New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

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pseudo3d
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New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by pseudo3d »

A flagship Jewel-Osco has opened in a place they once had a store until a few years ago (but it's a new address and everything). The décor seems to be the same décor as the new Pavilions but a different color scheme.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170628 ... -the-rocks

Notes I can tell from the article:
Pretty big opening crowd, people everywhere!

- Bar is called "Division on the Rocks" (like "Kinzie on the Rocks"), wish they could've gone for a more creative name
- There's a digital menu at the meat/seafood area, can they actually cook your selection right then and there?
- Actually 58,000 square feet instead of the 45,000 as previously reported
- Seems like they have Asian food there too
- Ceilings and lighting are florescent strips but it's not a drop ceiling, unimpressive but doesn't stand out in a bad way
- They have a picture of Jewel's new mascot, JoJo, which looks like a bootleg Monsters Inc. character
- Despite Jewel's attempts, it doesn't have nearly the "wow" factor Mariano's tends to have or is quite as large
architect
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:Ceilings and lighting are florescent strips but it's not a drop ceiling, unimpressive but doesn't stand out in a bad way
Actually, the fixtures used are LED strips; the same fixtures were used at the Fort Worth West Bank Tom Thumb which opened a few months ago. HEB is also now using similar fixtures for general lighting within many of their stores. Building codes in most areas now set high standards for daytime lighting usage, standards which are difficult to meet with typical fluorescent fixtures, hence the reason why LED's are becoming so common.

Overall, I am impressed that Albertsons is at least trying something different here with the decor. However, the store does still feel quite generic and overly white in parts.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by Super S »

architect wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Ceilings and lighting are florescent strips but it's not a drop ceiling, unimpressive but doesn't stand out in a bad way
Actually, the fixtures used are LED strips; the same fixtures were used at the Fort Worth West Bank Tom Thumb which opened a few months ago. HEB is also now using similar fixtures for general lighting within many of their stores. Building codes in most areas now set high standards for daytime lighting usage, standards which are difficult to meet with typical fluorescent fixtures, hence the reason why LED's are becoming so common.

Overall, I am impressed that Albertsons is at least trying something different here with the decor. However, the store does still feel quite generic and overly white in parts.
LED lighting is becoming very common now. There is a new Tractor Supply Co. near me that uses LED strips, as well as a fairly new Walmart in Vancouver, WA. I also noticed that the Kelso Target store finally replaced their lighting fixtures with new LED units.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by storewanderer »

To me, it looks a lot better on the outside, than it does on the inside.

"The Bistro" - great job copying Kroger. I hope the food is better than Kroger. It wouldn't take much.

This is pretty sad looking compared to a Mariano's.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by rwsandiego »

Given the cost of real estate, no one would build a store the size of a Mariano's in that neighborhood - including Mariano's. They built at Clybourn and North where land is considerably cheaper, although still not "cheap." The Clybourn and Division Jewel-Osco, approximately a half mile from this store, is very nice and also huge.

Based on the pictures they were going for a minimalist urban vibe, which fits with the neighborhood.

Looking forward to checking out this store when I visit Chicago.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by storewanderer »

Looks like the new store has self checkout.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... story.html

I wonder when Safeway will get a mascot. This mascot makes me laugh. It is funny. It doesn't quite give off the warmth of "Fred Bear" - but it is still funny. I am surprised of all of the negative comments about it on the linked article.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote:Looks like the new store has self checkout.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... story.html

I wonder when Safeway will get a mascot. This mascot makes me laugh. It is funny. It doesn't quite give off the warmth of "Fred Bear" - but it is still funny. I am surprised of all of the negative comments about it on the linked article.
Back in the day Jewel owned a coffee shop chain called JoJo's. The staff all wore pants. :D
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by storewanderer »

We do need to be considerate of the mascot's temperature when making appearances in warm weather months, I am guessing the top is already quite heavy/warm.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:Looks like the new store has self checkout.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... story.html

I wonder when Safeway will get a mascot. This mascot makes me laugh. It is funny. It doesn't quite give off the warmth of "Fred Bear" - but it is still funny. I am surprised of all of the negative comments about it on the linked article.
Tom Thumb has a mascot (once more prominent in advertising) that has showed up to store openings/remodels even under Safeway. I doubt that the mainline Albertsons or Safeway chains will see any mascot, if any more do show up they'll probably in the regional names (ACME, Shaw's/Star Market, Randalls).

JoJo definitely seems like the product of a marketing group that looked into what was popular and didn't really take into account customer tastes, but it least it is limited to Jewel and not the wider company.
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Re: New Jewel-Osco at Clark and Division

Post by buckguy »

I remember what was probably the original store at this location--white ceramic tile from the 50s that lasted that way into the 90s. Probably one of the last stores like that.
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