LUCKY STORES' LADY LEE IS LEAVING THE BRAND SCENE

RICHARD TURCSIK

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. -- Lucky Stores here is in the process of replacing its Lady Lee private label with the Lucky brand on Center Store grocery products in an effort to unify its stores.

Judy Decker, a spokeswoman for Lucky's northern California division here, told SN that Lucky started to switch its brands about a year ago on household and non-edible products, and is now concentrating on food products.

"It will take probably another one to two years to complete the remainder of the process on the edible items," she said, noting that the cost of the switch is minimal because the labels are simply switched when new orders are placed with the chain's manufacturers. As a result, the name switch is not resulting in a change in the number of private-label stockkeeping units.

Decker said the name switch will prove beneficial as the chain, a division of Salt Lake City-based American Stores Co., opens combination stores. Lucky also maintains a southern California division headquartered in Buena Park.

"The combination stores have the Lucky name on grocery and the Sav-On name on the drug side. We will have the Lucky brand on Lucky items and the Sav-On brand [which is being retained] on the drug items," she said.

Securities analysts who track American Stores support the name switch.

"Lady Lee is a pretty established label, but the general trend is to fold in labels into your own store name," said Gary Giblen, managing director at Smith Barney, New York.