Vons

I am updating my review from 2014. Since then, the store has been completely upgraded. The aisles appear to be wider, the milk and other beverages are in a closed cooler unit that has doors to keep it cold. The arrangement of products is more well thought out.
And most of all, when dropping off a prescription, the banana stand and the blood pressure machine are gone! Now you can step up to the counter and there’s room for your elbows.
Nice job!

I was looking for the nearest Starbucks location from me, and realized it was in this Vons. I came in here for the sake of getting a caffeine recharge and hopefully a healthy snack. I found the former, but not the latter. So I decided to buy something from the Vons itself.
I ended up buying two organic apples. Simple, straightforward, and healthy. I went to the check out, told the cashier my phone number for the Vons reward. For some reason, it didn’t come up. The discount was only twenty cents, so no big deal.
I stopped by to use the restroom before I left. The restroom was a mess, no paper towels, the toilet seat cover dispenser was in disarray, and the trash overfilled. Fortunately there were no stains of any kind, and no bad smell. But I am docking at star for this.
The people in here didn’t look too happy at all, but I will attribute that to the rainy El Nino weather outside. Will I stop by again? Probably not, due to the fact that I only conduct business in Pasadena, and usually get food and coffee downtown. But the store does its job well of providing good produce.

Props on this Vons being was fancier than I initially thought it would be. I actually went to this Vons, Instead of the location I usually go to a couple miles south, because I didn’t feel like a fancy super market and assumed, by the area, that it would just be normal. Heaven forbid anything be normal in Pasadena lol. Like I said, the store is nice, it’s clan, and organized very well. My only knock is that the employees, much like their other Pasadena Vons counterparts, aren’t very friendly. But they’re at least efficient.

Customer service seems to be lacking. I arrived at the deli department at 9:02 and was told that they were closed and all the machines had been cleaned I was also told that they closed at 9. I find it amazing that they were able to clean all the machines in two minutes. Seems that it’s more important to get things cleaned up to go home then to take care of your customers. I also can’t remember the last time anyone asked me how my day was going or if I found everything that I was looking for.

This Vons is pretty old and I have a hard time finding what I’m looking for. They way they arrange their stuff just doesn’t make sense to me, it’s not logical and I think they are trying to get you all over the place to buy more stuff. The checkout is very crowded, it’s almost like a LA freeway, but not because they have so many shoppers, it’s just too small and not enough room.
The worst thing is the parking are, it’s dirty and it stinks.

How does this store continue to get worse and worse every year?
— They just «redesigned» the store, which means adding express lanes that are never staffed. The front of the store still looks shaggy and gross, always filled with cases of water.
— There are never enough checkers and lines are regularly 4 – 5 customers deep while the front end manager ensures all fake wood logs are secure.
— Why does store brand butter cost $ 7/​lb? Trader Joe’s has it got $ 3/​lb. Oh. It’s their «grand opening» after being in this location for 25+ years.
Tip to the management: Add front end staff to make customers happy. If you’re confused by this, visit the Trader Joe’s on Rosemead in Pasadena to see staff react to long lines.
One good thing: The produce section is always clean and organized.

I thought this store is amazing with great prices, wide variety of products, friendly associates, and very clean. The produce section is very large with things I have never heard of before. I thought this was very cool. I enjoyed the organic and healthy products available I usually shop at Target, but since I discovered Vons, I think I would shop here more frequently. I am not use to Vons because Florida didn’t have them.
I think the aisles are very narrow and it is hard to navigate the cart through the store. Besides this, everything else was fine. The cashier helped me get a Von’s card to save some extra cash on some of products. This store is very close to me, so it is very convenient. The parking lot is easy to get in and out of in my opinion. I highly recommend this store and will return very soon.

I do like Vons, but I do Not like their Overly Inflated Prices on their Smoothies that they sell at their In-​House Starbucks local store location.
I do buy the same smoothies at Starbucks, however, I know that for a Fact that the true value price for the smoothie in reality should be going for $ 4.25 which is what Starbucks is charging across the street from the Vons location.
However, inside of this Very Expensive Vons, they are charging $ 5.95.
I did buy it regardless cause I was thirsty, however, I was Not going to tolerate this Rip Off Price.
I did take pictures as you can see in my attachments and I did file a complaint with the manager who basically told me to Not buy it again if I feel that the price is way too high and I agreed, but in Reality they should be charging the Same Price as Starbucks since they are Representing The Starbucks Name And Brand!
I am informing everybody out there to be careful when you buy Starbucks drinks outside of the Real Starbucks stores cause You may end up getting Ripped Off like I just did!

Pretty standard grocery store. Old but actually pretty well stocked. Looks pretty cramped but actually still find bargains if you look and if you are willing to spend time on their annoying Just 4 U app (why can they just upload all the offers automatically instead of browsing them one by one is mind boggling. Who has time for that?) no complain about the produce department. Small but pretty well stocked. There’s a bargain bin situated back in the store close the pharmacy. Actually the pharmacy is the reason I give them 5 stars. I am a caretaker of an elderly person and this is the pharmacy that the person goes to, so I order refills and picked up the prescriptions. Everyone is very efficient and courteous but one pharm tech, Melinda stood out. When I stand in line, she already know what I am going to pick and get it ready. Really, really pleased with the level of professionalism this pharmacy has!

This review is for the bakery dept. I ordered a cake this past weekend for my son’s 5^th birthday. I didn’t ask for anything too fancy, just for it to be gray like a castle and to write happy birthday on half of it only, to leave room for a dragon I was going to put on top. When my husband went to pick up the cake, the woman who is responsible for making the cakes told my husband that since ours was the only cake order for the day, she could spend more time on it and make it look more castle like. The cake looked and tasted great. I really appreciate the extra time and effort she put into it, with no gain in it for her to put in that extra effort.
I will always order my cakes from Von’s from here on out.

I have been shopping at this Vons for years now and the only reason why I shop here is the location. Hope this is another market rather than Vons. Whole Foods will be very ideal!!!
Staff’s smoking/​relaxing area is too close to the entrance. I don’t wanna smell cigarette smoke when I enter.
No friendly service provided.
Hate one of the cashiers– I finally got to check his name; HENRY !! «I Never smile dude». He never ever makes an eye contact, rude when he asks for club card and ID.
Don’t understand how he still can work there. I always try to avoid his register cuz it makes me feel awful after I see his facial expression.

It’s sad to know I’m not the only person who doesn’t like to shop here. Daniel the cashier has got better but that Henry cashier is lacking basic customer service skills. Never says hello. Bad attitude. Why is management allowing people like that to work there? It’s ridiculous when the Food for Less customer service is way better.

This is by far the worst Von’s ever! I barely go here because it’s so old and dingy and when I do half the things I buy are expired! They have a very poor selection of organic items… and the organic Roma tomatoes were all moldy and soft. This place needs to be demolished.

I have been shopping at this particular Vons for as long as I can remember. I was just a few years old and I remember coming with my mom to purchase groceries. Now that I’m much older I still prefer to shop at this Vons. I have never had any problems here and I would recommend anyone in the area to shop here also.

Many moons ago, one off brothers worked at the Altadena/​Villa Von’s store. When it closed down, he moved to this store for a brief spell before being shipped all I’ve the place with promotions– starting as a courtesy clerk and working up to a key carrier is no easy task, but he pulled it off.
You know how? Customer service. The kid had like 50 perfect shops. He couldn’t get arrested in this town…
But it seems like those days are gone. Any time I go here after dark, I always manage to park near the locked «USE OTHER DOOR, STUPID!» sign. Oh well, I guess that’s my bad. There are only a few things I buy here, and only because my general purchasing of them is subject to being at my parents’ house down the street and other nearby stores being closed:
1. Ice cream/​drumsticks
2. Children’s Motrin
3. Coffee crack (you know that French vanilla cream?)
4. Dog food
5. Diapers/​wipes
6. Milk
7. Diet Dr. Pepper
I mean, that’s it. They usually have these things, and I imagine if you went in there looking for a pineapple, they’d have one of those, too.
Checkout can be a long wait with no human interpersonal dialogue, or you can spin the chance wheel with self-​checkout. You pay for bags in the Kingdom of Pasadena. One time when it was really slow in there, just to be funny, I punched in 9,500 bags. When my total came to $ 963.00, I called the lady over and showed her my ice cream and coffee cream, and made a big scene. She was at a loss, and said the machine must be broken. I did the same thing at the next self-​checkout machine. I think this time she was on to me, but it woke her up, and forced her to talk to me. I know, I’m a jerk. And I think they now limit the number of bags you can purchase… Or at least enter on the keypad.
You know, it’s the usual story here– a giant parking lot, a big labyrinth of a store with more crap than you could ever want or need, and lackluster service or friendliness.
I shop elsewhere, but in a pinch, I’m glad they’re here and close.

The store is NOT clean. The baskets are usually filthy; the hand sterilizer cloths frequently not available.
There is a lot of out of date food on shelves, particularly the yoghurts.
If you go at 7 p.m. the shelves need re stacking, particularly the «Club» special items.
Cashiers are usually pleasant enough, even when rushed, but the supervisors act annoyed when a request or complaint is made.
Shop here if there isn’t a good alternative.

I had to add this review, specifically about Daniel the cashier. He is wonderful and very friendly. I always try to get in his line. The previous writer must have been having a bad day.

2014 Unilocal 365 CHALLENGE — ²¹¹⁄₃₆₅
Clean, fast, lots of parking. This is my go-​to Vons in Pasadena. Love that they hire developmentally challenged inidividuals, truly represents non-​discriminatory hiring and provides opportunities for people from ALL backgrounds.

The staff are incompetent and slow. They have no sense of urgency and I don’t think they take pride in their work, either. I don’t know how they stay open, other than people have to go there because of proximity (of which I fall under). I try to go during off hours and self-​check out when I can. The remodeled pharmacy is nice, the Starbucks staff have been kind, and the parking + location are great… otherwise I hate coming here.

Daniel the cashier has been rude one too many times. Many months ago a bottle of water I was buying was leaking and he literally made me sop the water up off the floor under my cart. What?! Tonight, I was returning Organic kale that I purchased that yellowed within days (I use it daily in shakes so burn through it very quickly). I don’t keep grocery store receipts but offered my phone number so he could look it up. I only brought the kale in because I happened to need a lot of food. Normally I’d have just tossed it.
I started to tell him I’d had it for two days in the fridge but he cut me off. Then he asked when I bought ot and I said a few days ago. He rudely said is it two of a few?! He then proceeded to ask me if I had stored the kale outside! What?! I said no, clearly I store it in the fridge. He said if it was in the fridge it wouldn’t have yellowed that way. Anyone who buys bags or containers of lettuce or works in the grocery industry knows that one bad leaf turns the rest within two days! He continued to belittle me and in so many words call me a liar. My husband had enough and stepped in even though he was taking care of our toddler.
So fed up with him and one other checker who’s name escapes me.
Calling manager tomorrow. Get a secret shopper in there management! You will see the issue immediately.
We are here three times a week as it’s our only one nearby.