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So yesterday I stopped by the former Lucky turned Stater Brothers on Whittier and Sorensen in Whittier. I noticed the oddest thing done by Stater Brothers.

Most Stater Brothers that I have visited that were Lucky or Albertsons divested in the merger did full remodels to remove the old Albertsons or Lucky interiors. This store did a very minor remodel. They changed all the isle markers to the Stater Brother ones, but kept the Lucky wall signage and designs, but repainted them to Stater Brothers colors (yellow / browns). You can tell that it was a former Lucky from the interior designs. It actually looked pretty good.

Anyone know if other Stater Brothers did this? I know the ones in Norwalk, Walnut, La Habra ( all former Albertsons) all were complete remodels.

I think what you saw is what Stater did to the stores immediately after taking them over. Slowly they have done more complete remodel jobs to the stores they purchased. If you visit SoCalRetail's flickr you will see a few other stores like this. I think one is/was in the process of being remodeled now.

I think this was a good idea to just do a very simple paint job to freshen the stores up upon taking them over and then do a more full remodel later.

Considering Lucky has been gone for 10 years now (the marriage happened in 1998), that's an awfully long time.

Actually, Stater Bros. didn't even paint many of these stores in the first 5 years. The colors used in the repaints are recent selections. I think Stater Bros. has very carefully selected which properties to spend capital in -- and from my perspective they've made some very wise choices. Nonetheless, its neat to see a store with a late 80s interior get cleaned, painted, and not gutted.

Stores I know of with the re-paint:
Anaheim: both former Albertsons retain their late 80s lettering with current Stater paint and new aisle signs. I have some pics of 610 S. Brookhurst, a gable store:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 902959273/

Produce area:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 902959273/

1131 N State College Blvd. is a flat-top store also featuring this treatment

Bellflower: the former Lucky (converted Gemco) at 17220 Lakewood Blvd. is a repaint. Check tortugaone's flickr page for that store's exterior. The layout and appearance is akin to this store: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 438783642/ except that its now in Stater paint.

Buena Park: the former Albertsons blue-grey got this treatment:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 902959273/

Fullerton: The former Lucky at 333 N. Euclid got the repaint.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 135300181/

Other locations:

Norwalk (11300 Firestone Blvd.) and Paramount (8640 Alondra Blvd) are both Albertsons Blue/Gray repaints.

Recently remodeled:
Artesia, in an earlier (2004-5 ish) Stater interior. Selectively remodeled.
Downey - remodel in progress. This store wasn't touched prior to remodeling, it even had the late 80s aisle hangers from Albertsons.
Cypress - fully remodeled

Anyway, for more pictures visit my formerly Albertsons set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591905@N0 ... 902959273/

The remodeling of the Downey Stater Bros. store is discussed here:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1914&hilit=Stater+Bros+Downey

PS: the 12523 Alondra Blvd, Norwalk Stater Bros. store is a 1980s Stater Bros. built store, remodeled in the last few years.

I think it's great that Stater Bros has at least added some new paint to stores which have yet to be remodeled, something Albertsons has yet to do with our old Lucky even after ten years. I'll be honest, I think the repainted former-Lucky look better than the remodeled Stater Bros... but that's just me.

It is nice that Stater Bros has finally changed their layout and design to bring their stores more to the times. Their newer designs are a HUGE step-up from the former one which was in existence for at least 30 years.

Now if only SuperValu would get around to gutting out my local Albertsons (former Lucky-Savon and Smiths). For those of you familiar with the 1990's Smith's stores, our location looks sad, with Golden Spoon, Warehouse Video, Bank of America and even the customer service counter ripped out.... and they have made no attempt to even wall over the old "storefronts"- it's all just closed with gates across them. I don't mean to turn this into a Smith's post, but it would be really great if SuperValu would follow in Stater Bros footsteps and finish up and remodel all of their older locations.

Something I do find interesting is the Stater Bros on Mission Ave and Plaza Camino Real in Oceanside. This store started out life as a Food Basket then became Lucky before being rebranded into Price Advantage/Food Advantage/Food Price Advantage/Super Saver (that was a lot of rebranding in one year!) During the remodel into the warehouse format, the twelve year old store was gutted completely with everything moved from where it was. (The store didn't have a very open layout, as the placement of the produce wall at the entry blocked many of the aisles to go completely through the store) The store basically became a mess until Stater's picked it up during the meger. It operated for some months with the warehouse layout and the addition of Staters signage throughout until the store was gutted completely once again. Oddly enough, the store looks exactly like an updated version of Market Basket/Lucky layout and design. Even the product is laid out in generally the same spots as it was before. It is quite nice to go in there and feel like a child again. I wish I had some interior photos of this store throughout the years, as it was this store that began my weird facination with grocery stores as a kid.

Stater does appear to work within the confines of the stores they've inherited... even the extensive remodeling underway in Downey (or seen finished in Cypress) pretty much left the store set the way Albertsons had it.

At the former Albertsons in Downey, the perimeter departments didn't move, except the liquor and dairy areas got expanded into backarea space. The central aisle of freezers didn't move, although they did change an adjacent half aisle to additional freezers. Some center store items were moved (bread, chips, soda, etc.) but there still seems to be a degree of thoughtful organization.

Staters took over my local store (Walnut store 168, Amar and Grand) in 1999 as part of the Albertsons divestiture and kept the Albertsons layout and decor (blue-grey scheme) until 2005 when started with a light remodel, then a full remodel in 2006, removing all traces of Albertsons that were still left behind for 7 years. After this remodel, the only significant changes to the layout included removing the Video Rental Dept (replacing it with a magazine stand) and the Customer Service Office (replaced by a stairwell to the attic office for the store director), and doubling the size of the Butcher Block to the famous Staters meat counter where you can watch the butchers at work.

They currently use the former Albertsons Better Care Pharmacy as a conference room for the regional managers or when they have job interviews.

This same interior scheme (circa 2006-07) is in two other stores in my area (West Covina-Azusa, Rowland Heights). Older stores may still use wall signage/decor reflecting the bubble font used in their weekly ads (former Walnut store, now a Bestway Supermercado).

luckysaver

luckysaver

Did they FINALLY remodel the La Habra site (Harbor @ Whittier Blvd)?

It had the OLD Albertsons interior for quite some time.

I believe the La Habra Staters STILL has the Albertsons' interior.

The Lake Arrowhead Staters just completed a MAJOR remodel. Popped walls out to increase shopping area. Much needed, and came out great.

I was at the West Whittier (Sorenson) location 2 months ago. Yes, there are still remnants of Lucky such as layout, wall signs, and the mini-Bank of America branch. The SuperRx pharmacy probably dates back to former Savon pharmacy from the Lucky days. The service deli is a give away to the old days of Lucky at the location.

luckysaver

I just did some research and found that this location (Staters #137) has been a Lucky since the 1970's, using the 1997 Lucky decor package.

To Jeff and all other members that visited my neighborhood store (#168):

Walnut kept the blue-grey Albertsons (opened in 1993) decor (and some door labels) until about 2004-5 when I observed a "gentle remodel". The store has the exact same layout left by Albertsons - only the wall signage was redone with the new Staters package. The only major change was they took out the old customer service booth (the video rental unit was removed in 2002 to make way for a magazine wall) so that they could put newspapers, boxed sodas/candy, and Coinstar. The Albertsons Better Care Pharmacy still remains - current use is a conference room used by regional store managers about once a month. A complete remodel is usually costs several million dollars, but since this store had a gentle remodel, the cost was not that big to replace some walls/signage/paint - in fact, it was performed by the sign and carpenter teams of the Staters mechanical shop. The meat department was expanded during the Albertsons era.

In 2000 during the official handoff from Albertsons to Staters, several store employees resigned from Albertsons to join Staters (a couple are still working there today - a cashier (who was a former Albertsons cashier) and the assistant store director (who was a key person at Albertsons). There is also a part time cashier/stocker who also worked during the Albertsons era.

luckysaver