Vons & Pavilions

Vons and Pavilions are sister supermarket brands within Albertsons Companies that operate full-line grocery stores with pharmacies and strong fresh offerings across Southern California and the Las Vegas area. As of January 2024, the combined network includes about 325 locations, concentrated in the Los Angeles and San Diego metros, the Inland Empire, California’s Central Coast, and the greater Las Vegas market.

Vons dates back to 1906, when Charles Von der Ahe opened a small grocery in downtown Los Angeles that gradually grew into a regional chain serving Southern California. Over the following decades, the business expanded through new stores and acquisitions, eventually becoming one of the dominant supermarket names in the region. In 1985, the company introduced Pavilions as a more upscale concept, designed for higher-income trade areas and larger formats, with broader fresh departments, specialty foods, wine, and expanded in-store service.

A key milestone in the modern history of the brands came in 2015, when Safeway, then the owner of Vons and Pavilions, merged with Albertsons Companies. That transaction placed Vons and Pavilions inside one of the largest grocery operators in the United States and aligned them with a national platform for distribution, private-label programs, and technology. Today the two banners function as part of Albertsons’ Western division, sharing loyalty programs, digital ordering, delivery and pickup options, fuel rewards, and promotional technology, while maintaining distinct store identities at street level.

Over roughly the last five years, Albertsons has focused on investing in its Western banners, including Vons and Pavilions, through remodels, relocations, and selective new stores rather than broad-based ground-up expansion. Capital has gone into updating existing boxes, improving fresh and prepared food offerings, and upgrading formats to match evolving neighborhood expectations. Infill replacements and repositioning of older supermarket sites have been a recurring theme, particularly in high-density trade areas of Southern California and Las Vegas where real estate is constrained but grocery demand remains strong.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, Vons typically presents as a conventional supermarket anchor serving a broad middle-market customer base in neighborhood and community centers. Pavilions tends to appear in more affluent trade areas and on higher-profile corners, often in larger footprints with a stronger focus on perishables, specialty items, and service departments that draw frequent, higher-basket trips. Both banners carry the backing of Albertsons’ scale and credit quality, and they are active participants in remodels, relocations, and backfill opportunities across urban and suburban locations in their core markets.