Grapevine Tom Thumb closing, nearby Albertsons rebranding

[ClownLoach]

If the merger falls through, Albertsons has a chance to purge its management who sold it out and find someone new. I don't expect too much--the chances they immediately look for another suitor with less overlap is almost guaranteed...but it still opens up the chance that they'd be okay in the end.

I'm not convinced the direct management (such as the CEO) of Albertsons "sold it out." I think it was the ownership/controlling shareholders (Cerberus and friends).

I know the CEO has to see this through and try to get this deal to go through and will stand to make millions of dollars as a reward for helping to push the deal through, but none of Albertsons upper management is taking positions in the combined company which is what typically occurs when management sells out a company.

This is assuredly driven by both Cerberus and Apollo. Apollo got involved probably at Cerberus' invitation as they are financiers. The CEO and board got to choose to either follow orders or be replaced with someone else who will do so.

[veteran+]

In all but name, Pavilions has come to Texas: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tom+T ... ?entry=ttu

Sooooooooo BRIGHT!

Yikes!

[storewanderer]

In all but name, Pavilions has come to Texas: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tom+T ... ?entry=ttu

Sooooooooo BRIGHT!

Yikes!

Looks pretty awful. That dark blue paint... cheap looking fixtures too. These remodels do not look good.

Actually looks very similar to the previous interior if you look at those photos.

What is the point of this? They have Market Street if they want to do a legitimate upscale format in the market...

[architect]

In all but name, Pavilions has come to Texas: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tom+T ... ?entry=ttu

Sooooooooo BRIGHT!

Yikes!

Looks pretty awful. That dark blue paint... cheap looking fixtures too. These remodels do not look good.

Actually looks very similar to the previous interior if you look at those photos.

What is the point of this? They have Market Street if they want to do a legitimate upscale format in the market...

Unbelievably, it actually gets worse. At several locations in the vicinity of the Park Cities (the highest income enclaves of Dallas), Albertsons has converted several small Tom Thumbs to a "Tom Thumb Finer Foods" format featuring this same Pavilions decor along with a slight increase in upscale product. The stores in question are at Snyder Plaza, Preston Center, and Inwood/University. The first two of these stores are two of the smallest in the chain and are barely larger than a convenience store; the third is actually more deserving of the title as it was the former site of one of Dallas' Simon David stores (an extremely upscale banner which was previously operated by Tom Thumb).

[storewanderer]

Sooooooooo BRIGHT!

Yikes!

Looks pretty awful. That dark blue paint... cheap looking fixtures too. These remodels do not look good.

Actually looks very similar to the previous interior if you look at those photos.

What is the point of this? They have Market Street if they want to do a legitimate upscale format in the market...

Unbelievably, it actually gets worse. At several locations in the vicinity of the Park Cities (the highest income enclaves of Dallas), Albertsons has converted several small Tom Thumbs to a "Tom Thumb Finer Foods" format featuring this same Pavilions decor along with a slight increase in upscale product. The stores in question are at Snyder Plaza, Preston Center, and Inwood/University. The first two of these stores are two of the smallest in the chain and are barely larger than a convenience store; the third is actually more deserving of the title as it was the former site of one of Dallas' Simon David stores (an extremely upscale banner which was previously operated by Tom Thumb).

Tom Thumb Finer Foods? Sounds like a new concept? What are they thinking? Though the small store size wouldn't fit Market Street.

So the Inwood/University store took down the modern decor that was recently installed and put up Pavilions decor?

Is that somehow related to "Randalls Flagship?" Those were large stores. They were actually pretty nice but just standard Safeway type of store...

[pseudo3d]

Looks pretty awful. That dark blue paint... cheap looking fixtures too. These remodels do not look good.

Actually looks very similar to the previous interior if you look at those photos.

What is the point of this? They have Market Street if they want to do a legitimate upscale format in the market...

Unbelievably, it actually gets worse. At several locations in the vicinity of the Park Cities (the highest income enclaves of Dallas), Albertsons has converted several small Tom Thumbs to a "Tom Thumb Finer Foods" format featuring this same Pavilions decor along with a slight increase in upscale product. The stores in question are at Snyder Plaza, Preston Center, and Inwood/University. The first two of these stores are two of the smallest in the chain and are barely larger than a convenience store; the third is actually more deserving of the title as it was the former site of one of Dallas' Simon David stores (an extremely upscale banner which was previously operated by Tom Thumb).

Tom Thumb Finer Foods? Sounds like a new concept? What are they thinking? Though the small store size wouldn't fit Market Street.

So the Inwood/University store took down the modern decor that was recently installed and put up Pavilions decor?

Is that somehow related to "Randalls Flagship?" Those were large stores. They were actually pretty nice but just standard Safeway type of store...

It's just Tom Thumb Fine Foods (not "Finer").

The Flagship moniker for Randalls was a little more complicated. As I understand it, under original ownership, the Flagship name was promoted but not used as a store title (Randalls Flagship at Westheimer and Shepherd definitely opened as Randalls on the outside) and was more for the stores features, with more upscale items and a sit-down in-store restaurant. Later stores were "New Generation" which also had no special name on the outside, but were even larger (75k-80k square feet) with more of a focus on perishables. I read an article but can't find it that this was more-or-less inspired by Wegmans, so the perishables had things like the deli serving sandwiches, pizza, salad bar, and the seafood department even whipping up fish and chips. There was at least one Tom Thumb that got a New Generation-style store (and Austin as well, that was the one that closed) but the non-Houston market were weirder as the Austin market was entirely composed of old AppleTree (Safeway) stores and small Tom Thumb stores (some of them converted from a chain Cullum bought in the early 1970s, Rylander). Compared to the palaces that Randalls had built, these were dumps. Dallas had some small Tom Thumb stores (many of which are still there today) as well as some larger "Tom Thumb-Page" combo stores (they acquired a small drug store chain), so the Tom Thumb New Generation stores weren't really a good fit.

Once Safeway took over, they rebranded a few Randalls Flagship stores with a new "Flagship Randalls" logo (this is what it looked like, though I'm sure better photos can be found elsewhere), which was a takeoff of the Pavilions logo, and remerchandised to be closer to whatever Pavilions was offering at the time (no Panda Express though), but all these started to become irrelevant as time went on and the chain suffered. Later on, the Randalls Flagship stores (what was left of them) got another logo that was just the word "Flagship" under Randalls but by that time it was pretty much meaningless.

When a Randalls Flagship was rebuilt in the early 2010s they had used the new Randalls Flagship logo, and that was also what the Westheimer/Shepherd store used before it closed. As far as I know, there aren't any Tom Thumb Flagship stores.

[ClownLoach]

Sooooooooo BRIGHT!

Yikes!

Looks pretty awful. That dark blue paint... cheap looking fixtures too. These remodels do not look good.

Actually looks very similar to the previous interior if you look at those photos.

What is the point of this? They have Market Street if they want to do a legitimate upscale format in the market...

Unbelievably, it actually gets worse. At several locations in the vicinity of the Park Cities (the highest income enclaves of Dallas), Albertsons has converted several small Tom Thumbs to a "Tom Thumb Finer Foods" format featuring this same Pavilions decor along with a slight increase in upscale product. The stores in question are at Snyder Plaza, Preston Center, and Inwood/University. The first two of these stores are two of the smallest in the chain and are barely larger than a convenience store; the third is actually more deserving of the title as it was the former site of one of Dallas' Simon David stores (an extremely upscale banner which was previously operated by Tom Thumb).

The pictures of Inwood do not show Pavilions decor. It is Modern (Florida) decor and a poor quality set of it. The only thing fancy is the vestibule which looks someone bought a couple expensive chandeliers and hung them there. First time a dumb teenager jumps up and tries to grab it, the chandelier is going to come crashing down.

Preston based on pictures I see might have been the originator of the infamous colorful lifestyle repaint decor. It shows 6 years ago the old lifestyle decor repainted, but instead of the obnoxious pastels used today they chose more vivid colors similar to Pavilions. But it's still old lifestyle repainted.

Snyder Plaza is also old lifestyle repainted, but with the pastels. It does have a unique flooring I have not seen in any Safeway/Albertsons format, it is a darker rustic brown plank that looks like they paid much more for it than the usual junk vinyl strips they use elsewhere. Looks to have a heavy woodgrain impression on its surface; not exactly sure how this would hold up to the wear and tear of carts or an auto scrubber.

But none of the 3 named stores have this Pavilions decor. This appears to be a new use of it. I am wondering if Safeway/Albertsons simply has too many sets of these sign packages laying around and wants to use them up before rolling out a new version for Pavilions. It's making it into stores where it clearly doesn't belong. The old Vons in La Jolla also has a very low ceiling which necessitated the use of the same abbreviated decor package when converted to Pavilions, but they cleaned up the drop ceiling and the lighting so that it looks very nice. This just looks like any other boring Safeway or Albertsons with different decor. One other thing is that many portions of the Pavilions decor include stenciled or vinyl applications that add texture to the blocked colors. Those are missing which is why the signage looks so bright and frankly cheap, like someone made a bootleg Pavilions. I don't think they know what they're doing out there in Texas...

[ClownLoach]

Unbelievably, it actually gets worse. At several locations in the vicinity of the Park Cities (the highest income enclaves of Dallas), Albertsons has converted several small Tom Thumbs to a "Tom Thumb Finer Foods" format featuring this same Pavilions decor along with a slight increase in upscale product. The stores in question are at Snyder Plaza, Preston Center, and Inwood/University. The first two of these stores are two of the smallest in the chain and are barely larger than a convenience store; the third is actually more deserving of the title as it was the former site of one of Dallas' Simon David stores (an extremely upscale banner which was previously operated by Tom Thumb).

Tom Thumb Finer Foods? Sounds like a new concept? What are they thinking? Though the small store size wouldn't fit Market Street.

So the Inwood/University store took down the modern decor that was recently installed and put up Pavilions decor?

Is that somehow related to "Randalls Flagship?" Those were large stores. They were actually pretty nice but just standard Safeway type of store...

It's just Tom Thumb Fine Foods (not "Finer").

The Flagship moniker for Randalls was a little more complicated. As I understand it, under original ownership, the Flagship name was promoted but not used as a store title (Randalls Flagship at Westheimer and Shepherd definitely opened as Randalls on the outside) and was more for the stores features, with more upscale items and a sit-down in-store restaurant. Later stores were "New Generation" which also had no special name on the outside, but were even larger (75k-80k square feet) with more of a focus on perishables. I read an article but can't find it that this was more-or-less inspired by Wegmans, so the perishables had things like the deli serving sandwiches, pizza, salad bar, and the seafood department even whipping up fish and chips. There was at least one Tom Thumb that got a New Generation-style store (and Austin as well, that was the one that closed) but the non-Houston market were weirder as the Austin market was entirely composed of old AppleTree (Safeway) stores and small Tom Thumb stores (some of them converted from a chain Cullum bought in the early 1970s, Rylander). Compared to the palaces that Randalls had built, these were dumps. Dallas had some small Tom Thumb stores (many of which are still there today) as well as some larger "Tom Thumb-Page" combo stores (they acquired a small drug store chain), so the Tom Thumb New Generation stores weren't really a good fit.

Once Safeway took over, they rebranded a few Randalls Flagship stores with a new "Flagship Randalls" logo (this is what it looked like, though I'm sure better photos can be found elsewhere), which was a takeoff of the Pavilions logo, and remerchandised to be closer to whatever Pavilions was offering at the time (no Panda Express though), but all these started to become irrelevant as time went on and the chain suffered. Later on, the Randalls Flagship stores (what was left of them) got another logo that was just the word "Flagship" under Randalls but by that time it was pretty much meaningless.

When a Randalls Flagship was rebuilt in the early 2010s they had used the new Randalls Flagship logo, and that was also what the Westheimer/Shepherd store used before it closed. As far as I know, there aren't any Tom Thumb Flagship stores.

This picture from a Randalls Flagship was taken a month ago. Woof. What in the world were they thinking? Extra, extra neon version of the cheap lifestyle repaint coupled with leftover Pavilions decor from the mid 2000s...

[storewanderer]

This picture from a Randalls Flagship was taken a month ago. Woof. What in the world were they thinking? Extra, extra neon version of the cheap lifestyle repaint coupled with leftover Pavilions decor from the mid 2000s...

I was in that store, and I am not 100% sure those liquor signs are recycled used Pavilions signs, but the similarity of the signs is... more than striking.

As far as the extra neon goes, it actually helps the white font on the department lettering stand out better. It does not look great but it looks better in person than in the pictures. It does not hurt your eyes. The store is sort of dark, it does not have the super bright Albertsons lighting. I don't want to say the interior looks good because it doesn't but it is a sideways move from the previous Lifestyle interior.

[ClownLoach]

Tom Thumb Finer Foods? Sounds like a new concept? What are they thinking? Though the small store size wouldn't fit Market Street.

So the Inwood/University store took down the modern decor that was recently installed and put up Pavilions decor?

Is that somehow related to "Randalls Flagship?" Those were large stores. They were actually pretty nice but just standard Safeway type of store...

It's just Tom Thumb Fine Foods (not "Finer").

The Flagship moniker for Randalls was a little more complicated. As I understand it, under original ownership, the Flagship name was promoted but not used as a store title (Randalls Flagship at Westheimer and Shepherd definitely opened as Randalls on the outside) and was more for the stores features, with more upscale items and a sit-down in-store restaurant. Later stores were "New Generation" which also had no special name on the outside, but were even larger (75k-80k square feet) with more of a focus on perishables. I read an article but can't find it that this was more-or-less inspired by Wegmans, so the perishables had things like the deli serving sandwiches, pizza, salad bar, and the seafood department even whipping up fish and chips. There was at least one Tom Thumb that got a New Generation-style store (and Austin as well, that was the one that closed) but the non-Houston market were weirder as the Austin market was entirely composed of old AppleTree (Safeway) stores and small Tom Thumb stores (some of them converted from a chain Cullum bought in the early 1970s, Rylander). Compared to the palaces that Randalls had built, these were dumps. Dallas had some small Tom Thumb stores (many of which are still there today) as well as some larger "Tom Thumb-Page" combo stores (they acquired a small drug store chain), so the Tom Thumb New Generation stores weren't really a good fit.

Once Safeway took over, they rebranded a few Randalls Flagship stores with a new "Flagship Randalls" logo (this is what it looked like, though I'm sure better photos can be found elsewhere), which was a takeoff of the Pavilions logo, and remerchandised to be closer to whatever Pavilions was offering at the time (no Panda Express though), but all these started to become irrelevant as time went on and the chain suffered. Later on, the Randalls Flagship stores (what was left of them) got another logo that was just the word "Flagship" under Randalls but by that time it was pretty much meaningless.

When a Randalls Flagship was rebuilt in the early 2010s they had used the new Randalls Flagship logo, and that was also what the Westheimer/Shepherd store used before it closed. As far as I know, there aren't any Tom Thumb Flagship stores.

This picture from a Randalls Flagship was taken a month ago. Woof. What in the world were they thinking? Extra, extra neon version of the cheap lifestyle repaint coupled with leftover Pavilions decor from the mid 2000s...

The signs look like they came right out of the Westminster store that closed. They never remodeled it out of Pavilions decor when downgrading to Vons.