer wrote: October 8th, 2022, 10:42 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 8th, 2022, 12:39 pm
They haven't converted the Pasco Albertsons yet, which is an original early 80's era store. That one has the LLC interior.

Who knows if the Kennewick Albertsons will take the Safeway name. The store looks to have completed its remodel. It previously had what you refer to as the Larry interior, but still had a Buttrey floor. Definitely is an old Buttrey- there is a store in Williston, ND with this exterior design, and similar flooring. That is the only Albertsons in ND, one of the few Albertsons in the upper midwest (arguably, the upper midwest extends into northeastern MT).

Apart from some store conversion in Aloha (Portland suburb) they seem to be leaving the Albertsons banner alone in Oregon. All Albertsons left in the state (29 stores) seem to have the SuperValu PF&H interior at the oldest.
It's too bad that Jewel interior store in Wilsonville didn't make it.
I'm not sure what is going to happen to the Pasco Albertsons, but I think it did add self checkout.

I suspect these conversions of Albertsons banner to Safeway banner are generally a flop in these divisions like the OR/WA that run and merchandise the stores exactly the same no matter which banner they are under. I see no point in doing a banner change unless they have a run into the ground Albertsons they are trying to revive and feel the Albertsons name is so damaged in that market they need to rebrand (with as poorly as Supervalu ran Albertsons in OR/WA that may well be the case sometimes but I think most stores under that scenario have already gone out of business).
They are in the process of switching the Barrows Road, OR Albertsons to Safeway. I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year. Theyve all already been remodeled to a Safeway format. I used to see various promotions and event sponsorships cobranded but over the past year, it's only Safeway. The rebrand is well underway.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by Super S »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:00 pm
babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
Yes Albertsons has a distribution center, but there are a lot of Safeway trucks there since it's the same company.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see western Oregon and Washington switch to Safeway branding. Safeway is the stronger name at this point, and several stores have already made the conversion.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

Super S wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:18 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:00 pm
babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
Yes Albertsons has a distribution center, but there are a lot of Safeway trucks there since it's the same company.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see western Oregon and Washington switch to Safeway branding. Safeway is the stronger name at this point, and several stores have already made the conversion.
That would be pretty sad to see, considering Albertsons has a long history in the PNW.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by babs »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:00 pm
babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
The Albertsons warehouse in Gresham is supplying both chains after the Safeway Clackamas warehouse was closed after the merger.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:00 pm
babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
If you look at the Albertsons stores around Portland, basically, they either have the LLC interior or a Supervalu interior. Both interiors are typically full of Albertsons logos so a store remodel is necessary to rebrand to Safeway. It appears most stores around Portland have not yet been remodeled but they are remodeling stores one store at a time and when they remodel they go ahead and change the name to Safeway. I find this to be unfortunate, but Supervalu badly damaged Albertsons in the Portland and Seattle markets. I'm not sure I'd do this banner change unless there was some other reason to do so (like an ownership change where the two banners are going to end up separated and you want to get all of the stores in a given market onto a single banner).

The Portland Division isn't a great operation to begin with but they do seem to be trying to some extent with their perimeters and with service levels. Still pricing issues like they always have and they can't seem to run enough $10 off $50 promotions (been going on 20 years of this) and Fred Meyer is still absolutely killing them. Certainly better than Denver Division though.
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Re: Safeway closing Kennewick, WA

Post by babs »

storewanderer wrote: October 9th, 2022, 10:09 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 9th, 2022, 8:00 pm
babs wrote: October 9th, 2022, 7:23 pm I've heard all Albertsons in the Portland market will switch over to the Safeway brand within a year.
Where did you hear this? This must be rumor and speculation. Albertsons still has its own distribution center in Portland.
If you look at the Albertsons stores around Portland, basically, they either have the LLC interior or a Supervalu interior. Both interiors are typically full of Albertsons logos so a store remodel is necessary to rebrand to Safeway. It appears most stores around Portland have not yet been remodeled but they are remodeling stores one store at a time and when they remodel they go ahead and change the name to Safeway. I find this to be unfortunate, but Supervalu badly damaged Albertsons in the Portland and Seattle markets. I'm not sure I'd do this banner change unless there was some other reason to do so (like an ownership change where the two banners are going to end up separated and you want to get all of the stores in a given market onto a single banner).

The Portland Division isn't a great operation to begin with but they do seem to be trying to some extent with their perimeters and with service levels. Still pricing issues like they always have and they can't seem to run enough $10 off $50 promotions (been going on 20 years of this) and Fred Meyer is still absolutely killing them. Certainly better than Denver Division though.
I don't when the last time you were in the Portland area but most Albertsons have had their decor updated to what you would see in a typical Safeway in the area. The only difference is that there are Albertsons logos near the entrance and checkstands. Easy to remove or repaint. The stores have the same merch with the only major difference being the deli. They don't seem to want to spend the money to expand the deli by adding a hot Chinese food bar and sandwich station. Outside of that the stores are identical and the customers know it. It's beyond time to make the change that's essentially already taken place except for the signage.

I don't know what you consider a great operation. I'm not a Safeway fan but I will give them credit for building an operation that has the #1 share in the market for many years, mainly by having some great locations, often in areas with limited competition. Their prices are high, the quality is questionable at times but due to some good planning over the years, they have a solid business.
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