Auburn supermarket shifts to Save Mart

The Auburn Albertsons changeover to Save Mart becomes official this week with the unveiling of a new color scheme, signage and pricing strategy.The Town Center supermarket is one of 24 Albertsons in Northern California purchased by the Modesto-based Save Mart in February.Preparations for the branding shift from Albertsons' blue to the Save Mart red have been under way since early June, starting with new paint on the walls, according to Jennifer Vigarino, store manager.The store will be closed from 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, until 6 a.m. Friday, June 22 to complete the transition, followed by a grand opening from 6 a.m. to midnight Friday.Friday's celebration will feature balloons, refreshments and giveaways."We're giving away different food items," Vigarino said. "They'll be things in the (newspaper) ad for free, if customers bring in a coupon."Shoppers won't see any drastic changes. "We're not going to confuse anybody, so we're not going to re-arrange the whole store," Vigarino said. "But there may be some subtle changes to be more along the lines of the way Save Mart is set up."The product lines will be augmented by Save Mart's Sunny Select grocery brand, Sunnyside Farm dairy products, Master Cut aged beef and Master Catch seafood.The produce section will emphasize California-grown products."We have exclusive relationships with several major growers throughout the valley and provide fresh product shipments to our stores six days a week," company president Bob Spengler said in a press release. "Fresh, locally grown products are our priority."Some areas of the supermarket will get a boost.The Max Pack section will be enlarged - offering more large-size products. And the natural foods section will be bigger, too. "We're also getting paper bags with handles," Vigarino said.The most notable impact may be the prices. "We're repricing everything in the store and there'll be a definite reduction in prices on almost everything," Vigarino said.The new tags will show the new price and the amount of savings from the old price, according to Alicia Rockwell, Save Mart media spokeswoman.Another immediate change will be discontinuing the use of a shopping card. "No card will be required for the savings anymore," Vigarino said.Customers will see plenty of familiar faces in the store, along with some new ones. "Everybody is staying on," Vigarino said. "We've been hiring like crazy so our service level should improve. In the past month, I've brought in probably 20 new employees." Staff members also will have new uniforms."It's a white shirt with our own ties ... black apron and pants and black shoes," Rockwell said.For Vigarino, who has worked at the Town Center store for seven years, this is the third changeover. When she first started, it was owned by Lucky's, followed by Albertsons. "I think the lowering of the prices is definitely a plus," she said of Save Mart. "So far, the thing that a lot of the people in the store are happy about is the reputation (Save Mart) has for taking care of its people - and in turn, that we take care of the customers."Save Mart was founded in 1952 and operates 252 stores in Northern California and northern Nevada.The Journal's Gloria Young can be reached at gloriay@goldcountrymedia. com.