Sprouts merging with Albertsons? (Phoenix, Chandler: sales, buy, live)

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by locolife

You left out Bashas, still locally owned. We also have a growing number of great farmers markets.

There would still be Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Natural Grocers, Winco and I'm sure others I'm missing.

True.

For produce, I put whole foods largely out in left field price wise. Natural grocers and trader joe's I've found have little produce depth/doesn't touch the produce variety and sale prices for the most part at sprouts. Winco does have a great bulk section and produce can be decent price wise.

[ddandano]

It seems like this would be bad for Sprouts. We all know that Sprouts is a well managed pleasant store- and Albertsons is just the opposite.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by ddandano

It seems like this would be bad for Sprouts. We all know that Sprouts is a well managed pleasant store- and Albertsons is just the opposite.

I'm wondering if they grew too fast. I know they've been entering new markets and the stock has suffered within the past year. With Albertsons comes better purchasing power, but like I said before I'm worried the quality may suffer. I'm definitely rooting against this.

[Ponderosa]

Albertson's is the worst of the bunch. Who would shop there if they had a choice? How they manage to acquire other grocers is a mystery. They drove an already bad Safeway even lower. Buying Sprouts would spell the end of that shopping experience.

[TempeAZnative]

This is not good at all! I'm not a fan of Albertson's and the quality of their meat and produce selection. Sprouts has the best produce section of all the stores and I love their meat quality. This is bad for competition in the healther food selection in the Valley. Plus, we will lose another corporate headquarters here.

[pbenjamin]

I don't understand all of the hate being piled on Albertson's. If you want a full service supermarket (that eliminates Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc.) and don't want to go to a WalMart/Target sort of place, you have 4 choices in Phoenix: Albertson's, Fry's, Safeway and Basha's. I suppose you could add Winco, Food City, Ranch Market, etc. but they aren't in all areas. Each one has pluses and minuses. Generalizations about price (xxx is so much more expensive) are not all that accurate, they are really all about the same. The individual stores within a chain also vary a lot. I've seen Basha's that are new and shiny and ones that are outright dumps, for example. The main differentiater for me is whether or not they have what I want to buy. Safeway doesn't have Endust. Fry's doesn't carry Perrier or San Pellegrino in one liter plastic bottles other than lemon flavored. Etc. Because of that I end up shopping in all of them, rotating where I do my weekly shopping. My gripes with Albertson's are they don't have self checkout and go too crazy with the "when you buy 5" kind of pricing. But I go there, driving quite a distance, because they have things that I want to buy that other stores don't. Albertson's buying Safeway was bad news because Safeway is getting more like Albertson's, giving me 3.5 choices rather than 4. Albertson's buying Sprouts doesn't concern me, partially because I don't go to Sprouts much but moreso because they aren't really competitors. Sprouts is a specialty store that lacks about half the stuff I need. (Having said that, it looks like Sprouts will be replacing Basha's #2 at 7th Ave/Osborn so I will likely be going in there more frequently.)

[asufan]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

I don't understand all of the hate being piled on Albertson's. If you want a full service supermarket (that eliminates Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc.) and don't want to go to a WalMart/Target sort of place, you have 4 choices in Phoenix: Albertson's, Fry's, Safeway and Basha's. I suppose you could add Winco, Food City, Ranch Market, etc. but they aren't in all areas. Each one has pluses and minuses. Generalizations about price (xxx is so much more expensive) are not all that accurate, they are really all about the same. The individual stores within a chain also vary a lot. I've seen Basha's that are new and shiny and ones that are outright dumps, for example. The main differentiater for me is whether or not they have what I want to buy. Safeway doesn't have Endust. Fry's doesn't carry Perrier or San Pellegrino in one liter plastic bottles other than lemon flavored. Etc. Because of that I end up shopping in all of them, rotating where I do my weekly shopping. My gripes with Albertson's are they don't have self checkout and go too crazy with the "when you buy 5" kind of pricing. But I go there, driving quite a distance, because they have things that I want to buy that other stores don't. Albertson's buying Safeway was bad news because Safeway is getting more like Albertson's, giving me 3.5 choices rather than 4. Albertson's buying Sprouts doesn't concern me, partially because I don't go to Sprouts much but moreso because they aren't really competitors. Sprouts is a specialty store that lacks about half the stuff I need. (Having said that, it looks like Sprouts will be replacing Basha's #2 at 7th Ave/Osborn so I will likely be going in there more frequently.)

It's hard to get decent USDA Prime steaks at most grocery stores, the meat at Sprout's is fantastic. The produce selection is better than all 4 that you listed, but Fry's is getting better. The new Fry's Marketplace in South Chandler actually has a bar in it with craft beers on tap and TV's (this is their new thing they are doing in the new stores) a salad bar and lots of fresh ready to go food like a burrito/burrito bowl bar, orange chicken, wings, pretzels, sandwiches, etc. The one redeeming quality of the Albertsons in the Ocotillo area is that it is always dead, so it's easy to get in and get out. If Sprouts does go down to Albertson's quality, I will likely just stick to Fry's and get my steaks from Costco or Butcher Block Meats (expensive).

Check out the new sports bars and wine tasting station inside Fry's

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by asufan

It's hard to get decent USDA Prime steaks at most grocery stores, the meat at Sprout's is fantastic. The produce selection is better than all 4 that you listed, but Fry's is getting better. The new Fry's Marketplace in South Chandler actually has a bar in it with craft beers on tap and TV's (this is their new thing they are doing in the new stores) a salad bar and lots of fresh ready to go food like a burrito/burrito bowl bar, orange chicken, wings, pretzels, sandwiches, etc. The one redeeming quality of the Albertsons in the Ocotillo area is that it is always dead, so it's easy to get in and get out. If Sprouts does go down to Albertson's quality, I will likely just stick to Fry's and get my steaks from Costco or Butcher Block Meats (expensive).

Check out the new sports bars and wine tasting station inside Fry's

The Fry's at 20th St and Highland was recently remodeled and expanded and it's wonderful, although parking is problematic. Didn't see a sports bar or wine tasting though. The Whole Foods across the street has a bar.

I'll look at the meat at Sprouts if/when they open nearby. To date I have only been in there for produce and the occasional health food item. I tend to go to AJ's, Whole Foods or Kobe Meats for higher quality meat or fish.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

The Fry's at 20th St and Highland was recently remodeled and expanded and it's wonderful, although parking is problematic. Didn't see a sports bar or wine tasting though. The Whole Foods across the street has a bar.

I'll look at the meat at Sprouts if/when they open nearby. To date I have only been in there for produce and the occasional health food item. I tend to go to AJ's, Whole Foods or Kobe Meats for higher quality meat or fish.

AJ's sorta worries me since they are owned by bashas and bashas was in trouble recently for mislabeling meats.

[ajonesaz]

I truly hope not. They ruined the Safeway by me since merging. Where is Albertsons getting this money from??


Plus, we lose another fast growing corporation here in the valley.