Albertsons Lawn and Garden Centers

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pseudo3d
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Re: Albertsons Lawn and Garden Centers

Post by pseudo3d »

One of the two Albertsons stores in McKinney does have an L&G department with real signage still, though it's not that store. Yeah, I know Albertsons is out of the business and unlikely to return (been gone for 10 years, and frankly the new company isn't much for exciting concepts), but this is about grocery HISTORY, is it not?
Ephrata1966
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Re: Albertsons Lawn and Garden Centers

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Not trying to throw this thread off-topic, but this thread reminds me of a few questions I had for anyone who might know: first of all, when did Target phase out garden centers from their stores? Actually they weren't exactly garden "centers" Target used to have... Target stores had 2-3 aisles of plants and related accessories, but never had garden centers that were semi-outdoor.

Also, I knew of a Kmart (which has since closed and is now a very small Lowe's, and was a Grant City originally) that closed its official "Kmart garden shop" (the "family dining" restaurant closed at the same time) many years before the whole store closed. What is strange is that even though the "normal" garden center closed, the store started selling plants that were displayed on the sidewalk in front of the store.

I found it really odd that the emergency exits in the store's former restaurant (which was by this time being used to store various seasonal merchandise, making for impulse buys because the store's only public restrooms were in this section) had their alarms turned off and were propped wide open (!) when there was a plant sale going on. I think these doors had been normal entrance/exit doors while the restaurant was open, but were converted to emergency exits when the restaurant closed. The plants on the sidewalk were kind of far from the store's front entrance, so I guess management decided to open up the emergency exits (which the plants were right outside of) to encourage plant purchases. Surprisingly though, there were no staff or registers in the former restaurant area, so it would seem shoplifting would be enabled with these doors propped open. There probably were security cameras watching everyone exiting, but there were no alarm sensors at these exits to prevent theft.

It also was kind of amusing that the Vector Gold System fly zapper on the back wall of the restaurant wasn't turned off or taken down for years after the restaurant closed (but it did get removed a few years before the store closed) even though it wasn't really needed anymore because food was no longer being prepared or served in this room. But I suppose with the doors to the outside being propped open for long periods of time, flies (or worse, bees/wasps/hornets, considering many fragrant plants were right outside) probably had a habit of flying into the store and needed to be killed. Anyway, it's kind of ironic that the store became a Lowe's, which added a full-size garden center on the same spot where Kmart once had one. And the old Grants/Kmart restaurant is today a Lowe's tool rental shop, which I think is a perfect adaptive reuse of the space.

Anyway, I don't think any Acme stores (even ones built new during the 1999-2006 period from when Albertsons bought American Stores to when Supervalu and Cerberus each bought parts of Albertsons) ever had garden centers. Acme stores (not all of them, but some) do have sidewalk plant sales though. I have to think that if Acme had experimented with the Albertsons garden centers that once the garden centers closed, the former garden center spaces at the Pennsylvania stores would all have been replaced by PA wine/spirits stores that may or may not have had entrances/exits into the Acme stores.
pseudo3d
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Re: Albertsons Lawn and Garden Centers

Post by pseudo3d »

Ephrata1966 wrote:Not trying to throw this thread off-topic, but this thread reminds me of a few questions I had for anyone who might know: first of all, when did Target phase out garden centers from their stores? Actually they weren't exactly garden "centers" Target used to have... Target stores had 2-3 aisles of plants and related accessories, but never had garden centers that were semi-outdoor.
Target officially closed garden centers a few years ago. Without looking it up, I think it was 2011-2012. Most of the Targets that did have garden centers were in Florida, even a few new-build 2000s stores had them.
Anyway, I don't think any Acme stores (even ones built new during the 1999-2006 period from when Albertsons bought American Stores to when Supervalu and Cerberus each bought parts of Albertsons) ever had garden centers. Acme stores (not all of them, but some) do have sidewalk plant sales though. I have to think that if Acme had experimented with the Albertsons garden centers that once the garden centers closed, the former garden center spaces at the Pennsylvania stores would all have been replaced by PA wine/spirits stores that may or may not have had entrances/exits into the Acme stores.
The garden centers were only at limited divisions, Florida DIDN'T have them. The only divisions I know of included D/FW, Southwest, and Houston. There was an ACME in Exton that was in a former hardware store that DID keep the garden center (initially).
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