Vons #1736 Shops at Mesa Verde Costa Mesa, CA
UPDATE: I got the history wrong on this store, it was NOT a Grocery Palace, rather Albertsons actually opened this as an Awnings store in 1999 just weeks before it was divested. I think there's a chance people who have called this store Grocery Palace mixed up the decor name with Awnings. This store was an additional divest not on the original divesture list (perhaps Albertsons worked a deal to operate this store until the new-build Lucky-Savon opened down the street). When Vons acquired it, they were required to renovate it, and hence renovations began the day it was bought with Safeway's decor used in the 90's (can be found at Safeway #797 in Hayward, CA).
Since this was likely outside of the original divesture agreement, and since Vons was a larger competitor at the time, Vons was required to renovate the store immediately so customers didn't think that the new Awnings decor was Safeway's instead of Albertsons. This is why Stater was never required to renovate the Paramount store, and why that store still has Albertsons awnings today.
The original post:
This Vons is actually a former Albertsons, although it may not look like it.
The site was home to an Albertsons that was built in 1972, but a shopping center renovation in the late 1990's involved completely gutting the Albertsons building, and reopening it as a brand new store in 1999 as part of the new shopping center, containing the Albertsons supermarket and a new Savon Drugstore (Now CVS).
The current building itself very briefly held what some sources say was one of the first Grocery Palace interiors in the region, and this store opened in 1999 and operated for less than a year before it was divested in the Albertsons/Lucky merger. Supposedly there was a game of musical chairs played, as Albertsons had the option to keep it's smaller brand new store open, or keep the larger under construction Lucky Savon combo store down the street, which the latter it decided to keep. That store eventually closed just before the pandemic in 2020, and three years later is now the very popular flagship Mercado Gonzales Northgate Market.
Vons previously had a smaller store down the street which I believe was a former Savon Food and Drug. Vons took this store and sold the old store to Sav Max Foods, which like the Albertsons Vons replaced, was also short-lived. The store is now a Tokyo Central supermarket.
Vons kept intact most of Albertsons Grocery Palace elements for a couple years, but they eventually renovated this store to a lifestyle interior essentially eliminating all of its Grocery Palace remnants. The only remnants of this Albertsons now are the "Enter" and "Exit" signs on the main entry doors, which are from Albertsons, as well as the doors themselves. It is evident this store was a Grocery Palace at one point based on the layout, with the bakery in the back right corner, and the butcher, dairy in the back left corner, and frozen foods and refrigerated foods on the left wall. Later on, this store was renovated to colorful lifestyle.
This store formerly had two entrances, with one on the left side, which also had a Bank of America branch (I'm not sure if this was the bank Albertsons had or if it was a different one.) The store also had a pharmacy, but this was closed in the lifestyle remodel, and unfortunately I do not know where the pharmacy in this store was located.. The left-entrance was closed off when Bank of America closed its branch in the store in 2023, and the area appears to be used now as an online order pickup area.
Vons #1736 Shops at Mesa Verde Costa Mesa, CA
UPDATE: I got the history wrong on this store, it was NOT a Grocery Palace, rather Albertsons actually opened this as an Awnings store in 1999 just weeks before it was divested. I think there's a chance people who have called this store Grocery Palace mixed up the decor name with Awnings. This store was an additional divest not on the original divesture list (perhaps Albertsons worked a deal to operate this store until the new-build Lucky-Savon opened down the street). When Vons acquired it, they were required to renovate it, and hence renovations began the day it was bought with Safeway's decor used in the 90's (can be found at Safeway #797 in Hayward, CA).
Since this was likely outside of the original divesture agreement, and since Vons was a larger competitor at the time, Vons was required to renovate the store immediately so customers didn't think that the new Awnings decor was Safeway's instead of Albertsons. This is why Stater was never required to renovate the Paramount store, and why that store still has Albertsons awnings today.
The original post:
This Vons is actually a former Albertsons, although it may not look like it.
The site was home to an Albertsons that was built in 1972, but a shopping center renovation in the late 1990's involved completely gutting the Albertsons building, and reopening it as a brand new store in 1999 as part of the new shopping center, containing the Albertsons supermarket and a new Savon Drugstore (Now CVS).
The current building itself very briefly held what some sources say was one of the first Grocery Palace interiors in the region, and this store opened in 1999 and operated for less than a year before it was divested in the Albertsons/Lucky merger. Supposedly there was a game of musical chairs played, as Albertsons had the option to keep it's smaller brand new store open, or keep the larger under construction Lucky Savon combo store down the street, which the latter it decided to keep. That store eventually closed just before the pandemic in 2020, and three years later is now the very popular flagship Mercado Gonzales Northgate Market.
Vons previously had a smaller store down the street which I believe was a former Savon Food and Drug. Vons took this store and sold the old store to Sav Max Foods, which like the Albertsons Vons replaced, was also short-lived. The store is now a Tokyo Central supermarket.
Vons kept intact most of Albertsons Grocery Palace elements for a couple years, but they eventually renovated this store to a lifestyle interior essentially eliminating all of its Grocery Palace remnants. The only remnants of this Albertsons now are the "Enter" and "Exit" signs on the main entry doors, which are from Albertsons, as well as the doors themselves. It is evident this store was a Grocery Palace at one point based on the layout, with the bakery in the back right corner, and the butcher, dairy in the back left corner, and frozen foods and refrigerated foods on the left wall. Later on, this store was renovated to colorful lifestyle.
This store formerly had two entrances, with one on the left side, which also had a Bank of America branch (I'm not sure if this was the bank Albertsons had or if it was a different one.) The store also had a pharmacy, but this was closed in the lifestyle remodel, and unfortunately I do not know where the pharmacy in this store was located.. The left-entrance was closed off when Bank of America closed its branch in the store in 2023, and the area appears to be used now as an online order pickup area.