Aldi lists job openings at multiple warehouses and nearly 30 stores in Northern California

[ClownLoach]

To be fair most Asian grocers are a messy hodgepodge of whatever they think people may buy too... it is usually difficult to find items and this includes the chains especially 99 Ranch, SF Supermarket, and some H Marts everything is just thrown around. There are obviously no planograms. Seafood City seems a bit more structured but also has far less assortment and way more UNFI items every time I visit them. Actually the addition of these items to Smiths have largely stopped me from picking them up at the chain Asian grocers out of town. The smaller Asian stores around Reno don't mark prices clearly and one seems to like to do interesting things with expiration dates, a couple of then charge credit card fees, they're all on my avoid list- most on my avoid at all costs list. Two are on my avoid but go if desperate list. I haven't been to them in months.

Exactly my experience.

I just will not take the time (or the Gas) to find the exceptions to the above.

The newer stores for these companies, especially H-Mart and 99 Ranch, are built and merchandised in a manner you might find surprising. In fact I think it could be argued their newer stores are superior builds to anything that the conventional chains are putting up. They seem to be applying all the modern techniques including planograms, uniform layouts and good space planning. Irvine has the two new H-Mart stores that both replaced oversized Albertsons units, and although at first I was surprised at how plain they appeared I realized that they had taken a new approach to store design that was much more professionally done. 99 Ranch has a new unit in Eastvale that also represents their future stores. The worst chain that I can think of locally, Zion, is constructing a completely new store from the ground up in San Diego to replace their original (which I think is carved out of a dead Kmart). I am unaware of any Zion that has ever been built from scratch. All the other semi-chains mentioned are what I call space fillers and they just go purchase used fixtures, refrigeration, etc. and try to fill the space in a building, slopping it together.

The problem is H-Mart and 99 Ranch are so hyper focused on growth they are never going to take the time to go back and fix the old stores. And the old stores vastly outnumber the new ones. Even fairly recent openings that are about 5 years old are inconsistent, two former Ralphs taken by H-Mart (Lakewood and Mira Mesa) look like two totally different chains in design and execution. Lakewood is awful including a large section of the floor that is basically fenced off as their warehouse, while Mira Mesa is so well designed that it feels like they upgraded many aspects of the Ralphs design. Neither are similar to the new prototype in Irvine.

But I see the evolution of the Asian markets to be similar to what we have seen with Hispanic markets. Even ten years ago they too were primarily space fillers that reused closed stores and old fixtures for the most part. Now you have some true leaders in the industry who again excel at store design and space planning, and they spare no expense to deliver a store that makes the customer jaw drop like that Northgate Mercado in Costa Mesa (which is still completely jam packed with people, if it hadn't been built with top-notch everything it would probably look completely shot by now just from the everyday traffic). Northgate and Vallarta new stores (not old ones, to be clear) stand tall against the American stores. I expect that H-Mart and 99 Ranch are both just a few years away from reaching similar levels. And there are some others out of state like Uwajimaya that could decide to find their way into California and really shake things up.

[veteran+]

Too bad I do not see all that in my shopping radius and of course I and many others are not going to take a chance and travel to find out if it is true (for food purposes).

[ClownLoach]

Too bad I do not see all that in my shopping radius and of course I and many others are not going to take a chance and travel to find out if it is true (for food purposes).

I would agree with that statement in that their newer stores are still in suburban areas. The more urban areas are older stores usually opened with all used equipment. They should be big supporters of the merger and especially the C&S deal as it will result in a lot of good sites they can take over when they close. Could be many opportunities to upgrade their order, original stores. The only H-Mart I've ever seen remodel is a very old Alpha-Beta in Garden Grove that was redone a few years ago and conditions became tolerable. In new stores H-Mart is using the same luxury fixtures with in-gondola overhead lighting and suspended soffits that the "Papyrus" or "Wegmans style" ultra luxe Albertsons scattered around SoCal used in Santa Monica, Corona Del Mar, Belmont Shore, and Rancho Palos Verdes (unfortunately all gone in various mergers, they would likely all fly the Pavilions banner today).

[storewanderer]

The newer stores for these companies, especially H-Mart and 99 Ranch, are built and merchandised in a manner you might find surprising. In fact I think it could be argued their newer stores are superior builds to anything that the conventional chains are putting up. They seem to be applying all the modern techniques including planograms, uniform layouts and good space planning. Irvine has the two new H-Mart stores that both replaced oversized Albertsons units, and although at first I was surprised at how plain they appeared I realized that they had taken a new approach to store design that was much more professionally done. 99 Ranch has a new unit in Eastvale that also represents their future stores. The worst chain that I can think of locally, Zion, is constructing a completely new store from the ground up in San Diego to replace their original (which I think is carved out of a dead Kmart). I am unaware of any Zion that has ever been built from scratch. All the other semi-chains mentioned are what I call space fillers and they just go purchase used fixtures, refrigeration, etc. and try to fill the space in a building, slopping it together.

But I see the evolution of the Asian markets to be similar to what we have seen with Hispanic markets. Even ten years ago they too were primarily space fillers that reused closed stores and old fixtures for the most part. Now you have some true leaders in the industry who again excel at store design and space planning, and they spare no expense to deliver a store that makes the customer jaw drop like that Northgate Mercado in Costa Mesa (which is still completely jam packed with people, if it hadn't been built with top-notch everything it would probably look completely shot by now just from the everyday traffic). Northgate and Vallarta new stores (not old ones, to be clear) stand tall against the American stores. I expect that H-Mart and 99 Ranch are both just a few years away from reaching similar levels. And there are some others out of state like Uwajimaya that could decide to find their way into California and really shake things up.

I've seen a couple really nice professionally merchandised H-Mart Stores in CA. I went to one in TX that was newer and merchandising was a mess; they spent a lot of money, had a big food court, etc., total mess on merchandising. Same systems there as CA so I assume it is run by the same management. Went to one in IL that was in a strip mall and good use of space but it seemed like an independent asian store not a chain (same systems as CA there too so again think it is part of the main chain). The newest one in CO in Westminster is laughably merchandised/organized/assorted (it is that "other" H-Mart chain- uses different systems than the CA/TX ones and everything).

99 Ranch has a newer unit in Folsom in Sacramento in 1/2 of a former Ralphs and it was very promising when it opened; good merchandising, organization, and assortment. Since opening it has steadily gone downhill and as of last week when I went in there the assortment is a mess, placement is sloppy, the store is almost unbearably cold inside, employees are rude, and it is a place I won't return to anytime soon. They just can't maintain these stores it seems. Produce is a mess of good product and rotting product; hot food/bakery barely assorted; seafood looks okay I guess. One checkout open mid afternoon and I waited 10 minutes to check out (no bagger working). The employee then rolled a bag of oranges I had out of the bag and all over the counter (customer ahead of me had multiple bags of seafood that had been sitting right in the spot they rolled down to and it was still wet down there from the seafoods) and picked them all up with her gloved hands and rebagged them into my bag (same gloved hands she handled cash with and handled previous customer's fish) - forget the oranges just void them - needed a manager for that. Then had to write it down on a clipboard and initial it and manager had to initial it. Over a $2 void. What a mess.

So what I see is these Asian operators will occasionally spare no expense on a new store and put out a really nice store (H-Mart being the most common to do this) but then when you get to center store merchandising it completely falls off months after opening. They still keep up the perimeter and food court areas, but not center store. That H Mart in Mira Mesa in San Diego is like that specifically; perimeter is maintained, center store is a clusterf- mess of whatever thrown wherever and not organized well or thoughtfully.

But the Kroger program I describe is thoughtfully selecting the items based on most popular items of the supplier... even if it looks like a clusterf- mess, there is thought to why what is there, is there. But again this is not fool proof. The supplier may move a ton of these items but with the Asian demographics being so varied it is meaningless. If one of their top moving items is some Japan import (or China import, or Philippines import, or whatever) yet the store is in an area with few to no Japanese (or Chinese, or Filipino, etc.), that item won't sell... and you can say well the chains should find and use demographic data and figure out how to merchandise these categories. But the Census just has "Asian" and "Other Pacific Islander" categories. So really you can use Census data to figure out if many there may be interested in Filipino food as they would fill it out as "Other Pacific Islander" since those demographic groups consume a lot of Filipino type foods, but that is about it... very difficult to get a break out of the actual Asian groups residing in a given area.

[veteran+]

I visited that HMart in Mira Mesa.



It confirmed all my biases about markets in this category.

[lake52]

Anyone can crudely draw a square and put “Aldi” inside of it, but I did find it interesting that Aldi is specifically mentioned on the site plan for this project in South Sacramento / Elk Grove.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/ ... etail.html

[storewanderer]

Anyone can crudely draw a square and put “Aldi” inside of it, but I did find it interesting that Aldi is specifically mentioned on the site plan for this project in South Sacramento / Elk Grove.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/ ... etail.html

The site plan has "Aldi" drawn in a square like you describe.

But then when you go into the actual article text it says an "Aldi-type grocery store." What does that mean? That is very odd.

I can think of a lot of things that seem like they'd be a better fit based on what this development thinks it wants to be... co-op type store, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc. Maybe even Sprouts. But okay, go with "Aldi-type." Maybe they can get Grocery Outlet; that would be a huge step up from "Aldi-type."

[ClownLoach]

I visited that HMart in Mira Mesa.



It confirmed all my biases about markets in this category.

As I've brought up before, I think any biases you might have about Hispanic oriented markets would be destroyed by that Costa Mesa Northgate. Even now it is still incredibly busy, and a heck of a lot of fun to visit. You can see directly into their prep kitchens at the back of the store and I have never seen anything cleaner in any grocery store or restaurant. They almost look unused but then I was sitting at a table next to one of them and a couple workers walked in with buckets of juices prepared to make palletas (Popsicles) and they have all the equipment there for it. Really cool setup. They are still executing at Bristol Farms levels in there. It's the most beautiful grocery store in California right now in my opinion.

For the Asian markets, I agree that H-Mart has potential but I'd have to check and see how they're doing on the latest new stores (Irvine 2X) to see if they're able to maintain it. I think the supply chains for center store goods are more problematic coming out of Asia and that forces all of these chains to do a lot of "flex merchandising" or "SWAT" tactics (sell what's available today) so they don't have empty shelves. Then they suddenly do get product in and it's a literal ton of it so they have to rework part of the section to cram more in and throw the rest on top of the shelves.

A few very respectable stores though include the whole Marukai/Tokyo Central "complex" in San Diego which I suspect is on borrowed time. The store has grown to three separate buildings but it feels like you're in Hawaii in the main food building. Another impressive store isn't in California, but it is Uwajimaya in Seattle which really is like a Japanese Whole Foods. An incredible store. I have only been to the one near the stadium but I understand they have other locations in the PNW.

[ClownLoach]

Anyone can crudely draw a square and put “Aldi” inside of it, but I did find it interesting that Aldi is specifically mentioned on the site plan for this project in South Sacramento / Elk Grove.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/ ... etail.html

The site plan has "Aldi" drawn in a square like you describe.

But then when you go into the actual article text it says an "Aldi-type grocery store." What does that mean? That is very odd.

I can think of a lot of things that seem like they'd be a better fit based on what this development thinks it wants to be... co-op type store, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc. Maybe even Sprouts. But okay, go with "Aldi-type." Maybe they can get Grocery Outlet; that would be a huge step up from "Aldi-type."

That "site plan" is not even really a blueprint. More like something thrown together in Microsoft Paint. It does not look right at all and surprised that is coming from an alleged developer? I hope that they make real blueprints for the builders to use. 22K is also a touch large for Aldi, in a purpose built facility they'd be exactly at that 18.6K prototype. The new Sprouts small format is a 20K facility too. It is probably a placeholder for whatever they get (Sprouts, Aldi, TJs, Grocery Outlet) and will be adjusted up or down accordingly. I have no doubt that Aldi is headed for Norcal however and I could easily see them targeting the Central Valley and Sacramento areas to get established before they try to squeeze into the $$$$ Bay Area.

Totally off topic, but the rapid collapse of 99 Cents Only makes me wonder about the long term future of Sprouts under the same leadership. They seem to be trying to put up stores everywhere while the existing fleet standards are collapsing under a lack of supervision. Very similar to 99. For example there are at least 3 new Sprouts under development (2 fully leased and awaiting construction) in my area. The two leased are near an existing site that may be the most poorly operated Sprouts I have ever seen with dreadful conditions and bad service. I have to think the rapid collapse of 99 Cents Only was caused by a similar period of rapid growth at all expenses. Once the 99 stores leases matured and they crossed into the next tier of rent at the 5 or 10 year mark as is customary the company seemingly collapsed under the barrage of rent increases on what were likely much more expensive leases to begin with. I have seen some very slow-out-of-the-gate new Sprouts in high rent areas and I wonder how they would be able to handle the first couple of scheduled rent increases which usually are double digits. I'm sure the shareholders are happy now with Sprouts moving from loss leader produce to specialist products at high prices, but will there be enough traffic to support these stores when the rent starts to go up as they almost assuredly agreed to? They're already most likely carrying dead rent on that last batch of closures they lied about claiming to be closing out all the large formats when many remain open.

[veteran+]

I visited that HMart in Mira Mesa.



It confirmed all my biases about markets in this category.

As I've brought up before, I think any biases you might have about Hispanic oriented markets would be destroyed by that Costa Mesa Northgate. Even now it is still incredibly busy, and a heck of a lot of fun to visit. You can see directly into their prep kitchens at the back of the store and I have never seen anything cleaner in any grocery store or restaurant. They almost look unused but then I was sitting at a table next to one of them and a couple workers walked in with buckets of juices prepared to make palletas (Popsicles) and they have all the equipment there for it. Really cool setup. They are still executing at Bristol Farms levels in there. It's the most beautiful grocery store in California right now in my opinion.

For the Asian markets, I agree that H-Mart has potential but I'd have to check and see how they're doing on the latest new stores (Irvine 2X) to see if they're able to maintain it. I think the supply chains for center store goods are more problematic coming out of Asia and that forces all of these chains to do a lot of "flex merchandising" or "SWAT" tactics (sell what's available today) so they don't have empty shelves. Then they suddenly do get product in and it's a literal ton of it so they have to rework part of the section to cram more in and throw the rest on top of the shelves.

A few very respectable stores though include the whole Marukai/Tokyo Central "complex" in San Diego which I suspect is on borrowed time. The store has grown to three separate buildings but it feels like you're in Hawaii in the main food building. Another impressive store isn't in California, but it is Uwajimaya in Seattle which really is like a Japanese Whole Foods. An incredible store. I have only been to the one near the stadium but I understand they have other locations in the PNW.

I understand what you are saying, but pragmatically for me in my general area (distances I would travel to buy food items), there is not one ethnic food store I would chance to give a "try".

Even when there was a Jons market near me (slighly ethnic), they were gross. I am one of those customers that if you turn me off (and there are a lot of customers like me) it's gonna take moving a mountain to get me back.

Add to that, my strong retail bias that tells me "it should never be like that" no matter what.