other uses see vons disambiguation . the vons companies inc. type subsidiary of albertsons industry retail founded 1906 ; 110 years ago 1906 los angeles california founder charles von der ahe headquarters fullerton california number of locations 325 area served california nevada products bakery dairy deli frozen foods general grocery meat pharmacy produce seafood snacks liquor floral parent albertsons since 2015 subsidiaries pavilions website vons.com vons is a southern california and southern nevada supermarket chain owned by albertsons . it is headquartered in fullerton california 1 and operates stores under the vons and pavilions banners . before the acquisition by albertsons it was headquartered in arcadia california . contents 1 history 1.1 beginning 1.2 1980s present 2 lifestyle branding 3 slogans 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit beginning edit charles von der ahe opened a 20 foot wide store named von s groceteria in downtown los angeles california in 1906 . the business had grown to 87 stores by 1928 when he sold the operation to macmarr stores . macmarr was acquired by m.b. skaggs safeway in 1930 . in 1932 his sons theodore and wilfred restarted the von s grocery company . 2 in 1948 von s opened a pioneering store which offered self service pre packaged produce meat and deli items . by 1958 it had doubled in size to 27 stores the third largest grocery chain in the greater los angeles area 3 in 1960 it acquired the sixth largest competitor shopping bag a merger that was challenged by the federal trade commission on antitrust grounds . in 1966 the united states supreme court ruled against von s in united states v. von s grocery co. 384 u.s. 270 forcing a re divestiture of the stores which were eventually sold to fisher foods . 3 the von der ahe family sold the chain to household finance corporation in 1969 . 2 4 in 1970 vons had 128 stores making it the 2nd largest supermarket chain in southern california behind safeway . 1980s present edit exterior of the vons store in hollywood los angeles california in 1984 vons was named official supermarket of the 1984 summer olympics . in 1985 william davila was named president and ceo of vons the first mexican american to be ceo of an american supermarket chain . 5 prior to his appointment davila worked for 37 years at vons before becoming ceo . he opened tianguis in 1986 catering to hispanic consumers 6 and was well received as the company s television spokesman starring in commercials in both english and spanish during his tenure . he retired in 1999 . in 1986 household spun off vons companies in a leveraged buyout . 7 to recapitalize itself vons merged with detroit michigan based allied supermarkets and sold off its assets outside california . 8 vons was listed on the new york stock exchange in 1987 . in october 1985 vons introduced pavilions a combination store concept which offered a wider variety of upscale products as well as pharmacy and other non food products and services . 7 9 some stores that were smaller were branded pavilions place . in 1988 safeway sold most of its stores in southern california and southern nevada to vons in exchange for an ownership stake . 10 in april 1997 safeway exercised its option to acquire full control of the company and vons has since operated as a subsidiary . most of the safeway brands and advertising campaigns are used by the vons stores . 11 the charles von der ahe library was the main library of loyola marymount university lmu until the fall of 2009 when the new william h. hannon library was opened . in the new library there is a von der ahe suite located on the third floor . 12 its construction was made possible by a 1957 gift from the von s foundation . wilfred von der ahe s three sons bill chuck and tom all graduated from loyola university . three of tom von der ahe s children are also alumni and currently his oldest granddaughter megan attends lmu . chuck von der ahe s son wil von der ahe is also an alumnus of lmu s predecessor loyola university los angeles . wil von der ahe s daughter brookie von der ahe attends boston college . a vons store woodland hills ca which closed after becoming a haggen in late 2015 in march 2014 cerberus capital management which also owns rival grocery chain albertsons agreed to terms to purchase vons parent safeway . 13 cerberus plans to merge the chains would likely result in store closures especially with both vons and albertsons having a significant presence in southern california . 14 in late 2014 the ftc mandated that the new albertson s safeway merger sell off almost 200 stores to allow for sufficient competition in markets where both safeway and albertson s stores had existed in price rivalry . one of the key buyers was bellingham washington based haggen grocers 15 which rebranded the newly purchased stores in washington oregon california arizona and nevada in early 2015 16 only to closed the affected stores just months later after haggen was forced into bankruptcy as a result of purchasing the new stores . 17 18 19 lifestyle branding edit main article safeway inc. lifestyle branding on april 18 2005 safeway began a 100 million brand re positioning campaign labeled ingredients for life . this was done in an attempt to differentiate itself from its competitors and to increase brand involvement . steve burd described it as branding the shopping experience . the launch included a redesigned logo a new slogan ingredients for life alongside a four panel life icon to be used throughout stores and advertising and a web application called foodflex to improve consumer nutrition . many locations are being converted to the lifestyle format . the new look was designed by michigan based ppc design . in addition to the inviting decor with warm ambiance and subdued lighting the move required heavy redesign of store layout new employee uniforms sushi and olive bars and the addition of in store starbucks kiosks with cupholders on grocery carts . the change also involved differentiating the company from competitors with promotions based on the company s extensive loyalty card database . at the end of 2004 there were 142 lifestyle format stores in the united states and canada with plans to open or remodel another 300 stores with this type of theme the following year . lifestyle format stores have seen significantly higher average weekly sales than their other stores . by the end of 2006 shares were up proving that this rebranding campaign had a major impact on sale figures . slogans edit vons is value mid to late 1990s delivering our best late 1990s 2005 ingredients for life 2005 present it s just better 2015 present see also edit los angeles portal companies portal food portal safeway pavilions references edit cloud kristen march 6 2015 . vendors hear from albertsons southern california leadership . http www.theshelbyreport.com . the shelby report . external link in website help a b the vons companies inc. . fundinguniverse.com . a b united states v. von s grocery co. 384 u.s. 270 u.s. 1966 . von s grocery and household finance to merge agreement in principle calls for exchange of stock valued at 120 million von s holders must approve . wall street journal . june 6 1969 . subscription required help . alternate link via proquest . yoshihara nancy january 16 1985 . davila becomes vons president replaces fahey . los angeles times . puzo daniel p. july 17 1986 . latinos targeted for mexican import venture . los angeles times . a b groves martha january 6 1986 . buy out completed new vons ownership sold on super stores . los angeles times . anderson harry & mcmahon patrick january 1 1987 . vons to merge with michigan chain go public agreement is reached for deal worth 700 million with allied supermarkets . los angeles times . bush g. m. may 8 1985 . vons to build 8 million super store garden grove market to house pizza parlor pharmacy and deli . los angeles times . groves martha august 30 1988 . the wait is over vons acquires safeway stores . los angeles times . safeway merger opening new chapter in vons saga . supermarket news . april 21 1997 via highbeam research . subscription required help . the library s history . archived from the original on september 27 2011 . retrieved may 17 2012 . albertsons owner to buy safeway for more than 9 billion . nbc news . march 6 2014 . retrieved 2014 05 10 . smith kevin april 8 2014 . merger of safeway albertsons likely to result in store closures . los angeles daily news . retrieved 2014 07 14 . li shan december 26 2014 . haggen chain to buy 146 vons pavilions albertsons safeway stores . los angeles times . harvey katherine p. february 12 2015 . haggen to make california debut in march . san diego union tribune . madans hannah & luna nancy september 9 2015 . haggen bankruptcy failure is the fastest in modern grocery store history . orange county register . li shan & khouri andrew september 24 2015 . grocery chain haggen is leaving california nevada and arizona . los angeles times . smith kevin september 22 2015 . haggen is now trying to sell supermarket assets back to albertsons safeway . san gabriel valley tribune . external links edit official website official mobile site wikimapia vons location in barstow california v t e albertsons companies banners acme markets albertsons amigos carrs jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons subsidiaries blackhawk network casa ley 49 % groceryworks.com people steven burd paul hazen lorenzo hoopes juan manuel ley history and culture brooks v. canada safeway ltd. safeway bowl safeway building safeway championship safeway classic safeway goya safeway international skaggs companies defunct dominick s genuardi s safeway australia safeway canada safeway stores ireland safeway uk simon david v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods