Price Cutter to purchase Albertson's stores

[patric]

The store Albertsons got the city to condemn a neighborhood to build is now being sold to Reasors.

After bleeding the competition to death at 15th & Lewis, they're moving on.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070619_5__Groce75734&breadcrumb=Breaking%20News

Guess they had their fill of Infill...

[USRufnex]

Will anything be lined up to replace the one at Pine and Peoria?

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Anyone remember the sign shuffle at the Albertson's at 51st & Harvard back in the late '70's early '80's.

Started out as Skaggs, then Skaggs Alpha-Beta, then Albertson's.

Did I miss any other store titles there?

Yep, but 21st and Memorial was mine.  It was Skaggs-Albertson's for quite a while in there someplace.

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex

Will anything be lined up to replace the one at Pine and Peoria?

I've heard the revenue was good and crime was no more an issue than at any other store.  That and the facts that the area is chronically under served and the facility is virtually new and I think somebody will buy it.

I wish Larry Reasor were still alive; he'd know what to do.  Of course, it'd probably involve an Easter Bunny outfit.    []

[MichaelC]

More from KOTV

quote:OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Albertson's LLC announced plans Tuesday to sell 23 of its Oklahoma grocery stores to four different retailers by the end of July as part of a cost-cutting move.

Albertson's, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc., also said it plans to sell its Fort Worth Distribution Center to Associated Wholesale Grocers. Terms of the sales were not disclosed.

``Selling these assets to AWG and its member retailers allows Albertson's LLC to ensure employment for the vast majority of our impacted associates with a strong national distribution company and regional grocery operators focused on the Oklahoma marketplace,'' Albertson's President and CEO Bob Miller said in a statement.

Edmond-based Homeland Stores will purchase seven Albertson's grocery stores located in Oklahoma City, Norman, Bethany and Muskogee, along with the Sav-On Pharmacies located inside the stores.

Springfield, Mo.-based RPCS, Inc. said it plans to acquire nine Albertson's stores, along with three gas stations, in Tulsa, Ponca City, Bartlesville and Stillwater.

Six Albertson's stores will be purchased by Tuttle-based Williams Discount Foods. Those locations include two in Oklahoma City, one in Yukon, one in Edmond, one in Del City and one in Midwest City.

Tahlequah-based Reasor's Inc. will purchase one Tulsa store.

Albertson's plans to close its remaining three stores in Tulsa, Owasso and Midwest City later this summer.

Ron Edgmon, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Grocers Association, said the acquisitions are good news for Oklahoma consumers.

``Albertson's has been kind of a lame duck in Oklahoma since their sale,'' Edgmon said. ``These new owners are going to be putting a lot of emphasis on these stores in Oklahoma. It will help those locations retain their business.

``The consumers will benefit from the purchase, I promise.''

Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc. completed its acquisition of 1,100 Albertson's Inc. stores last summer, including 31 in Oklahoma. Albertson's currently employs more than 47,000 associates in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

For RPCS, the new stores will be the company's first properties in Oklahoma.

``Since 1919, we have been building a family of supermarkets, employees, and customers in southwest Missouri, and we could not be more excited to extend that family into Oklahoma,'' Erick Taylor, RPCS' president and CEO said in a statement.

Once the Homeland deal is completed, the company will operate 69 stores in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, including 51 in Oklahoma.

``We admire the job Albertson's is doing and we want to continue to build on their strengths of superior perishables, great customer service, and professional pharmacy care,'' Darryl Fitzgerald, Homeland CEO, said in a statement. ``We respect the loyalty of Albertson's customers and we intend to make this a seamless transition. It will be business as usual and customers will see minimal changes in the stores.''

[sgrizzle]

Maybe Reasors is going to take the 15th & Lewis store...

[AMP]

When I bought my ranch home we used the Food Lion near 36th Street North. It had competitive pricing actually low, friendly help, weekly specials.  It was a great grocery market, had the best cookies ever.  But the Trade Unions bullied up with ABC news and took them under.

They had several new buildings in Tulsa that had just been constructed.  Most of them have been occupied since with other businesses than grocery stores.  I have not been by the North side Food Lion building in a few years, may need to drive by and take a few photos just cause I can.    

I also lost use of 2 dozen temporary labor hall employees during that same time, as they were hired, at minimum wage $3.35 per hour, to impersonate disgruntled Food Lion Meat Market Employees.  

They were told to lie and tell customers they were being paid $5 per hour instead of $8 as in most union contracts for that type of position.  They stood in a picket line and distribute propaganda against the Food Lion chain.  Few of them came back after that deal was over, are were embarassed to tell us where and what they had been doing.

[sgrizzle]

I view most of this is good news as supervalu closed half the stores and let the other half run downhill. I'm impressed with how depressing the world makes it sound:
http://tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070620_1_A1_spanc77504

[Conan71]

I'm not overly excited about Reasor's buying the 15th & Lewis store.  I think their angus beef is over-rated and over-priced.  

I guess I can just get my meat at Perry's from now on and get my staple goods at Reasor's or start using the Wal-Mart market at 21st & Yale more often.

[pfox]

In 1919, John Ramey bought a small grocery store in Springfield, Missouri, with his mustering-out pay from the army. It was a small, neighborhood grocery store which proved to be successful, and eventually he expanded to a total of eight small stores.

In 1939, Ramey boldly established the first modern supermarket in this area. It was located in an empty field outside of town, now the southeast corner of the busy Glenstone/Sunshine intersection. People thought he was crazy for building a store out in the country. Instead, this turned out to be one of the most successful ventures in the food business for this area.

During the war, it was difficult to obtain merchandise for eight stores, so John Ramey consolidated all of his stores into this one supermarket and permanently closed the other small stores. This transition marked an important milestone in the Ramey history. In 1946, John Ramey sold his one supermarket to two gentlemen from Kansas City. These people followed with a second Ramey Supermarket in 1954, another one in 1957, and one more in 1965, all of which were located in Springfield.

On January 15, 1967, the stores were sold to a new corporation, the Cohen family through Roswil Inc., which was taking its first venture into the supermarket industry. Initially, under the management of Richard Taylor, the small chain of stores grew out of southwest Missouri by acquisition and consolidation in rural markets. Richard Taylor transitioned the management of Ramey to his son Erick in 1993. Erick Taylor continued to expand the company through a combination of acquisition and new store development. As part of this process, Ramey converted stores to the Price Cutter banner, primarily in the metropolitan Springfield, Missouri, area. The new store expansion, combined with the Price Cutter format, substantially increased overall market penetration.

Since its initial acquisition of stores, the company has successfully transformed itself into a multi-bannered regional chain providing customers with new facilities, full-service departments, more variety, in-store pharmacies, and Starbucks locations within select stores. Today, RPCS Inc. operates 32 retail grocery stores and one limited assortment store in Southwest Missouri under the Ramey, Price Cutter, Price Cutter Plus, and Smitty's banners, and utilizes Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. as its primary supplier.

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) became effective as of January 1, 2005, and acquired 100% of the stock of the company in December 2004. The ESOP is intended to give each employee a share in the ownership of the company. As owners, they will all share in both risks of capital ownership and the successes and growth of the company.

RPCS Inc. became the area's only e-grocer with the launch of PriceCutterOnline.com and its user-friendly virtual supermarket in July 2006. Busy customers flocked to the site to place their orders and take advantage of time-saving features such as storing frequently purchased items and favorite recipes. With personal shoppers based at the South National Avenue Price Cutter Plus store, orders are handpicked to guarantee freshness, and made available for customers to pick up. Delivery is also available to homes and businesses in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Rogersville, Republic, Battlefield, Brookline and Willard.

Affiliated with the Price Cutter Charity Championship since 1999 and now title sponsor of the local stop of the national PGA tournament, the company has helped raise more than $5 million for children's charities in the Ozarks and helped make possible the construction of four Habitat For Humanity homes.

RPCS Inc. was recently recognized by Springfield Business Journal as one of the largest employers in both Christian and Webster counties, and as one of the largest locally owned pharmacy chains in southwest Missouri. In addition, Price Cutter was named best grocery store by the readers of the Springfield News-Leader in the newspaper's annual Best of the Ozarks poll.

[pfox]

quote: Natural & Organic
Price Cutter's Natural Solutions Department boasts one of the area's largest selections of natural and organic foods, including meats, produce, drinks, frozen foods and dairy products. If you're looking for organic snacks, we've got your favorites including Wild Garden Hummus, Annie's Frozen Dinners, Kashi Cereal and Horizon Soy Milk.

For moms interested in starting their children off right, Price Cutter has a large variety of natural and organic baby items. We're the area's exclusive distributor for Caffe Sanora Premium Arabica Coffee, featured as one of Oprah's favorites in "Oprah" magazine. Caffe Sanora has more antioxidants than most green teas, no additives or added caffeine, and it retains 100% of the coffee's natural antioxidants.

When it's time for a toast or a special meal, don't forget to check out our selection of natural and organic wines.

I'll be sure to check that out...bwwwwaaaaaaahhhhh!

[Who Cares]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex

Will anything be lined up to replace the one at Pine and Peoria?

I've heard the revenue was good and crime was no more an issue than at any other store.  That and the facts that the area is chronically under served and the facility is virtually new and I think somebody will buy it.

I wish Larry Reasor were still alive; he'd know what to do.  Of course, it'd probably involve an Easter Bunny outfit.    []

Actually that store has been loosing millions since it opened do to theft and slow sales. Albertsons LLC wanted to close it last year, but was reluctant since it was built with taxpayer money. They would have sold the store, but no buyers stepped up.

[breitee]

Albertsons priced themselves out of existence in Oklahoma.

[T-Town Now]

I will say that the new Albertson's owners have done a lot to the 81st and Yale store over the past year or so they've owned it. The store was getting really awful before the sale, with holes in the parking lot big enough to swallow a shopping cart, and aisles stuffed so full of junk you couldn't see the shelves.

The exterior was repainted, the junk in the aisles was cleared out, and the employees now are in general more accommodating than before the sale.

I hope as Price Cutter the store will be improved again, since it's a good location and seems to be busy most of the time.

[NellieBly]

Albertson's shot themselves in the foot with the north Tulsa store. It was bare bones, poorly maintained and boasted higher prices than the Albertson's at 15th and Lewis. I did a price check once on various items I normally purchased.

A Walmart Neighborhood Market may fair well if they keep it clean.