Supermarket chains Ralphs, Vons and Albertson's have been saying since the beginning of a strike by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union against Vons, and a subsequent lockout by the other two, that they remain open and are serving their customers.

At the same time, the union has repeatedly said that picket lines are depriving the three chains of about two-thirds of the regular sales receipts from stores in Southern California.

With both sides scheduled to meet today to begin a new round of negotiations, a look Friday into several of the stores disclosed that they were not doing much business. Thanksgiving is only five days away. Of stores involved in the labor dispute, Vons seems to be more successful than the other two chains -- they are Ralphs and Albertson's -- in drawing customers.

The Vons on El Norte Parkway at Morningview in Escondido at midday was hosting 34 customers. There was no delay at either of the open checkout lines. Only a few of the customers were pushing grocery baskets, and those who were checking out were leaving the store with small loads.

At an Albertson's at Woodland Parkway and Mission Road in San Marcos, both of the open checkout lines were labeled "express."

The seafood case at Albertson's was full of frozen turkeys -- 41 of them. In all, Albertson's had 167 frozen turkeys on display, and none of the 19 customers in the store had a turkey in a shopping basket.

Some of the goods on the shelf in Albertson's were posted with "club" prices, despite the fact that Albertson's in Southern California has no loyalty or club card program.

Meanwhile, at Ralphs Marketplace at the intersection of Twin Oaks Valley Parkway and Discover Street (across the street from Cal State San Marcos), the service deli and the seafood case remain closed. No one was conducting business at the pharmacy. The store had abundant quantities of product, but only 24 customers.

By contrast, Stater Bros. at Mission Road and Bennett in San Marcos hosted 52 customers, most pushing carts filled with products. Checking out of the store involved a slight delay because there were queues at each of the three open tellers.

Contact staff writer Edmond Jacoby at (760) 739-6675 or ejacoby@nctimes.com.