VONS at Durango and Desert Inn in Las Vegas closing

[storewanderer]

The closing Las Vegas Vons has an open/exposed ceiling. This is a fairly unique design for Safeway who kept building stores with outdated looking drop ceilings into the 2010's to help create the dark Lifestyle mood effect they were going for. What is funny is in the pre-lifestyle era (when this Vons was built) Safeway was building these more modern looking stores with the open ceilings then when they went to lifestyle they went back to building stores with drop ceilings...

I think this in the closing Las Vegas Vons was the nicest store prototype (decor, layout) ever developed by Safeway. This is also the Genuardi's layout.

Seattle and Denver divisions had the most open ceiling stores as they were using a different floorplan in much of the 90's from the rest of the company. The stuff they bought from Vons/Genuardis/Dominicks that wasn't built by them obviously had some open ceiling stores.

There are some oddball open ceiling stores in NorCal from the late 70's which at the time were very modern- Hawthorne, NV and Tahoe City, CA.

[storewanderer]

Interesting store closure.

They are bringing in a bunch of inventory, overstock, of private label items, by the pallet. They are selling items ridiculously cheap, .10, .50, $1, etc. A lot of Open Nature and O Organics items with early 2024 expiration dates.

Giant boxes of diapers for $5 (people fighting over them).

The rest of the items other than those mentioned above are reset to regular price and various percent off 25% 50% 75% (mostly 25%).

Club card required for ANY store closing discount however this is not disclosed until checkout and they have no way to sign you up for a club card (another source of arguments as it seems many customers do not have a club card).

[ClownLoach]

The closing Las Vegas Vons has an open/exposed ceiling. This is a fairly unique design for Safeway who kept building stores with outdated looking drop ceilings into the 2010's to help create the dark Lifestyle mood effect they were going for. What is funny is in the pre-lifestyle era (when this Vons was built) Safeway was building these more modern looking stores with the open ceilings then when they went to lifestyle they went back to building stores with drop ceilings...

I think this in the closing Las Vegas Vons was the nicest store prototype (decor, layout) ever developed by Safeway. This is also the Genuardi's layout.

Seattle and Denver divisions had the most open ceiling stores as they were using a different floorplan in much of the 90's from the rest of the company. The stuff they bought from Vons/Genuardis/Dominicks that wasn't built by them obviously had some open ceiling stores.

There are some oddball open ceiling stores in NorCal from the late 70's which at the time were very modern- Hawthorne, NV and Tahoe City, CA.

Until the variable speed blower motors arrived in the 2010s it was much more difficult to maintain air conditioning temperatures in warehouse ceiling stores. With a drop ceiling you can more easily distribute cold air where it is needed, more ducts and vents in warmer areas such as above freezers and refrigerators. That's probably why Safeway was hesitant to move away from drop ceilings. Most of my previous company stores had open ceilings except for stores built before the mid 1990s and pretty much anything from mid 1990s to late 2010s had problems with very hot and stuffy areas along with frozen corners. Although I disliked the lower drop ceilings in the older stores the cooling was always flawless even though the equipment was older. One major issue with drop ceilings is that when the air conditioning fails the entire store is an oven almost immediately, while open ceiling stores take several hours for the heat to accumulate and sometimes the problem is resolved by remote diagnostics before the store becomes unpleasant.

Most grocery stores use drop ceilings coupled with ceiling mounted strip lights, and these look outdated and cheap. I will argue however that when they spend the extra money on properly recessed lighting in a drop ceiling, with appropriate glare reducing diffusers such as the metallic framework, it produces a more upscale environment than a open ceiling as the noise is dampened and the ceiling visually disappears so your eyes focus on the merchandise in front of you.

We are starting to see some really ugly open ceilings in new stores. Nobody is trying to conceal wiring or cabling now, they're not painting anything anymore and I feel like the ceiling becomes a distraction with shiny metal ducts and pipes everywhere. Unpleasant noises abound sometimes from certain plumbing systems where normal operation sounds like a toilet flush. My new Costco has some kind of water valve over the frozen section that makes that toilet flush sound about every minute with a loud squeak at the end, it's almost ear piercing and hard to believe that is normal operation. Gelson's is showing off their new West LA store that opened this week and I'm very surprised at how ugly the open ceiling is in what otherwise is a pretty nice new store that "plussed" up their usual decor and looks more like a Whole Foods. The open ceiling absolutely ruins the entire store and they could have easily delivered the upscale atmosphere they're looking for with a proper drop ceiling and combination of recessed and extended lighting that covers up all the ugly stuff. That new Smith's Marketplace in Vegas suffers from the same issue, nice store that I wish we had in California but the dark, gloomy and ugly ceiling with busy beams, ducts and wiring everywhere really ruins the store. If they have decided the drop ceilings have to go away, which is fine, then at least spray paint everything a light, neutral color so it disappears.

[retailfanmitchell019]

In Vegas I think they're gradually phasing out the Vons brand.

Wouldn’t surprise me, there are only 8 Vons left in the Las Vegas metro compared to 33 Albertsons. The average Las Vegas resident hasn’t shopped at a Vons in at least 10 years.
Las Vegas has historically been a strong market for Albertsons since the ASC acquisition, they were actually #1 in Las Vegas market share until Walmart started putting Supercenters in the metro. Albertsons aggressively built new stores there in the early/mid 2000s, all of which are still open.
Since then, the Las Vegas market, which is working-class and price sensitive, has been a slugfest between Smith’s, Albertsons, and Walmart for the top position. Albertsons made a wise decision in 2013 by switching its Southern Nevada stores from the SoCal to Southwest division.

Assuming the merger is stopped (will probably happen the way we’re headed), I expect Albertsons to convert the remaining Vons in Las Vegas to the Albertsons banner. Apart from stores still with pre-Albertsons interiors left, all they’d have to do is change the exterior signs and implement Albertsons bakery/deli programs.

Assuming Kroger completes the merger, this will yet be another market with a Kroger/Walmart duopoly similar to places in the lower Midwest/upper South.

[storewanderer]

In Vegas I think they're gradually phasing out the Vons brand.

Wouldn’t surprise me, there are only 8 Vons left in the Las Vegas metro compared to 33 Albertsons. The average Las Vegas resident hasn’t shopped at a Vons in at least 10 years.
Las Vegas has historically been a strong market for Albertsons since the ASC acquisition, they were actually #1 in Las Vegas market share until Walmart started putting Supercenters in the metro. Albertsons aggressively built new stores there in the early/mid 2000s, all of which are still open.
Since then, the Las Vegas market, which is working-class and price sensitive, has been a slugfest between Smith’s, Albertsons, and Walmart for the top position. Albertsons made a wise decision in 2013 by switching its Southern Nevada stores from the SoCal to Southwest division.

Assuming the merger is stopped (will probably happen the way we’re headed), I expect Albertsons to convert the remaining Vons in Las Vegas to the Albertsons banner. Apart from stores still with pre-Albertsons interiors left, all they’d have to do is change the exterior signs and implement Albertsons bakery/deli programs.

Assuming Kroger completes the merger, this will yet be another market with a Kroger/Walmart duopoly similar to places in the lower Midwest/upper South.

I don't know- they have been remodeling these Vons into Florida decor. It seems if they were going to rebrand they would have rebranded in conjunction with the remodels. For whatever reason they aren't rebranding. I'd rebrand them. But the Vons are somewhat inferior to the Albertsons in Las Vegas. They seem to do less business and as a result have lower mix in perimeter areas than the busier Albertsons have. These Las Vegas Albertsons are some of the best stores under that banner.

There are currently active remodels happening on a couple of Albertsons locations in Las Vegas. I think they've done 6-7 remodels in Las Vegas this year. Florida decor seems to be their decor of choice.

I've been in all of those Vons recently. After this closure I think there is 1 cardboard lifestyle store (not likely to be divested but an awful but busy store), 1 lifestyle store (likely divest), 1 pre-Lifestyle (Twain- likely closure), and the remaining stores have all been remodeled into Florida decor (very very cheaply).

Lucky and Smiths were fighting for first place back in the late 90's in Las Vegas. Albertsons doing all of those new stores there worked out pretty well for them but there have been a number of store closures in the core central part of Las Vegas. Smiths at this point actually runs an interesting number of stores in the core central part of Las Vegas thanks to the Food 4 Less conversions they did. Where Smiths has somewhat of a weakness is in the Southwest corner of Las Vegas with limited store count (they got a +1 by taking Glaziers) but I suspect they are very eager to get every Albertsons down in that corner of Las Vegas and will fight to not divest anything but a Vons down there.

[ClownLoach]

In Vegas I think they're gradually phasing out the Vons brand.

Wouldn’t surprise me, there are only 8 Vons left in the Las Vegas metro compared to 33 Albertsons. The average Las Vegas resident hasn’t shopped at a Vons in at least 10 years.
Las Vegas has historically been a strong market for Albertsons since the ASC acquisition, they were actually #1 in Las Vegas market share until Walmart started putting Supercenters in the metro. Albertsons aggressively built new stores there in the early/mid 2000s, all of which are still open.
Since then, the Las Vegas market, which is working-class and price sensitive, has been a slugfest between Smith’s, Albertsons, and Walmart for the top position. Albertsons made a wise decision in 2013 by switching its Southern Nevada stores from the SoCal to Southwest division.

Assuming the merger is stopped (will probably happen the way we’re headed), I expect Albertsons to convert the remaining Vons in Las Vegas to the Albertsons banner. Apart from stores still with pre-Albertsons interiors left, all they’d have to do is change the exterior signs and implement Albertsons bakery/deli programs.

Assuming Kroger completes the merger, this will yet be another market with a Kroger/Walmart duopoly similar to places in the lower Midwest/upper South.

I don't know- they have been remodeling these Vons into Florida decor. It seems if they were going to rebrand they would have rebranded in conjunction with the remodels. For whatever reason they aren't rebranding. I'd rebrand them. But the Vons are somewhat inferior to the Albertsons in Las Vegas. They seem to do less business and as a result have lower mix in perimeter areas than the busier Albertsons have. These Las Vegas Albertsons are some of the best stores under that banner.

There are currently active remodels happening on a couple of Albertsons locations in Las Vegas. I think they've done 6-7 remodels in Las Vegas this year. Florida decor seems to be their decor of choice.

I've been in all of those Vons recently. After this closure I think there is 1 cardboard lifestyle store (not likely to be divested but an awful but busy store), 1 lifestyle store (likely divest), 1 pre-Lifestyle (Twain- likely closure), and the remaining stores have all been remodeled into Florida decor (very very cheaply).

Lucky and Smiths were fighting for first place back in the late 90's in Las Vegas. Albertsons doing all of those new stores there worked out pretty well for them but there have been a number of store closures in the core central part of Las Vegas. Smiths at this point actually runs an interesting number of stores in the core central part of Las Vegas thanks to the Food 4 Less conversions they did. Where Smiths has somewhat of a weakness is in the Southwest corner of Las Vegas with limited store count (they got a +1 by taking Glaziers) but I suspect they are very eager to get every Albertsons down in that corner of Las Vegas and will fight to not divest anything but a Vons down there.

I also have mostly seen Modern (Florida) decor out there and I think the reason why is how generic and plain looking it is. The older pre-Lifestyle Vons usually have wallpaper with a Vons logo every ten feet or so, while the now nearly extinct Albertsons premium fresh and healthy decor had their clover everywhere. The modern decor has nothing whatsoever aside from a small logo somewhere near the front end, ideal if a store is divested since it's so generic there is no "loss of trade dress" associated. Ironically, I remember many Albertsons that were sold to Vons with the Lucky merger where Vons immediately completed full remodels. There was a just-opened Albertsons at Harbor and Adams in Costa Mesa that Vons acquired (since a new Lucky-SavOn combo was opening down the street) and it had just been given a lovely remodel with one of my favorite old Albertsons decors, the blue and green awnings with those fancy looking hanging signs everywhere. I don't think that decor lasted 6 months before Vons was ripping it off the walls and completely changing the interior to the dull and dated Safeway decor. The Lucky-SavOn opened as Albertsons with Lucky decor but odd purple lettering instead of their teal and orange (purple replaced orange everywhere), probably the same as Huntington Beach, Corona and Temecula clones. Somewhere in there, that Albertsons was remodeled to Jewel decor including dramatic ceiling changes (part open ceiling, part drop), then PFH decor, and then it closed after about 20 years. It's opening next month as some kind of ultra high-end new Northgate concept called Mercado Gonzalez that is going to apparently have over 20 different perimeter "concepts" from bakery to tortilleria to ceviche and so forth.

[storewanderer]

Florida seems to be the decor of choice now in most of these divisions. In NorCal, it is basically the only interior they use. Recent remodels I see in OR, AZ, NV, CO, TX seem to use that decor now too.

There is a different new interior floating around the Albertsons banner (as seen in Pueblo, CO; Star, ID; Renton, WA) which is similar to the Jewel/Acme interior and full of clovers still.

I went into that Costa Mesa Vons in 1999 and was really confused by the layout and that mid 90's Safeway decor. That store was not on the divest list. The Vons down the road (now Tokyo Central) got given to Certified Grocers and was running as Sav Max Foods. I don't remember what it was but when I got over to the side wall of the store opposite meat/produce in that Vons and I realized the store was a former Albertsons.

There is one store I know of that still has the interior you describe with the blue awnings - Khourys in Winnemucca, NV. They recently put in a new floor but the walls are still untouched and the interior has been well preserved. Smiths also has a couple of stores they got which had that interior- one is in Henderson, NV on Valle Verde and the last hack job they did to it removed the wood trim at the top of the perimeter walls (they had before it with the Ralphs interior; not sure if this was a store Raleys remodeled or not), at the top of the perimeter walls, another is in Magna, UT and it too still has that wood trim at the top of the perimeter walls I think.

[retailfanmitchell019]

There is one store I know of that still has the interior you describe with the blue awnings - Khourys in Winnemucca, NV. They recently put in a new floor but the walls are still untouched and the interior has been well preserved. Smiths also has a couple of stores they got which had that interior- one is in Henderson, NV on Valle Verde and the last hack job they did to it removed the wood trim at the top of the perimeter walls (they had before it with the Ralphs interior; not sure if this was a store Raleys remodeled or not), at the top of the perimeter walls, another is in Magna, UT and it too still has that wood trim at the top of the perimeter walls I think.

That Awnings interior wood trim can be a pain to take off- the Albertsons on Melrose Dr here in Vista, CA was remodeled to Colorful Lifestyle 2 years ago. They repainted the wood trim to be white. This is a former Lucky that was probably remodeled right after it was converted to Albertsons.

The Awnings interior was very common in Albertsons SoCal stores 20 years ago.

Before: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alber ... &entry=ttu

After: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alber ... &entry=ttu