Vons launches novel super combo

Drug Store News, April 5, 1993 by Allene Symons

The latest Vons super combo near Los Angeles offers a novel array of new departments and front-of-store services including an island pharmacy, a dry cleaner, a bank, a party-catering department and a closet shop.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - In Southern California's hot contest between drug stores, mass merchants and food/drug operators, everyone is courting customers with convenience. The latest move in this big stakes game came in March, when the Vons Companies opened its 78,000-square-foot super combo in Simi Valley, a suburban community north of Los Angeles. Dennis Eck, vice chairman and chief operating officer, characterizes the store as "the next generation of combos."

Pharmacy, services, general merchandise and prepared foods are configured as distinct departments, often with hanging or vertical demarcation in neon signing or eye-catching motifs.

The former Gemco site was originally 90,000 square feet but was cut into shops to carve out 78,000 square feet for the combo (an average Vons is 55,000 square feet). The store carries 85,000 items, in contrast with the 25,0000 to 30,000 in an average supermarket and 45,000 items in an average combo. Eck noted that the resulting space "added district departments to the store" while avoiding "just filling up the additional space. "

The visibly different departments give the customer a choice of destinations or "experiences" and most stand out from different vantage points in the store. The flow of the store enables a shopper to bypass departments. Said Eck: "We want it to be very attractive so hopefully you will want to experience them, but we don't want to force you into everything."

A big draw is the attractively configured front-of-store services, which are designed to win one-stop-shopping customers. These include a dry cleaners, a bank with tellers (plus an ATM), a pack-and-ship service, photo center, an audio/video rental store and three international take-out (or eat in) restaurants.

In California, food/drug combo competitors with extensive services like these include Smith's, which is rapidly opening new stores in the state, and Safeway's Marketplace format in northern California.

Unlike these competitors, the Vons Simi Valley super combo his a pharmacy designed as an island service department, surrounded by an extensive health, nutrition and OTC or "personal care module" near the front of the store. The free-standing position helps maximize the number of front-of-store departments where consumers don't want to walk a distance. Vons tested this unusual placement in some of its Tianguis stores, a food and drug chain that caters to the region's Hispanic market.

Harvey Durand, group vice president of drug stores called the drug and personal care module an assortment "equal to or better than any drug competitor" and priced better than drug competitors like nearby Longs Drugs and Sav-on.

General merchandise galore

The general merchandise offerings are unusual in this store, compared to any other Vons. Among the new or expanded categories are:

* Stationery Plus, an expanded back-to-school and home office department signed with the warehouse-decorator look of ceiling hung signage and suspended high tech materials in 250 feet of gondola space. Prices are positioned against Staples (warehouse club) and a drug store. This department, like the mailing center, is being promoted to local and home-office businesses.

* The party center commands the back right wall and offers card, party and gift wrap lines from Hallmark and American Greetings. A large, serviced bullpen area offers coordination for party planners, where customers can get assistance with everything from invitations and napkins to food, flowers and valet service if needed.

* A video rental department, which includes audio rental for commuters, is the first to be owned and operated by Vons rather than run as a leased department. It includes 4,000 titles (6,000 tapes) in 1,500 square feet. It is positioned beyond a security turnstile and has a glass wall looking into the store.

* The reading center, designed as both an entertainment and information center, starts outside the glass-walled video rental shop. The first section is a full assortment of business magazines along with a computer to demo software and a television monitor showing CNN news. A few steps away is the extensive book and magazine department, configured into several alcoves for cozy browsing.

* A new fashion sun and reading glasses department is adjacent to the cosmetics area. It features sun and reading glasses from Foster Grant and Revlon with giant ceiling-hung frames to identify the section from afar. In cosmetics, a video unit adds excitement with informative programming like personal manicure techniques. Other new Revlon lines include hair accessories and jewelry both presented in the section on spinner displays.

* The pet department reflects the local demographics of suburban families with pets and is 150 gondola feet. It includes carriers and gourmet pet lines.