Although Albertson's paid a premium to get the Seessel's name along with its stores, the investment was rendered worthless when it eliminated virtually everything that made the chain special.
Albertson's closed the Seessel's bakery and commissary operations and made major changes to the mix of merchandise. Eventually, Albertson's complied with customer requests to restock many items that had been deleted. According to Mr. Malmo, that took too much time.
Upon adding gas station and dry cleaning services and coffee shops, Seessel's customers were unimpressed. Albertson's neither operated the Seessel's brand consistent with its past nor worked to make the Albertson's brand successful.
Albertson's has left the building.
Moderator Comment: Is it possible for a large chain to buy a smaller retailer without altering what made the business unique and worth buying in the first place?
Albertson's, Safeway Kroger and others have all bought businesses claiming that they had no intention of altering the shopping experience for consumers - NOT! [George Anderson - Moderator]