Haggen to Close Anthem Store and 4 others in AZ (Scottsdale: real estate, coupons)

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Juram

This comment puzzles me. How is your choice being "limited", if anything we have more choices than ever before. Aldi is opening up 45 stores in Southern California, its only a matter of time before they wind up here.

Oh. man! I hope you are right! One thing I really miss since moving here is shopping at Aldi. Nothing else here compares.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Oh. man! I hope you are right! One thing I really miss since moving here is shopping at Aldi. Nothing else here compares.

What's amazing about Aldi that Fry's and Safeway don't have?

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by Juram

This comment puzzles me. How is your choice being "limited", if anything we have more choices than ever before. Aldi is opening up 45 stores in Southern California, its only a matter of time before they wind up here.


Safeway/Albertsons
Frys
Bashas
Sprouts
Costco
Walmart
Target
Winco
Trader Joes
Whole Foods
Fresh and Easy
Ranch Market
A bunch of assorted speciality grocers, Asian markets...etc




Whether you want high end, bargain basement, organic.....choices are aplenty out here.

Originally Posted by Juram

The non compete isn't between employee amd employer but between two different companies regarding the future hiring of previous employees.

" They can apply at the others."

Youre pretty flippant about this and completely ignoring the issues of seniority, wages, pensions and more. For workers who had accrued all the above previously, its not just a matter of just jumping to another grocery employer.

I had no intention of being flippant, that's your movie.
It's a statement of fact. There WILL be a vacuum when this store closes. People CAN apply at other places. See Juram's list above. I'm not ignoring anything. One can either sit in a puddle on the floor and wail and gnash their teeth, or they can apply at the other stores. You are preaching to the choir when it comes to lost pensions, older employees, and the marketplace for jobs. It IS a matter of going to another employer, no matter how anyone wants to frame it. That or moving to Lake Havasu where the Haggens store is still open. How much seniority do people have if Haggen just acquired it? Did their seniority translate from Albertson's to Haggen? If it did, can the same be negotiated? One of the stories says that Haggen is working with other employers and companies to make sure their people get hired.

This was not and should not have been a surprise. Haggen has been struggling since they took over the Albertson's brand. Albertsons was forced to sell the stores to Haggen due to the merger. Then again, Albertson's may have closed these stores anyway. No one can see the future. Any employees of this chain would have or at least should have seen the writing on the wall when they closed all those Haggen stores in California and were sued by the Unions.

It's sad when people are laid off. It happens. Motorola, Intel, GE, all the other big companies in the area. People pick themselves up and life goes on, or they move on. Business is tough now. All the new regulation burdens placed on businesses just in the past 7 years have buried a lot of companies. Employees pay the price in the long run. Just wait if Prop 104 passes! That will add $32 Billion in taxes and expenses to the greater phoenix area. I predict a lot more business failures. And somehow we all muddle through.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by asufan

What's amazing about Aldi that Fry's and Safeway don't have?

Lower prices on quality stuff. Smaller stores that are easy to shop. Great deals on stuff that comes in weekly or seasonally. I could get my weekly shopping done in 10 minutes and spent far less money than I do at any non-Aldi store. When people ask me if I miss my previous city my answer is always "I miss these things" and Aldi is on that list.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Lower prices on quality stuff. Smaller stores that are easy to shop. Great deals on stuff that comes in weekly or seasonally. I could get my weekly shopping done in 10 minutes and spent far less money than I do at any non-Aldi store. When people ask me if I miss my previous city my answer is always "I miss these things" and Aldi is on that list.

Well shopping for one is easy, I could do that in 10 minutes too at one point even at Fry's

I just looked up Aldi and the things that would keep me away is the paying a quarter for a cart, and then going all the way back to get your quarter back, and the fact that they don't take credit cards. Not sure how their prices compare to Fry's, probably similar.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by asufan

Well shopping for one is easy, I could do that in 10 minutes too at one point even at Fry's

I just looked up Aldi and the things that would keep me away is the paying a quarter for a cart, and then going all the way back to get your quarter back, and the fact that they don't take credit cards. Not sure how their prices compare to Fry's, probably similar.

Does your Fry's out there have discount gasoline based on grocery store purchases? Our King Soopers does here in Colorado Springs, and they're Kroger also.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Does your Fry's out there have discount gasoline based on grocery store purchases? Our King Soopers does here in Colorado Springs, and they're Kroger also.

Yes they do

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by asufan

Well shopping for one is easy, I could do that in 10 minutes too at one point even at Fry's

I just looked up Aldi and the things that would keep me away is the paying a quarter for a cart, and then going all the way back to get your quarter back, and the fact that they don't take credit cards. Not sure how their prices compare to Fry's, probably similar.

I can get in and out of Fry's in 10 minutes, sure, but at twice the cost. And the store is more than twice the size so it's more of a hassle to navigate, unless it is one of those ridiculous ones with furniture and clothes and I won't go at all! Prices ARE lower. And it's not just a cost of living thing; Fry's here is very much the same as my non-Aldi store where I used to live, so I am confident that Aldi would be less here too.

As for returning your cart to get your quarter back, well, you just put your cart in the cart corral and get it back, no real extra walking. It's no more of a hassle than returning your cart at Fry's in a cart corral. Or you can hand your cart over to someone that needs it and they give you the quarter. It's not a hassle at all, seriously. I kept a quarter in the cup holder of my car for that purpose.

They do take debit cards, I paid that way all the time. I'm not sure about credit cards, but I personally would never use credit to buy food anyway.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I can get in and out of Fry's in 10 minutes, sure, but at twice the cost. And the store is more than twice the size so it's more of a hassle to navigate, unless it is one of those ridiculous ones with furniture and clothes and I won't go at all! Prices ARE lower. And it's not just a cost of living thing; Fry's here is very much the same as my non-Aldi store where I used to live, so I am confident that Aldi would be less here too.

As for returning your cart to get your quarter back, well, you just put your cart in the cart corral and get it back, no real extra walking. It's no more of a hassle than returning your cart at Fry's in a cart corral. Or you can hand your cart over to someone that needs it and they give you the quarter. It's not a hassle at all, seriously. I kept a quarter in the cup holder of my car for that purpose.

They do take debit cards, I paid that way all the time. I'm not sure about credit cards, but I personally would never use credit to buy food anyway.

I use credit for everything, just pay it off and collect my 1% from the card company. I get the smaller store thing, sometimes for a quick shopping trip I'll go to the smaller bashas because they have covered parking and its easy to get in and out. prices way too high for a major shopping trip though.

[johnp292]

Haggen announced today they are going to close all the remaining stores in AZ, CA and NV as well as many of the stores they acquired in the PNW.