I think their pricing isn't consistent. Some items are good values, especially items that would have been part of the "old" S&F food service stores. Oddly, the closer the item skews to a traditional grocery store item the higher the price. I saw terrible dessicated looking cluster tomatoes for $4 a pound and laughed that they were more expensive than Bristol Farms/Gelsons/Whole Foods. But they have a great selection of coffee products like syrups at good prices.storewanderer wrote: ↑March 12th, 2024, 12:05 am They strike me as a step or two below Food 4 Less, but with more "large" size items.
Their product mix in center store seems to keep getting better and better but still isn't great. I don't think their pricing is good at all, but a lot of people seem to think it is pretty good, and perception is everything.
I also don't find many hot specials there. When I go in, about 50/50 if I walk out with any purchases. And if those purchases total more than a few dollars that is something. I find this place even less effective at getting me to buy things than Save Mart.
The stores opened prior to the finalization of the "extra" format are generally bad as they were not meant to be for consumers but rather restaurant supply houses. There are few of these left but the aforementioned 1992 opening is by definition one of the old food service stores despite whatever updates it received since and probably will never be "right." But they have taken over several former Ralphs and Albertsons and heavily invested to upgrade them nicely so they fit in just fine. An excellent example is a long neglected former Alpha-Beta in Long Beach on 7th and Redondo that was just "lived in" by subsequent Lucky and Albertsons. S&F spent a fortune remodeling this old, problematic store with logistics problems and bought out neighboring tenants at a very high cost to expand and make it a full size store. Lucky/Albertsons did little more than paint over the years and it was never busy as a result then Albertsons finally closed it as an underperformer. When S&F opened they relocated their old, small Foodservice format a couple miles away and this store has never been busier in the decades I've known the site. And it is definitely nicer than the Food4Less up the street. F4L is the downgraded Ralphs from when someone at Kroger wanted to shoehorn in the format so they broke their promise to the community to operate a true full service store which was why they agreed to accept less parking and outside amenities than regulations required. I think that situation leaves a bad taste in the mouth of local residents who were well aware of the deal made and then broken by Ralphs/Kroger. Another good example of a S&F takeover is the Tustin Ralphs on Irvine Blvd that closed to consolidate with the Jamboree store. This S&F really still feels like a Ralphs inside, or maybe a more upscale F4L that is clean well lit and smells good. This store far outperforms the Ralphs that was there and I was told it is one of the top performers in the entire S&F chain which is why it is used as a test store (including the infamous queue line test that flopped).
They generally have been able to try to fill in gaps and seem to do a better job when they have taken over a conventional supermarket in an area lacking coverage. They have not been able to compete in the top end of the market from what I have seen, and that has resulted in closures like Corona Del Mar (former ultra-luxe Albertsons). Yet somehow they squeak by in Santa Barbara, probably carried more by small businesses than consumers.
They generally have been very successful in being a chameleon store that changes to the community. They obviously data mine and figure out what sells best then adjust the assortment so that they can make good sales and grow annually to keep the doors open.
Overall, the comparison of S&F and Gelsons is a good one. Both are niche stores primarily. Gelsons is for the ultra rich who primarily source their meat and seafood from the best possible sources but might need a couple last minute steaks, but then they buy all their boxed goods from their ample and expensive center store along with lots of sides from their pricey deli department. S&F is as said a chameleon that does a better job of adapting to the location and really can serve as a full supermarket in areas under served by the big chains, but where there is more competition they skew back to their Foodservice roots.