Online grocer Vons.com rolls into Las Vegas
Following on its success in California, Safeway Inc. is taking its online grocery business east with the launch Jan. 13 of Vons.com in Las Vegas. That brings Safeway’s total online market coverage to 722 ZIP Codes in 332 communities, as it looks ahead to further expansion.
As the company’s newest market, Las Vegas offers a lifestyle particularly suited for an online grocer, the company says. “It has sections that are very affluent, a good ratio of family areas and good Internet usage,” says a spokesman for GroceryWorks, which operates Safeway’s online consumer operations. “But the lifestyle is different here, with people working at all times of the day and night, and this is one of those markets where you get a lot of late-night shopping.” He adds that tests have shown high web traffic between midnight and 2 am. That suits Vons.com well, since its deliveries are made between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Using a Vons supermarkets from one of Las Vegas’s more affluent areas as its delivery base, Vons.com will cover 20 ZIP Codes, the spokesman says.
With a new president of GroceryWorks steeped in online experience, former Gap online executive Mitchell Rhodes, Safeway is in a position to carry its plans of expanding further east. Safeway has said it is considering setting up online operations in markets served by its other supermarket chains, including Dominick’s in Chicago, Tom Thumb in Dallas and Genuardi’s in Philadelphia. GroceryWorks is 50% owned by Safeway and 35% owned by U.K.’s Tesco PLC.
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