DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

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pseudo3d
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:
storewanderer wrote:What did that Murphy store start as? The ceilings look strange in there. What a giant store, too.
The Murphy store was actually built as an Albertsons (I agree, it is very strange)! There are many locations (most since closed) around DFW and Houston that were built with this prototype. Most locations feature a warehouse ceiling with hanging light fixtures (and a few random strip lights mounted to the underside of the roof deck; I'm assuming as some type of emergency lighting). This is the only store I have seen that has drop ceiling in this format, complete with the random strip lights which don't make any sense. The exposed HVAC ducts running below the drop ceiling also look very strange in person.

Also, I forgot to mention this, but the Sav-On signage had been removed at both stores (and the Albertsons signage was even recentered at the Casa Linda store to account for the change). Earlier today, I also saw a co-branded Albertsons-Tom Thumb truck/trailer combo, so based on all of these changes, I don't see the Albertsons name being retired in DFW anytime soon.
Well, the Albertsons name also goes outside in the immediate areas like Sherman or Cleburne, just like how the Randalls division in Houston has appended the Albertsons name onto the outside, even though the Albertsons they service are only in Louisiana. I would suspect that in the actual D-FW area, the Albertsons name is still at risk (ultimately).
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:
architect wrote:
storewanderer wrote:What did that Murphy store start as? The ceilings look strange in there. What a giant store, too.
The Murphy store was actually built as an Albertsons (I agree, it is very strange)! There are many locations (most since closed) around DFW and Houston that were built with this prototype. Most locations feature a warehouse ceiling with hanging light fixtures (and a few random strip lights mounted to the underside of the roof deck; I'm assuming as some type of emergency lighting). This is the only store I have seen that has drop ceiling in this format, complete with the random strip lights which don't make any sense. The exposed HVAC ducts running below the drop ceiling also look very strange in person.

Also, I forgot to mention this, but the Sav-On signage had been removed at both stores (and the Albertsons signage was even recentered at the Casa Linda store to account for the change). Earlier today, I also saw a co-branded Albertsons-Tom Thumb truck/trailer combo, so based on all of these changes, I don't see the Albertsons name being retired in DFW anytime soon.
Well, the Albertsons name also goes outside in the immediate areas like Sherman or Cleburne, just like how the Randalls division in Houston has appended the Albertsons name onto the outside, even though the Albertsons they service are only in Louisiana. I would suspect that in the actual D-FW area, the Albertsons name is still at risk (ultimately).
This actually makes sense, as the DFW distribution center also serves Albertsons stores to the north, in East Texas and even North Louisiana. Personally, I feel that maintaining three separate brands in one more market is unsustainable from a marketing standpoint, and clearly Albertsons is the low hanging fruit. It will be interesting to follow this whole situation.
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

What is the area marked "Entertainment Center" in the front of the Murphy store? It looks like a converted video rental store, but did they actually still stock things like DVDs and video games there?
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:What is the area marked "Entertainment Center" in the front of the Murphy store? It looks like a converted video rental store, but did they actually still stock things like DVDs and video games there?
Actually, years ago, Albertsons used to offer video rentals in some of their stores (the former Randalls turned Albertsons on University in College Station still did circa 2008). The former Albertsons (now Minyard Sun Fresh) at Northwest Highway/Ferndale has almost this exact same floor plan, and even still has a "video" marquee sign hanging in this area.
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:What is the area marked "Entertainment Center" in the front of the Murphy store? It looks like a converted video rental store, but did they actually still stock things like DVDs and video games there?
Actually, years ago, Albertsons used to offer video rentals in some of their stores (the former Randalls turned Albertsons on University in College Station still did circa 2008). The former Albertsons (now Minyard Sun Fresh) at Northwest Highway/Ferndale has almost this exact same floor plan, and even still has a "video" marquee sign hanging in this area.
I am well aware of Albertsons video rentals, and the Albertsons at Longmire and Texas Avenue was our spot for renting DVDs for a few years (even though they tended to be in rough shape) before they finally gutted it around 2005 for a "team shop" area. Of course, very few supermarkets stock full movie rental departments anymore, which is why it was a little surprising to see some semblance of that at the Murphy store, and I was wondering what is current fate was. (By the time the Albertsons off University Drive East closed in 2011, the former video rental area had been a staff room for a few years).
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:
architect wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:What is the area marked "Entertainment Center" in the front of the Murphy store? It looks like a converted video rental store, but did they actually still stock things like DVDs and video games there?
Actually, years ago, Albertsons used to offer video rentals in some of their stores (the former Randalls turned Albertsons on University in College Station still did circa 2008). The former Albertsons (now Minyard Sun Fresh) at Northwest Highway/Ferndale has almost this exact same floor plan, and even still has a "video" marquee sign hanging in this area.
I am well aware of Albertsons video rentals, and the Albertsons at Longmire and Texas Avenue was our spot for renting DVDs for a few years (even though they tended to be in rough shape) before they finally gutted it around 2005 for a "team shop" area. Of course, very few supermarkets stock full movie rental departments anymore, which is why it was a little surprising to see some semblance of that at the Murphy store, and I was wondering what is current fate was. (By the time the Albertsons off University Drive East closed in 2011, the former video rental area had been a staff room for a few years).
Currently, the video rental area at the Murphy store is a grab bag of kiosks (Coinstar, Redbox, a couple of arcade games). In some DFW stores, this area has been turned into a Cowboys mini-shop if the store did not already have one.
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by storewanderer »

Save Mart has either emptied out the video departments or closed them off. I think one location converted it to books. Or flowers. I forget. Of course most of the Save Marts are former Luckys so they did not have video and lobby, just had customer service. Some locations had a little enclosed video room then outside it was a large lobby counter which provided video rental services at one register and then lobby services at another register (photo). Then there was also a separate customer service counter elsewhere. At some point lobby and customer service merged. Save Mart (also Ralphs NorCal) ultimately closed all three departments and generally disassembled all of the areas. Save Mart installed small customer service podiums in the middle of checkouts (again same thing Ralphs did) but they are never staffed and routinely have out of order signs on their money order/money wire service machine. Stores in Nevada have also dealt with the loss of in-store slot machines (most chains... Scolaris, Smiths, and Safeway still have slots in every location... the other chains have removed them from most locations or some like Wal Mart never had slots in the first place).
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

Cross-post, but I've heard reports that Red River Farms has been replaced with Lucerne. Dang. :(
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:Cross-post, but I've heard reports that Red River Farms has been replaced with Lucerne. Dang. :(
I was at the Market Street in Plano over this weekend and can confirm that Red River Farms has been replaced by Lucerne. However, the Lucerne milk being sold at Market Street is actually different from the Lucerne being sold at DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons locations, as the Market Street jugs have a colored cap which corresponds with the label color, while the jugs sold elsewhere have a white cap. It is likely that the milk being sold at Market Street is still being supplied by the same plant which serves the United stores in the Panhandle/West Texas; I will check the coding next time I am shopping there. Also the Plano store has been extensively reorganized, with the product selection skewing much more mass-market than before (with some high-end products being eliminated). This is not a good move in one of the highest income areas of DFW, especially with so much competition nearby. Pricing was much more competitive than both Tom Thumb and Albertsons though, and the selection was still very good for a mainstream grocer.
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Re: DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons/MArket Street Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Cross-post, but I've heard reports that Red River Farms has been replaced with Lucerne. Dang. :(
I was at the Market Street in Plano over this weekend and can confirm that Red River Farms has been replaced by Lucerne. However, the Lucerne milk being sold at Market Street is actually different from the Lucerne being sold at DFW Tom Thumb/Albertsons locations, as the Market Street jugs have a colored cap which corresponds with the label color, while the jugs sold elsewhere have a white cap. It is likely that the milk being sold at Market Street is still being supplied by the same plant which serves the United stores in the Panhandle/West Texas; I will check the coding next time I am shopping there. Also the Plano store has been extensively reorganized, with the product selection skewing much more mass-market than before (with some high-end products being eliminated). This is not a good move in one of the highest income areas of DFW, especially with so much competition nearby. Pricing was much more competitive than both Tom Thumb and Albertsons though, and the selection was still very good for a mainstream grocer.
I was there too this weekend (presumably after the reset), and I was impressed overall. The soda section is all name-brand (no Refreshe), the HBA department is far larger than anything I've seen in a Safeway branded store, and of course, staffing was excellent. I didn't see higher-end products, though, you're right. I didn't check the milk, but the bottled water in 1 gallon jugs (using a different design than milk jugs--a more curved top, Walmart uses the same thing) was still Kristal.

Overall, it being my first time, it felt like a decent competitor to Kroger or H-E-B for the first time, and a bit like Albertsons/Randalls cooler, more successful cousin.
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