CLAREMONT CA--Albertsons site closing

Uh...California.

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Dean
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CLAREMONT CA--Albertsons site closing

Post by Dean »

Noticed yesterday from the 10 fwy in Claremont...that the ALBERTSONS is closing. This is behind the Auto Center.

Wasn't the site originally ALPHA BETA? I know it was LUCKY prior to ALBERTSONS.

Wonder if they Auto Center will assume the site for a dealer?
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runchadrun
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Post by runchadrun »

Yes, it was an Alpha Beta. It was the only store in Socal that I remember that was branded as a Skaggs Alpha Beta. (There may have been others, this is the only one I remember ever seeing.)
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

That shopping center was in decline for many years. That leaves two markets that left that area within a few years.
Dean
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Post by Dean »

runchadrun wrote:Yes, it was an Alpha Beta. It was the only store in Socal that I remember that was branded as a Skaggs Alpha Beta. (There may have been others, this is the only one I remember ever seeing.)
Yup, thanks! I also remember the SKAGGS name on there as well. They ultimately had SKAGGS removed, and simply Alpha Beta, correct?

As I type, I pulled out of a drawer a SKAGGS ALPHA BETA "Soft Cream Cheese" container I have used over the years to store stuff in! SKAGGS fit within the red ALPHA BETA logo.

I do also remember a SKAGGS ALPHA BETA in the Huntington Beach area. Probably ~1985. I remember laughing as it was spelled out dramatically across the top of the building S K A G G S A L P H A B E T A. It took the entire front!
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Claremont Albertsons

Post by J-Man »

I saw a Target ad in the paper the other today advising customers of the Sav-On pharmacy connected to the Claremont Albertsons that their prescription files had been transferred to the local Target pharmacy. So much for, "Sav-On--we'll always be here."
Dean
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Re: Claremont Albertsons

Post by Dean »

J-Man wrote:I saw a Target ad in the paper the other today advising customers of the Sav-On pharmacy connected to the Claremont Albertsons that their prescription files had been transferred to the local Target pharmacy. So much for, "Sav-On--we'll always be here."
GREAT catch! Exactly...how long will the Sav-On name Live-On within Albertsons stores? Wonder if they will ultimately eliminate it and refer to it simply as the Albertsons (or LUCKY, again!) pharmacy.

This reminds me of our "lifetime" membership @ FEDCO. With the demise of FEDCO, the "lifetime" actually was their's...not the customers'.
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runchadrun
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Post by runchadrun »

This is a list of Skaggs Alpha Beta locations from a display ad in the LA Times dated 11/10/1982:
430 W Claremont Center Drive, Claremont
341 El Camino Real, Encinitas
19640 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach
13413 Telegraph Rd, Whittier
312 E Betteravia Rd, Santa Maria

In 1983 ground was broken for a shopping center in Fallbrook at the corner of Mission and Ammunition Roads (there's a street name!) that was to be anchored by a SAB and a Sprouse-Reitz.

In 1987 a SAB was to open at the SW corner of Pioneer and Firestone in Norwalk.
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J-Mac
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Post by J-Mac »

runchadrun wrote: In 1987 a SAB was to open at the SW corner of Pioneer and Firestone in Norwalk.
I assume this is the closed Albertsons location near Circuit City. Stater Bros. took the site down the street at the western part of the intersection of Imperial & Firestone. Albertsons was the wrong name (and price point) for that market.

Since the closed ABS was a SAB, I assume it wore Lucky at one point, and thus the Staters was an ABS.

Its not the only case of Albertsons taking a Lucky property, putting their name on it, and selling the former ABS to Staters. Seemed odd to me that they would spend the money on all those sign changes and confusion... and its likely a component of the sales slump that followed the merger/divestiture. Someone didn't do their homework...
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Post by Jeff »

J-Mac wrote:
runchadrun wrote: In 1987 a SAB was to open at the SW corner of Pioneer and Firestone in Norwalk.
I assume this is the closed Albertsons location near Circuit City. Stater Bros. took the site down the street at the western part of the intersection of Imperial & Firestone. Albertsons was the wrong name (and price point) for that market.

Since the closed ABS was a SAB, I assume it wore Lucky at one point, and thus the Staters was an ABS.

Its not the only case of Albertsons taking a Lucky property, putting their name on it, and selling the former ABS to Staters. Seemed odd to me that they would spend the money on all those sign changes and confusion... and its likely a component of the sales slump that followed the merger/divestiture. Someone didn't do their homework...
Yes, this was a very different looking Luckys before Albertsons took over. I only went into this store once and it was very big.
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Post by klkla »

J-Mac wrote:I assume this is the closed Albertsons location near Circuit City. Stater Bros. took the site down the street at the western part of the intersection of Imperial & Firestone. Albertsons was the wrong name (and price point) for that market.

Since the closed ABS was a SAB, I assume it wore Lucky at one point, and thus the Staters was an ABS.

Its not the only case of Albertsons taking a Lucky property, putting their name on it, and selling the former ABS to Staters. Seemed odd to me that they would spend the money on all those sign changes and confusion... and its likely a component of the sales slump that followed the merger/divestiture. Someone didn't do their homework...
I went to this store's grand opening as an Alpha Beta. I don't remember it being a Skaggs Alpha Beta, just an Alpha Beta. It was very nice at the time.

The store that is now a Stater Bros. wasn't much older. I remember it being a replacement store for a very old but successful Albertson's that had been located down the street. They moved to the former AB site (which had become a Lucky by this time) because the Lucky store had much more business. And as a testament to how bad ABS management was they actually ran the store in to the ground and their old store is now pretty successful as a Staters.
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Post by Dean »

Saw this site from the freeway this weekend.

The Albertsons' signs have been removed...and you can see LUCKY's remnants across the front of the building!
scanman2
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Skaggs Alpha Beta

Post by scanman2 »

Having lived in the Inland Empire since 16 years old and in the grocery industry since then too, I remember all the fanfare when that store in Clarement opened as southern CA's first SKAGGS ALPHA BETA. I went in there on opening day and it was overexaggerated. All the corporate office suits from Alpha Beta's regional office in La Habra were there and every time a customer pulled an item off the shelf somebody went behind them and faced the merchandise back up. I remember seeing an older lady pull a loaf of Home Pride bread from the shelf and a guy in a suit and tie went behind her after she walked down the aisle and pulled another loaf of bread forward. They did later change it to Alpha Beta. It was a Lucky when the Alpha Beta/Lucky merger happened, then it was converted to an Albertsons when Albertsons took over Lucky.
Last edited by scanman2 on 21 Aug 2009 00:11, edited 1 time in total.
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Claremont Albertsons-Savon labelscar

Post by luckysaver »

Yesterday, as I took my Toyota for service at Claremont Toyota next door to the vacant Albertsons-Savon, I noticed a "Lucky" labelscar rather than an Albertsons-Savon. How could that happen since Albertsons took over the stores site since the 1998 merger ("wedding")?
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J-Mac
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Post by J-Mac »

It may be due to the length of time the Lucky sign was attached to the building (and the number of subsequent paint jobs around such) vs. the Albertsons sign with less than 10 years on it.

The Albertsons sign may have partially covered the labelscar and partially preserved it.

Anyone in the area care to snap a pic?
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Post by Jeff »

Before the Lucky name was on the store, you could see the Alpha Beta labelscar on it
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