Last updated on February 15th, 2019 at 01:57 pm
The United Family’s parent company, Albertsons, handed United the reins to its stores in New Mexico in September 2014. Since then, United has worked to bring the culture it perfected in West Texas to the Land of Enchantment.
“Your biggest fear is your culture, because you can integrate the systems and you can change the product and do all that overnight,” Robert Taylor, president of The United Family, told The Shelby Report. “But Albertsons’ philosophy is not that much different than ours. I think we just are a little more intense and focused on it just a little bit more.”
A former Albertsons Market in Santa Fe has been converted to a Market Street, an upscale United banner. It is the first Market Street in New Mexico.
The Market Street concept is described by Mary Myers, United’s senior communications and community relations manager, as “the future of grocery.” She calls it seven stores within one.
“It blends foodservice, with a restaurant inside the grocery store; a gift boutique; a specialty health and wellness store; a free concierge service for complete special event planning, catering, floral, custom bakery; beer and wine; a pharmacy; and then there’s traditional grocery, so it was built to handle many lists in one store,” Myers said. “That’s the whole point. Whichever combination of errands that you have, if you stop at Market Street more than one of them will get checked off your list.”
Market Street combines everyday grocery needs with gourmet and specialty items, whole-health products and freshly-prepared foods like sushi. The stores offer chef-prepared meals to go, household necessities, gifts, locally grown and organic produce and more.
The Santa Fe Market Street store has provided an economic boost in Santa Fe with the creation of about 150 new jobs. Its debut will be celebrated with an official grand opening celebration in January.
The Market Street in Santa Fe, located at 600 North Guadalupe Street, began offering online grocery ordering and free curbside pickup service on Nov. 29, 2018.
“Our e-commerce program in Santa Fe offers rewards members a unique opportunity to shop with more convenience by allowing our personal shoppers to do the heavy lifting,” said Chris Farr, e-commerce manager for The United Family. “E-commerce is the future of grocery shopping, and we are excited to introduce this exciting new experience to our guests.”
New Albertsons Market coming to Carlsbad
Albertsons Market is constructing a new store in Carlsbad that is slated for completion in the fall of 2019. The new store will be almost 40 percent larger than the existing Carlsbad location it will replace. Albertsons intends to demolish the current store to create additional parking.
“We have enjoyed being an active part of the Carlsbad community for the last five years and building great relationships with the people of this city,” Taylor said. “We are excited to unveil new products and expanded offerings in a brand new facility that will not only give guests a new modern shopping destination but allows us to continue to be an active corporate citizen here in Carlsbad.”
The 59,000-s.f. store will feature some amenities currently found in some of United’s Market Street stores, including fresh sushi and a full-service meat and seafood counter. Other features will include a large salad bar and prepared foods with an expanded in-store dining room and an outdoor patio area, as well as a large produce section with extensive organic options, and a larger floral department. The store also will feature a full-service Starbucks coffee shop. It will bring Streetside curbside pickup to Carlsbad as well.
“With the oil and gas industry boom, our community’s need for a larger facility has never been so apparent. I am elated to share this news with our guests, team members and partners,” said David Beaty, Albertsons Market store director. “Our team looks forward to offering more options, additional departments and an even better shopping experience.”
In addition, the Albuquerque store at 10131 Coors Boulevard underwent a large-scale remodel in 2018. A celebration of the completion of the work, which brought the “next-generation” format to the location, was held last May.
Albertsons Market stores can be found in Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs, Roswell, Ruidoso, Santa Fe and Taos, as well as in Midland and Odessa, Texas.
