Clearance Prices At Closing Grocery Store Still Nowhere Near Regular Prices At Other Nearby Supermarkets

By Nita Keswick, Quilt staff

DATELINE: VONS

Excited shoppers with an eye for discounts scoured the quickly emptying aisles of Canoga Park’s Vons supermarket, loading cart after cart with canned goods, meat, frozen items and liquor, seemingly unconcerned that the beloved overpriced grocery store was offering very little in the way of savings compared to its local competitors.

Staff photo.

Vons #1673 at 8201 Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Roscoe, in Canoga Park’s bustling Roscopanga shopping district, advertised “storewide savings of up to 10-90% off” the prices of its waning inventory. But even at Monday’s rate of 25% off, most items were still above the non-sale price at other nearby stores.

That didn’t stop Téodor Pasternak, who was loading a cart up with Keystone beer and Marie Callender’s Creamy Parmesan Chicken pot pies. “I usually do my shopping at Ralphs and 99¢ Only,” he explained, “but who can say no to these clearance prices?” When told that the items he was buying were still priced 18% higher than Ralphs, he seemed annoyed. “Well, the idea that I’m saving money helps justify these purchases despite my struggles with alcohol and poor diet choices," he snapped. "What else have you got to ruin my day? That I need a club card to get these savings?"  [Yes. —Ed.]

25% off a $5 bottle of Thousand Island?! Salad season is just around the corner. Just sayin'. Staff photo

Many in the area have lamented the impending closure of their neighborhood Vons. “It was a neighborhood icon,” says Gretchen Bierly of West Hills. “If you had to run out for something quick, you didn’t have to go to some filthy convenience store. You could go here instead and knew you were paying filthy convenience store prices.”

According to AisledLA, an online internet web-based ‘blog’ that covers Los Angeles area grocery stores, a Vallarta supermarket will take over once the soon-to-be vacant retail space. While a number of residents west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard are concerned by the chain — which caters to a growing Latino population — opening a store in the area, many insist it’s only because they have difficulty pronouncing the double-L in its name correctly. 

However, Russ Hickert, senior editor of West Valley Grocery & Supermarket Trends Daily predicted the neighborhood will soon embrace the Hispanic chain. 

“Oh, I think they’ll be fine with Vallarta once they realize they’re actually surprisingly expensive, too,” he said.