Retail Watchers

Three of the four stores just got this décor package in Lafayette, LA. It's much more modern and less cluttered than what these stores had. My only complaint about it is that they moved the ENTIRE grocery section over by the produce in the three stores they did this remodel in. You go through all th...

A couple of minor updates here: In Lafayette, Rouses Markets has opened two stores; one was a completely new build just south of town in Youngsville (which is a very nice store) and another replaced a store built by Weingarten in the late 70's that had last been a nightclub. Also, Albertsons closed ...

Cerberus at it's heart is in business to derive the greatest benefits from it's assets not a grocer per se. Based on their past history if there are good offers to buy divisions or large chunks of the company (think SaveMart's acquisition of Northern California stores and Publix' cherry picking the...

I believe they can pull it off. Recently, the LLC remodeled the remaining stores in Lafayette, LA. They took out what I considered the overdone last packages of the original company, and gave the stores a really nice remodel, with new paint, straight line shelves and large department signs, in addit...

Walmart changed the role of the people greeter a few months ago. Instead of being the door guard, they are now supposed to roam near the cash registers steering customers in different directions and answering questions. Not the brightest move, if you ask me. The whole reason behind the PG position w...

Here's a picture of the store; indeed a single entry store. The carts are stored under the close up area of the overhang.

The reason I mention the Pink/Gray interior is that we have five Albertsons in Lafayette. The other four stores have had massive renovations and investments, including one that we really thought shouldn't have. One of the remodels removed the pink/gray interior. This store has never been remodeled i...

I can't speak for the other four stores, but the Lafayette store closing is a relatively small store, built in 1998. It replaced a corner of an older mall where a JC Penney store once stood. It was only about 40,000 square feet, which was small for an Albertsons at that time. It still has the Pink a...

Retailers (including grocery stores and mass merchandisers) use gas sales as a way of driving up store sales. Kroger and others use their rewards cards to either give away or (where gas giveaways aren't allowed) significantly reduce the price of gas. Most companies refer to these gas stations as los...

In D/FW, you have a long list of choices: Of course, you have Kroger, and they're fairly well entrenched in the area. Albertsons still has a decent presence, though not as big as before. Tom Thumb has a good number of stores as well, most of which are now adorned in Safeway's Lifestyle format. Also,...