DFW Kroger News/Observations

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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by storewanderer »

This ugly store interior pattern that Kroger has, combined with its rather indifferent quality in a lot of its bakery and deli (Boar's Head deli and Private Selection bakery items are the gems) are the types of things that will stop Kroger from achieving the greatness that certain other regional competitors have achieved, including some chains owned by Kroger such as Harris Teeter and Mariano's.

I find Kroger to be great at center store, private label, and also pretty good at produce. Meat varies too much by location/division and I do feel Kroger is committed to meat quality (in my market they are about the only operator left still trying to sell USDA Select Beef as even WinCo is now running USDA Choice; one Smiths does have an adequate mix of Choice and Prime sprinkled into its meat area but is still 80% USDA Select Beef).

But these ugly cement floors, it is time to stop this.

Kroger needs to look to Harris Teeter's white, clean, bright interiors; very uplifting and classy.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:This ugly store interior pattern that Kroger has, combined with its rather indifferent quality in a lot of its bakery and deli (Boar's Head deli and Private Selection bakery items are the gems) are the types of things that will stop Kroger from achieving the greatness that certain other regional competitors have achieved, including some chains owned by Kroger such as Harris Teeter and Mariano's.

I find Kroger to be great at center store, private label, and also pretty good at produce. Meat varies too much by location/division and I do feel Kroger is committed to meat quality (in my market they are about the only operator left still trying to sell USDA Select Beef as even WinCo is now running USDA Choice; one Smiths does have an adequate mix of Choice and Prime sprinkled into its meat area but is still 80% USDA Select Beef).

But these ugly cement floors, it is time to stop this.

Kroger needs to look to Harris Teeter's white, clean, bright interiors; very uplifting and classy.
The floors weren't the only part of the problem, the ceilings just look weird. Drop ceilings, but the tiles are a quarter of the size they should be. I sometimes see something like this on older buildings. Generally, concrete floors work better in stores that have high ceilings, and the particularly ugly concrete floor with a particularly ugly ceiling just leaves it a mess, regardless of the confusing and unattractive other decor.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:
storewanderer wrote:This ugly store interior pattern that Kroger has, combined with its rather indifferent quality in a lot of its bakery and deli (Boar's Head deli and Private Selection bakery items are the gems) are the types of things that will stop Kroger from achieving the greatness that certain other regional competitors have achieved, including some chains owned by Kroger such as Harris Teeter and Mariano's.

I find Kroger to be great at center store, private label, and also pretty good at produce. Meat varies too much by location/division and I do feel Kroger is committed to meat quality (in my market they are about the only operator left still trying to sell USDA Select Beef as even WinCo is now running USDA Choice; one Smiths does have an adequate mix of Choice and Prime sprinkled into its meat area but is still 80% USDA Select Beef).

But these ugly cement floors, it is time to stop this.

Kroger needs to look to Harris Teeter's white, clean, bright interiors; very uplifting and classy.
The floors weren't the only part of the problem, the ceilings just look weird. Drop ceilings, but the tiles are a quarter of the size they should be. I sometimes see something like this on older buildings. Generally, concrete floors work better in stores that have high ceilings, and the particularly ugly concrete floor with a particularly ugly ceiling just leaves it a mess, regardless of the confusing and unattractive other decor.
Actually, the ceiling tiles in this store are a regular 2x2 tile in a typical drop ceiling, but divided into 4 tegular sections. Tegular tiles such as these are very high-end, and are frequently used to add more depth and detail over a typical flat ceiling tile. Kroger commonly used these during the neon era; the store at Preston/Campbell in Dallas (a heavily renovated Greenhouse that bears almost no resemblance to a typical Greenhouse) has these throughout the perimeter areas of the store too. They just look odd with this decor due to the often white-colored walls.

The type of ceiling tile you are probably thinking of in your post does look extremely tacky though. They are essentially 1x1 or 1x2 tiles which are adhered directly to the ceiling primarily as an acoustical treatment, vs a typical drop ceiling today which is a series of panels supported by a metal rail system, and which allows electrical, mechanical and plumbing runs to be concealed above the ceiling. These older tiles were primarily common in facilities such as museums which needed effective noise control. However, in many cases, they have been removed or replaced in buildings which contained them due to the fact that many of these older tiles had Asbestos as a part of their material composition, and also due to the fact that these older tiles had a tendency to fall as their adhesive became dry and brittle.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

In an interesting move, Kroger is currently in the process of adding a fuel center and expanding their store in Addison, a former Winn-Dixie Marketplace. For several years now, Kroger has publicly stated that they have desired to move this store to a larger, more modern location. However, they have been unable to find an acceptable site within the area. Finally, about a year ago, Kroger upgraded the store's dated Millenium decor to the 2012 (Kroger Texas default) decor package and removed the parabolic grids from the Winn-Dixie remnant 2x4 light fixtures to brighten up the store somewhat, showing indications that they were maintaining the status quo for now. Interestingly, Kroger is now in the process of adding a fuel station within the parking lot of the shopping center, along with redoing the front facade of the store (worm has not begun yet on the facade, but a permit has been posted at the building and a temporary wood covered walkway has been constructed leading to the store's entrance). It appears that Kroger has decided that their search for a better location is fruitless, and that this existing store is their best route for maintaining a presence in the area.

This store could potentially be expanded to the east if the shopping center developer was willing to sell off portions of the center to accommodate such a move. The only store which would stand in the way would be Petsmart, which could easily move to a new space nearby (I'm sure that Kroger would be willing to throw $$$ their way to make such a move happen). The Office Depot next door has perpetually low traffic, and I do not expect it to last for long. The Target to the west of Kroger is also in the process of renovating, so in a sense the center as a whole is going through somewhat of a makeover.

It will be interesting to see how this whole situation plays out.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by rwsandiego »

In regard to the post about the Addison, TX Kroger, a comment and a question.

I like the decor package they used in that store. To me, it works better in larger stores. I remember seeing it for the first time in a QFC store in late 2010 (hard to believe it was deployed that long ago) It is certainly better than the "local" package, such as the one they installed at the Glendale Ralphs and other Kroger-owned stores.

The question is why Kroger does not consistently use its logo on stores' exterior signage in Texas? The pictures on Google Maps show a sign that uses a serif font, not the stylized Kroger font found on stores in other markets.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

rwsandiego wrote:In regard to the post about the Addison, TX Kroger, a comment and a question.

I like the decor package they used in that store. To me, it works better in larger stores. I remember seeing it for the first time in a QFC store in late 2010 (hard to believe it was deployed that long ago) It is certainly better than the "local" package, such as the one they installed at the Glendale Ralphs and other Kroger-owned stores.

The question is why Kroger does not consistently use its logo on stores' exterior signage in Texas? The pictures on Google Maps show a sign that uses a serif font, not the stylized Kroger font found on stores in other markets.
Personally, I really admire the decor package in question too, and I actually feel that it works well in both large stores and small stores/stores with low ceilings. It is rare that a particular decor package works well across the board. I think that the "baskets" behind the department signage help tremendously, as they provide a visual break vertically along the wall in warehouse ceiling stores, while also helping to transition the signage to the ceiling in low ceiling stores.

As far as the logo goes, I don't have a clue of why this is the case. Personally, I am a fan of the stylized logo for signage, and the Texas signage has always bugged me. However, my guess is that Kroger did market research and found that the more basic nameplate was more identifiable by customers. This is actually somewhat important in both the DFW and Houston markets, where many stores are located along major raised highways/busy thoroughfares, so signage must be visible to drivers traveling at moderate to high speeds. At most stores in Texas, signage along the street in actually in a plain sans serif font (including the Addison store), while the storefront signage uses a range of different fonts. It is quite inconsistent.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:
rwsandiego wrote:In regard to the post about the Addison, TX Kroger, a comment and a question.

I like the decor package they used in that store. To me, it works better in larger stores. I remember seeing it for the first time in a QFC store in late 2010 (hard to believe it was deployed that long ago) It is certainly better than the "local" package, such as the one they installed at the Glendale Ralphs and other Kroger-owned stores.

The question is why Kroger does not consistently use its logo on stores' exterior signage in Texas? The pictures on Google Maps show a sign that uses a serif font, not the stylized Kroger font found on stores in other markets.
Personally, I really admire the decor package in question too, and I actually feel that it works well in both large stores and small stores/stores with low ceilings. It is rare that a particular decor package works well across the board. I think that the "baskets" behind the department signage help tremendously, as they provide a visual break vertically along the wall in warehouse ceiling stores, while also helping to transition the signage to the ceiling in low ceiling stores.

As far as the logo goes, I don't have a clue of why this is the case. Personally, I am a fan of the stylized logo for signage, and the Texas signage has always bugged me. However, my guess is that Kroger did market research and found that the more basic nameplate was more identifiable by customers. This is actually somewhat important in both the DFW and Houston markets, where many stores are located along major raised highways/busy thoroughfares, so signage must be visible to drivers traveling at moderate to high speeds. At most stores in Texas, signage along the street in actually in a plain sans serif font (including the Addison store), while the storefront signage uses a range of different fonts. It is quite inconsistent.
I would chalk up the logo changes to some nonsense at the Southwest Division. It was consistent classic Kroger logo (well, save for 1970s K R O G E R letterings) until around late 2001 to 2003, when they changed a bunch en masse, including stores that weren't that old. Like, they installed permanent Kroger signage on Albertsons stores they acquired in 2002...at least that's what I remember them doing for the Conroe store.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by rwsandiego »

architect wrote: Personally, I really admire the decor package in question too, and I actually feel that it works well in both large stores and small stores/stores with low ceilings. It is rare that a particular decor package works well across the board. I think that the "baskets" behind the department signage help tremendously, as they provide a visual break vertically along the wall in warehouse ceiling stores, while also helping to transition the signage to the ceiling in low ceiling stores....
The only store in which this decor package does not work, IMO, is the Ralphs on Sports Arena Blvd in San Diego. It is a replacement for a very old store that was located next door. I just don't like the store in general. It is located in part of an old Mervyn's that was co-located with a Target. The Target expanded into part of the Mervyn's and the Ralphs took the rest of the building. They might have added on - can't recall. Can't put my finger on what I don't like, though. Just don't like it.
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

rwsandiego wrote:
architect wrote: Personally, I really admire the decor package in question too, and I actually feel that it works well in both large stores and small stores/stores with low ceilings. It is rare that a particular decor package works well across the board. I think that the "baskets" behind the department signage help tremendously, as they provide a visual break vertically along the wall in warehouse ceiling stores, while also helping to transition the signage to the ceiling in low ceiling stores....
The only store in which this decor package does not work, IMO, is the Ralphs on Sports Arena Blvd in San Diego. It is a replacement for a very old store that was located next door. I just don't like the store in general. It is located in part of an old Mervyn's that was co-located with a Target. The Target expanded into part of the Mervyn's and the Ralphs took the rest of the building. They might have added on - can't recall. Can't put my finger on what I don't like, though. Just don't like it.
Was that the former FedMart?
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Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by klkla »

rwsandiego wrote:The only store in which this decor package does not work, IMO, is the Ralphs on Sports Arena Blvd in San Diego. It is a replacement for a very old store that was located next door. I just don't like the store in general. It is located in part of an old Mervyn's that was co-located with a Target. The Target expanded into part of the Mervyn's and the Ralphs took the rest of the building. They might have added on - can't recall. Can't put my finger on what I don't like, though. Just don't like it.
The Target & Mervyn's took over the entire FedMart location that was there in the mid 1980's and divided it into two businesses. The old Ralphs was built from ground up in 1983 or 1984 so it wasn't that old and it was a replacement for a store a couple blocks down the street that was build around 1979 (that is now occupied by a CVS and Grocery Outlet). I looked at the photos of the new store on Yelp and it look's like any other Ralphs from that era. I wonder why it doesn't look better in person?
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