Retail Watchers

I do remember one other type of checkstand Fred Meyer used in their grocery department. In the mid-80s, when Fred Meyer opened the Garden City store in Boise, they had a "dual cashier" setup which looked almost identical to the type that Waremart stores were using at the time. This was sti...

I recently noticed, in many of the Fred Meyer stores that have been remodeled over the last five years or so, that the checkstands have a second conveyor belt after the cashier. What I also have noticed is that these second belts are rarely, if ever, used. The way the checkstands are set up the cash...

What Rite Aid stores in Idaho were sold to Walgreens?

I never noticed the change in hours for fall in past years though. I was wondering if it was Westfield's decision or if it was brought on by tenants who were not doing enough business. It would be a good move for Westfield though if it means keeping tenants.

So it seems that Target is definitely getting rid of service jewelry and is switching to self-serve jewelry only. Target recently opened 26 brand new stores in California several days ago. I assume that they time the grand openings so that they can have regional grand opening celebration sales. The...

I was in the Westfield Shoppingtown in Vancouver, WA earlier today, and noticed the mall hours, which were 10-9 on weekdays, have now changed to 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM weekdays. Is this something Westfield is doing in a lot of their malls? Although there is still a vacant Mervyn's space, the rest of th...

I was in Portland today, and stumbled upon a brand new Target store at Cascade Station near Portland International Airport. I went inside, and they do have the jewelry department in a more traditional spot for Target, across from the checkstands along the "racetrack" aisle. They did not ha...

Although I can't comment on California, the news about Albertsons does not surprise me at all. With the exception being their stores around Boise, Albertsons has really let a lot of their stores go downhill...removing fluorescent tubes, not adequately staffing stores, and not keeping them as clean a...

Two Walmarts are currently under construction near me, Longview, WA and Woodland, WA. It will be interesting to see what the new ones look like, and what they decide to do with Longview's old mid-90s build conventional Walmart which apparently is staying open across town, which has only received a m...

I thought Kmart abandoned the Big Kmart format. Makes me wonder if they salvaged a sign from a closed location instead of installing the newer signs. That would indicate they are not wanting to invest much in this location and that closure is still a possibility.