Retail Watchers

I noticed last week that Frys Marketplace stores are clearancing out their remaining sporting goods. Most locations had 2-3 aisles with a small but complete mix of smaller stuff like bike tires/tubes, bikes, golf supplies, baseball bats, mitts, and light camping type supplies. I was in a couple that...

I was in their store in San Anselmo a few weeks ago and was really underwhelmed. It was my first visit to an Andronico's. I was completely and thoroughly unimpressed. The produce was not fresh; some just seemed overrefrigerated and some seemed outright rotten. The meat area looked really nice but sm...

More closures. Not surprising. The spokesperson says they are considering renovations. That will be a first. They haven't remodeled anything in years and it is showing. Cheap tacky paint jobs to every store (1/2 of the stores didn't need this) were sure a waste of money. http://www.mercurynews.com/b...

You may find a few SVU Albertsons that have a self checkout where you scan the item then when you put it onto a conveyer belt next to the scanner the conveyer automatically moves it down near the bags. Fresh and Easy uses a similar design. I've seen numerous variations to Kroger's self checkouts. Sa...

There used to be a Safeway Pharmacy in Minden, NV. It was open for 3-4 years then closed (files were sold to Rite Aid). It was in a medical building and had a small selection of over the counter items. Safeway was slated for many years to build a new store across the highway but has since abandoned ...

Price is not important? How did Wal Mart become the largest grocer then? It is all about price. Safeway's (and many other failed grocers) problem was trying to charge double or triple what Wal Mart was charging on packaged center store items. There is no quality difference on these items between sto...

I will admit the few times I was in there... the store seemed really quiet. I'm still surprised it is closing.

Wow. http://theworldlink.com/news/local/arti ... 03286.html

It was quite a nice museum piece.

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... 725%20Ash/

Closing, only competition is WMT Supercenter.

Also, Kroger's self checkouts do have hand held scanners. The employee has a handheld PDA like device that shows all activity and has a scanner on it so they can modify your transaction from the handheld (not have to go to the cashier counter or log into the customer machine). This works very well. ...