Tianguis Stores’ Fate Undecided, Vons Says : Retail: It denies report that remaining three Latino-aimed outlets will become conventional supermarkets.

Vons said Monday that it has converted six of its nine Tianguis stores to conventional supermarkets but hasn’t yet decided what to do with the three remaining stores.

Vons spokeswoman Mary McAboy denied a report in Supermarket News quoting a Vons executive as saying the Arcadia-based company had decided to convert all Tianguis stores to other formats.

“That is just his opinion,” McAboy said of statements by Vons Vice President Chris Linskey, who was quoted in the article. “We have made no decision to convert the stores.”

Vons has steadfastly maintained that it hasn’t decided to close its Tianguis chain, although it has converted two-thirds of them into Vons groceries or Expo warehouse-style stores since November.

According to Supermarket News, a trade publication, Linskey said the three remaining Tianguises--in Cudahy, Huntington Park and Montebello--would be converted into either Vons or Expo stores.

“My hunch is they will probably become Expos,” Supermarket News quoted Linskey as saying. He told the trade paper that sales had increased at the converted stores.

The chain was opened amid great fanfare eight years ago to win over the region’s fast-growing Latino population. With its specialty foods departments and weekend performances by mariachi bands, the stores drew large crowds at first.

Vons has acknowledged problems with the Tianguis stores, blaming the recession and a grape boycott by the United Farm Workers Union, whose members are mostly Latino. Although Tianguis stores stopped selling grapes, sales did not recover. Tianguis’ problems came at a time when the poor economy was taking a toll on Vons’ other operations. Vons’ 1993 sales fell 9.3% compared to the previous year, to $5.1 billion.

Industry observers have also said that Tianguis was at least partially undone by charging higher prices than its competitors and failing to aggressively promote the store with specials and coupons. A recent comparison showed that Vons offered three times more bargains at its upscale Pavilions markets than at Tianguis outlets.