The front left corner is home to the store's pharmacy, sharing a drop ceiling with some low shelves for health and beauty. Nothing particularly interesting over here either, decor-wise.
Speaking of somewhat unusual looking pharmacies in Albertsons properties, I recently made a stop at the El Rancho at W. 34th St. & 290 in Houston the other day. This was a Randall's location until a few years ago when Randall's closed and Albertsons transferred it to El Rancho. Prior to it being a Randall's, it used to be a Globe (Walgreens' version of Kmart) and then later a Kmart itself. Safeway rebuilt the building I think so it looks completely like an early 2000s Safeway rather than anything odd you might expect in a Safeway in an old Kmart.
The El Rancho does have a pharmacy, but it looks like it is run by a 3rd party pharmacist rather than by something under the Albertsons pharmacy umbrella (Albertsons is a major investor in El Rancho). Although El Rancho's decor is something very different than anything one would see in a Safeway, El Rancho did keep the Quest Diagnostics room with the wood frame and glass windows intact from the Randall's. It looks very odd with the rest of El Rancho's decor! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/X3PXFf13WgeSkaUT7
As for the rest of the store, it doesn't look too much like the old Randall's, but I think the location for things like the dairy cases are where they were when the store was a Randall's. The certainly fixed the lighting problem that this store had as a Randall's has it had the very typical dim lighting that Lifestyle v1 and v2 stores had before Safeway fixed the problem at some locations (I believe this store closed with Lifestyle v2). Here's the rest of the store: https://goo.gl/maps/5QoC28CoLYs5Fgyj6
El Rancho sells a lot of Signature Select brand products, as you'd expect from something under Albertsons, and they sell it for quite a bit less than what Randall's sells the same products for at least when comparing regular prices. I would say that on some staple items I checked, El Rancho was selling the Signature Select products for about 40% less than Randall's. I don't know if this is specific to this location because this store competes with a nearby Joe V's (HEB's discount grocery banner). But, yeah, with prices like what El Rancho had, they were probably cheaper than Walmart and even Aldi on many things. It's a bit odd seeing something from Albertsons/Safeway be so cheap!
I must say, a normal 00s Randalls clearly looks nothing like a normal 00s Northwest Safeway! The exterior look and layout are completely different from anything I've ever seen. Other than that, the new El Rancho decor is certainly pretty nice, and way different than anything Safeway would have ever used!
Interesting to hear that about their pricing. That's how Safeway used to typically be around here, though in the post-Albertsons era, prices certainly trended up a bit relative to Walmart or Target (though in the past year or so, it seems like other chains have raised their prices quite a bit faster than Safeway has, so they have the best prices on a lot of things again). Certainly interesting that they're selling Signature-brand products for less than the actual Albertsons-owned stores around there, though!
While the exterior of the old Randall's might look a bit different from anything Safeway did in the NW, I don't know if the interior is all that different from what Safeway would have done in the NW in the early 2000s. I suppose it's hard for me to say though. Here's the old Google page for the Randall's before the store closed and was turned into El Rancho: https://goo.gl/maps/39HA2fnv5V8PVqp78
One thing to note is that the Google rating for that Randall's when it closed in 2018 was 3.6. These days, the lowest rated Houston Randall's are at 4.1 with most stores having a 4.2 or 4.3. While I think the perception is different in the NW, I think the perception here is that Randall's is quite a bit better run now since the Albertsons merger and also since the old Houston division/distribution center closed. Now that everything is run out of Dallas, things seem to have improved quite a bit and it seems that even regular shoppers have noticed that as well. I also think Randall's handled the pandemic better than many of their competitors. They gained a lot of ground in the ratings in 2020.
I think it's also true here that Randall's has not increased their prices quite as quickly here in 2022 as some of their competitors. That said, Randall's had a reputation for very high prices even before the Albertsons merger and I'm not sure if that perception has changed much since then. Randall's does have some good sales promotions, especially with the digital coupons, which helps a lot, but still, El Rancho is selling stuff at regular price that Randall's has for the same price when they have a good sale. On top of that, at least during my visit to El Rancho, they have quite a few sales as well. While Randall's may never be considered the low price leader here in Houston, it's odd that El Rancho might well be the low price leader!
The decor is what I would expect from a Safeway from that era, but the layout is completely different! That sort of layout almost looks like something I would expect to see at an Albertsons rather than a Safeway.
It really is amazing that Randall's in your area has gotten better following the merger. Safeway used to have good prices, good products (in terms of store brands and produce), and good service; they've almost completely lost the last two following the merger (and what's worse, most of the products that were very good at Albertsons pre-merger are gone these days too), and they've been losing ground on prices. As a result, they've been closing a ton of stores lately (it was very rare to see a Safeway close pre-merger, while Albertsons had closed a huge number of stores), and I'm sure they're losing market share despite having had the opportunity to be a near monopoly following the botched Haggen deal. It really feels like our local Safeway division is losing its way, much in the same way that other divisions did in the pre-merger era (with the Northwest being one of the only regions spared from Safeway's troubles in the 00s), and the only thing keeping them from botching it as badly as some divisions did in that era is that the Northwest is still very low on grocery competition (again, especially after they lost Haggen and Albertsons as competitors).
I do agree with you that the Safeway Select store brands from before the merger were better than most of the Signature Select stuff in Randall's stores today. There was a noticeable drop-off in quality there. Aside from that, a lot of little problems that Randall's had in the Safeway era seem to have improved here in the Albertsons era. Again, I'm not sure how much of this is attributable to the merger and how much of it can be attributed to the subsequent closure of the Houston Safeway division and Randall's distribution center in Houston. It's possible that the people in Dallas that runs things now are just better at running things even though the distance to supply the stores has gotten bigger.
During the Safeway era, it was common for Randall's stores to run out of advertised products. It still happens sometimes today if it's a really good sale, just as what happens at all grocers, but the situation was much worse before the merger. It was like Safeway never stocked up on advertised items and so they ran out very quickly. Also, in the Safeway era, it was common to find products near their expiration date or even past it on the shelves. These days, that's not a common experience at Randall's stores.
While Safeway didn't close a lot of stores in your area, they did close a lot of stores here pre-merger, and post-merger, but it's possible that some of the stores that were closed were poor performers and just getting rid of those locations and sticking with the core of profitable stores like what they probably have now might explain why the surviving Houston Randall's are pretty well-run stores compared to some of the Randall's of the past which didn't survive.
Yeah, it seems like the Northwest (and particularly the Seattle Division) is the only part of Safeway that had its act together leading up to the merger, which makes its fall in recent years all the more frustrating. It's crazy that closing the nearby distribution center made supply issues better at Randall's! Growing up, I don't remember Safeway having major supply issues, but I do remember often having to get rain checks at Albertsons, so they must have had some issues (or perhaps it's just that we only shopped at Albertsons when they had big sales). Safeway is still pretty good about that these days, though there are obviously big factors beyond their control these days.
It defies logic that Randall's stores in Houston would have better inventory control when they became supplied by the distribution center in Dallas instead of the one right here in Houston! The only answer I have for that is that A) perhaps Albertsons has some influence on the Safeway distribution channel in Dallas that they wouldn't have had in Houston since Albertsons is no longer here and B) perhaps Safeway just gave Dallas higher priority than they gave Houston.
On the latter point, Randall Onstead, the son of the founder of Randall's and a former Randall's executive before the Safeway buyout of Randall's, gave a speech to Chicago businessmen after Safeway made him the head of Dominick's in around 2003. A recording of that speech is online and Onstead said that when Safeway bought Randall's, what they really wanted was the Tom Thumb stores in Dallas and not really the Randall's stores in Houston and Austin. Given that HEB had not reached Dallas in any great capacity at that time, which is still mostly the case today, it makes sense why Safeway valued Dallas so much more than they valued Austin and Houston. Perhaps Safeway let the Houston division and distribution center fall way behind, but they looked after the Dallas one. It's hard to say.
Speaking of somewhat unusual looking pharmacies in Albertsons properties, I recently made a stop at the El Rancho at W. 34th St. & 290 in Houston the other day. This was a Randall's location until a few years ago when Randall's closed and Albertsons transferred it to El Rancho. Prior to it being a Randall's, it used to be a Globe (Walgreens' version of Kmart) and then later a Kmart itself. Safeway rebuilt the building I think so it looks completely like an early 2000s Safeway rather than anything odd you might expect in a Safeway in an old Kmart.
ReplyDeleteThe El Rancho does have a pharmacy, but it looks like it is run by a 3rd party pharmacist rather than by something under the Albertsons pharmacy umbrella (Albertsons is a major investor in El Rancho). Although El Rancho's decor is something very different than anything one would see in a Safeway, El Rancho did keep the Quest Diagnostics room with the wood frame and glass windows intact from the Randall's. It looks very odd with the rest of El Rancho's decor! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/X3PXFf13WgeSkaUT7
As for the rest of the store, it doesn't look too much like the old Randall's, but I think the location for things like the dairy cases are where they were when the store was a Randall's. The certainly fixed the lighting problem that this store had as a Randall's has it had the very typical dim lighting that Lifestyle v1 and v2 stores had before Safeway fixed the problem at some locations (I believe this store closed with Lifestyle v2). Here's the rest of the store: https://goo.gl/maps/5QoC28CoLYs5Fgyj6
El Rancho sells a lot of Signature Select brand products, as you'd expect from something under Albertsons, and they sell it for quite a bit less than what Randall's sells the same products for at least when comparing regular prices. I would say that on some staple items I checked, El Rancho was selling the Signature Select products for about 40% less than Randall's. I don't know if this is specific to this location because this store competes with a nearby Joe V's (HEB's discount grocery banner). But, yeah, with prices like what El Rancho had, they were probably cheaper than Walmart and even Aldi on many things. It's a bit odd seeing something from Albertsons/Safeway be so cheap!
I must say, a normal 00s Randalls clearly looks nothing like a normal 00s Northwest Safeway! The exterior look and layout are completely different from anything I've ever seen. Other than that, the new El Rancho decor is certainly pretty nice, and way different than anything Safeway would have ever used!
DeleteInteresting to hear that about their pricing. That's how Safeway used to typically be around here, though in the post-Albertsons era, prices certainly trended up a bit relative to Walmart or Target (though in the past year or so, it seems like other chains have raised their prices quite a bit faster than Safeway has, so they have the best prices on a lot of things again). Certainly interesting that they're selling Signature-brand products for less than the actual Albertsons-owned stores around there, though!
While the exterior of the old Randall's might look a bit different from anything Safeway did in the NW, I don't know if the interior is all that different from what Safeway would have done in the NW in the early 2000s. I suppose it's hard for me to say though. Here's the old Google page for the Randall's before the store closed and was turned into El Rancho: https://goo.gl/maps/39HA2fnv5V8PVqp78
DeleteOne thing to note is that the Google rating for that Randall's when it closed in 2018 was 3.6. These days, the lowest rated Houston Randall's are at 4.1 with most stores having a 4.2 or 4.3. While I think the perception is different in the NW, I think the perception here is that Randall's is quite a bit better run now since the Albertsons merger and also since the old Houston division/distribution center closed. Now that everything is run out of Dallas, things seem to have improved quite a bit and it seems that even regular shoppers have noticed that as well. I also think Randall's handled the pandemic better than many of their competitors. They gained a lot of ground in the ratings in 2020.
I think it's also true here that Randall's has not increased their prices quite as quickly here in 2022 as some of their competitors. That said, Randall's had a reputation for very high prices even before the Albertsons merger and I'm not sure if that perception has changed much since then. Randall's does have some good sales promotions, especially with the digital coupons, which helps a lot, but still, El Rancho is selling stuff at regular price that Randall's has for the same price when they have a good sale. On top of that, at least during my visit to El Rancho, they have quite a few sales as well. While Randall's may never be considered the low price leader here in Houston, it's odd that El Rancho might well be the low price leader!
The decor is what I would expect from a Safeway from that era, but the layout is completely different! That sort of layout almost looks like something I would expect to see at an Albertsons rather than a Safeway.
DeleteIt really is amazing that Randall's in your area has gotten better following the merger. Safeway used to have good prices, good products (in terms of store brands and produce), and good service; they've almost completely lost the last two following the merger (and what's worse, most of the products that were very good at Albertsons pre-merger are gone these days too), and they've been losing ground on prices. As a result, they've been closing a ton of stores lately (it was very rare to see a Safeway close pre-merger, while Albertsons had closed a huge number of stores), and I'm sure they're losing market share despite having had the opportunity to be a near monopoly following the botched Haggen deal. It really feels like our local Safeway division is losing its way, much in the same way that other divisions did in the pre-merger era (with the Northwest being one of the only regions spared from Safeway's troubles in the 00s), and the only thing keeping them from botching it as badly as some divisions did in that era is that the Northwest is still very low on grocery competition (again, especially after they lost Haggen and Albertsons as competitors).
I do agree with you that the Safeway Select store brands from before the merger were better than most of the Signature Select stuff in Randall's stores today. There was a noticeable drop-off in quality there. Aside from that, a lot of little problems that Randall's had in the Safeway era seem to have improved here in the Albertsons era. Again, I'm not sure how much of this is attributable to the merger and how much of it can be attributed to the subsequent closure of the Houston Safeway division and Randall's distribution center in Houston. It's possible that the people in Dallas that runs things now are just better at running things even though the distance to supply the stores has gotten bigger.
DeleteDuring the Safeway era, it was common for Randall's stores to run out of advertised products. It still happens sometimes today if it's a really good sale, just as what happens at all grocers, but the situation was much worse before the merger. It was like Safeway never stocked up on advertised items and so they ran out very quickly. Also, in the Safeway era, it was common to find products near their expiration date or even past it on the shelves. These days, that's not a common experience at Randall's stores.
While Safeway didn't close a lot of stores in your area, they did close a lot of stores here pre-merger, and post-merger, but it's possible that some of the stores that were closed were poor performers and just getting rid of those locations and sticking with the core of profitable stores like what they probably have now might explain why the surviving Houston Randall's are pretty well-run stores compared to some of the Randall's of the past which didn't survive.
Yeah, it seems like the Northwest (and particularly the Seattle Division) is the only part of Safeway that had its act together leading up to the merger, which makes its fall in recent years all the more frustrating. It's crazy that closing the nearby distribution center made supply issues better at Randall's! Growing up, I don't remember Safeway having major supply issues, but I do remember often having to get rain checks at Albertsons, so they must have had some issues (or perhaps it's just that we only shopped at Albertsons when they had big sales). Safeway is still pretty good about that these days, though there are obviously big factors beyond their control these days.
DeleteIt defies logic that Randall's stores in Houston would have better inventory control when they became supplied by the distribution center in Dallas instead of the one right here in Houston! The only answer I have for that is that A) perhaps Albertsons has some influence on the Safeway distribution channel in Dallas that they wouldn't have had in Houston since Albertsons is no longer here and B) perhaps Safeway just gave Dallas higher priority than they gave Houston.
DeleteOn the latter point, Randall Onstead, the son of the founder of Randall's and a former Randall's executive before the Safeway buyout of Randall's, gave a speech to Chicago businessmen after Safeway made him the head of Dominick's in around 2003. A recording of that speech is online and Onstead said that when Safeway bought Randall's, what they really wanted was the Tom Thumb stores in Dallas and not really the Randall's stores in Houston and Austin. Given that HEB had not reached Dallas in any great capacity at that time, which is still mostly the case today, it makes sense why Safeway valued Dallas so much more than they valued Austin and Houston. Perhaps Safeway let the Houston division and distribution center fall way behind, but they looked after the Dallas one. It's hard to say.