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Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 21 Feb 2010 18:41
by Ephrata1966
But again, why are so many of the Houston Safeways vacant now?

Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 23:30
by danielh_512
Doesn't take a genius to figure out why they're empty now.

They're small and dated sites. No supermarket chain is going to want them, especially not Kroger and HEB, who have pretty much taken over the market with Wal-Mart.

A lot of them are likely in areas with demographic shifts, a lot more Hispanic residents, a lot less income. And there's only so many sites that can be used by Big Lots, Dollar Tree, and hispanic supermarkets.

Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 23:36
by wnetmacman
danielh_512 wrote:They're small and dated sites. No supermarket chain is going to want them, especially not Kroger and HEB, who have pretty much taken over the market with Wal-Mart.
I agree. The last stores Safeway built in Texas were built circa 1986, and those stores are few. That puts them at 24 years old. Most are much older. While some operators have older stores, they don't have smaller ones. The biggest store Safeway built was not bigger than 45,000 sq.ft. The smallest stores Kroger and HEB are building are in the 70,000 sq. ft. range. Kroger has committed to building Marketplace stores which start at 100,000 sq. ft. HEB Plus stores are in the same range. They just aren't needed any more.

Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 27 Feb 2010 19:05
by Ephrata1966
But, as I said before, Kroger and Randalls still have many small and dated sites of their own. For example, why would they close a store acquired in 1993 before an original store from 1983? Many of these stores lasted longer as AppleTree (five years) than they did as who bought them next.

Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 27 Feb 2010 20:46
by danielh_512
Because of sales. A store that's smaller and older may not be able to be expanded, but still has a strong set of customers. Moving to another location may lose those customers. And the fact that the store is older and smaller means it's more profitable usually, considering that there's less overhead.

You have to spend money to retrofit the unit and make it look like a Kroger or Randalls. This usually isn't smart or cost-effective.

Re: Safeway/AppleTree ghost stores

Posted: 29 Sep 2012 15:21
by pseudo3d
According to a newspaper ad at the time, Safeway was opening stores until their closure: one in early 1988 was listed in Houston (forgot the address, shame on me--but it's now a Food Town). Furthermore, 9325 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX (a Kroger, on the Wikipedia page for Kroger, actually) and the Village Foods in Bryan (previous page, taken as an AppleTree) have almost identical facades, and I was told the AppleTree in Bryan was built as a Safeway (which moved across the street, a model that had the red tile roof)