Posted on 02/19/2006 3:39:51 PM PST by SmithL
Northern California's food fight is coming to a store near you.
It's already hit Mary Thomatos, a loyal Albertsons customer until the chain closed its J Street store near her east Sacramento home last summer.
Now the future of the other 25 Albertsons in the Sacramento region is in doubt after their parent company was sold last month. With Ralphs Supermarkets closing eight area stores soon, the grocery landscape is shifting so rapidly that by summer many consumers may no longer recognize their neighborhood store. Such change, those in the industry say, is something most of us should get used to.
Here's how the area's grocery chain scorecard looks as of now:
Ralphs: Gone as of early April.
Albertsons: In trouble. Changes, including store closures, are possible by summer as new owners take over.
Raley's, Nugget and Safeway: Surviving - but looking warily over their shoulders.
What does it mean for shoppers?
* Lower prices, as more of Wal-Mart's tires-to-toothpaste Supercenters open locally.
* Fewer traditional grocery stores, farther apart, with survivors retooling to compete.
* More niche stores with unique goods and atmosphere.
* Non-grocery businesses filling spaces vacated by departing food stores.
Thomatos said she's not a Wal-Mart fan and hopes the world's largest retailer doesn't exploit Albertsons' and Ralphs' woes to further elbow its way into the region.
"I hate to see Wal-Mart beat up on the little guy," she said.
But it's Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., that is forcing most of the changes in the industry, locally and nationally. The company "always has its nose in the wind and smells opportunity when it's there," said Michael Banks, owner and partner of Las Vegas-based retail consultant Select Marketing LLC. "They're going to sense an opening and move in."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Snart!....almost a 50% savings on one item alone....$money in YOUR pocket.
I had to do some grocery shopping while there--went to Ralphs and Albertson's, I believe.
You will have to take my word for this--but groceries were priced MUCH higher there than we pay in Texas. One little example--I buy jumbo sized eggs for 79 cents a dozen, at just about every store around here.
No Whole Foods sells to people that have more money than sense. There are two Whole Foods in my area, and yes in more affluent areas. However their selection leaves much to be desired. As for Wal-Mart, I don't shop for groceries there much. What's popular in this area is Lowes Food (competitor of Harris Teeter market). Food Lions are still around but Winn Dixies have left the state completely
Albertson's is, and I am pretty sure Ralph's is in most areas.
We definitely had culture shock when we moved to California from Tennessee. Everything was much more expensive here.
#2 coffee filters? Our Walmart has 4 cup, 12 cup and cone shape.
> I went to Wally for groceries today. It didn't even have half of what I wanted. If grocery stores want to compete, maybe they should carry what Wally won't. I'm not going to stand in line for fifteen minutes, which I did today, to save less than five bucks, especially when I've got to go somewhere else to finish my shopping.
Hi mewzilla,
I have noticed the selection narrowing at the Wal-Mart SuperStore that I shop. Many flavors are being selectivly eliminated. Guess if the person ordering doesn't like this one, or that one, it doesn't get included. Quantity is also not appropriate for preferred types of cereal. Most often, they are out of Wheat Chex but have shelves full of Multi-Bran Chex (which I never buy).
I do not buy meat from them. Twice I opened a package of sausage (in a frozen tube) to find it was GREEN!
The local grocery I buy meat from does not stock Premium Saltines I love.
We have seen many Winn Dixie's close around here. They are the only store that carries the dog food we feed our dogs. While I will buy meat from them their prices are too high to buy everything from.
Can't win. . . .
Hang in there.
TL
4 posted on 02/19/2006 3:50:48 PM PST by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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7 miles east of me is a WalMart. Within 3 miles of me both East and west is a Home Depot. within a half mile is a Lowes.
Within 2 miles of me is Lakeside Shopping Center with all the upscale clothing stores I can only hope to afford. Within 3 miles of me is a Target, a Mervyns, a Meyers, a Big Kmart, a Farmer Jacks, a Kroger and a produce superstore called Nino Salvaggios............
How they all manage to stay in business I can only guess but the bottom line is that they are all competing for my dollar$$$.........and thats a good thing!
Once upon a time ,the Great Atlantic and Pacific tea Company,(A&P) was the largest chain of stores in the USA. Guess
we're all doomed to starve to death.
Whole Foods actually has "Large number of college-educated residents" as one of its criteria for building a store:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/realestate/index.html
I too prefer Albertsons over Safeway or QFC. The things these store overprice are, Milk, soda, tobacco, paper products, bathroom items, pickles, popcorn etc. If Albertsons kept the gallon of milk at around 2 bucks instead of 4, a lot less people would try elsewhere.
Good point!
"Once upon a time ,the Great Atlantic and Pacific tea Company,(A&P) was the largest chain of stores in the USA."
I remember A&P! Even though they were considered "supermarkets" in the early '50s, they pretty much sold just canned/frozen food. You still had to go to the shops along the main street to get the fresh foods: Kennedy's Butter & Eggs, local bakery, greengrocer, fish market, butcher. Quaint, but no one's gonna put up with that when you can have it all under one roof.
Does anyone know who bought Albertsons?
I will miss the Partner Store program that funneled money to youth programs at my church (as well as many other youth programs.)
You'll never see me in a Safeway store............reasons are my own.
Sad, Albertsons was one of the stores that still allowed the Salvation Army bellringers at Christmas.
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