A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

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A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by architect »

Earlier today, I finally had a chance to make a trip by the recently opened Fiesta in Bedford (DFW area) which took over a former Minyard Sun Fresh/Tom Thumb. What I ran across was one of the more interesting Lifestyle conversions that I have seen. I will let the photos do the talking:

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Aside from the cheapened aisle signage, I was pretty impressed! The white Lifestyle signage on the red background stands out really well, while still giving off an upscale vibe which fits well considering the demographics of this particular store. Also, the new lighting around the perimeter of the store is definitely bright enough, but not overbearing like the hack lighting jobs seen at the hands of Albertsons.

The store was also fairly well trafficked, and the clientele skewed noticeably more upmarket than a typical Fiesta. It seems like Fiesta really studied the surrounding demographics when planning/merchandising this store, while also still remaining true to the Hispanic/international flair which they are known for. Pricing was slightly high, but certainly lower than the typical Albertsons/Tom Thumb ridiculous local prices.

It will be interesting to see if this scenario repeats itself in the months to come. A couple of years ago, there was a rumor that Randalls could be selling their Westheimer/Shepherd store in Houston to Fiesta. Although this rumor never came to fruition (and honestly doesn't make sense now, as this is one of Randall's highest performers), Fiesta taking over additional stores with Lifestyle decor could be a possibility if Randalls ever decides to pull out of Houston completely.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:Earlier today, I finally had a chance to make a trip by the recently opened Fiesta in Bedford (DFW area) which took over a former Minyard Sun Fresh/Tom Thumb. What I ran across was one of the more interesting Lifestyle conversions that I have seen. I will let the photos do the talking:

<Duplicate pictures removed by Admin to save reading space>

Aside from the cheapened aisle signage, I was pretty impressed! The white Lifestyle signage on the red background stands out really well, while still giving off an upscale vibe which fits well considering the demographics of this particular store. Also, the new lighting around the perimeter of the store is definitely bright enough, but not overbearing like the hack lighting jobs seen at the hands of Albertsons.

The store was also fairly well trafficked, and the clientele skewed noticeably more upmarket than a typical Fiesta. It seems like Fiesta really studied the surrounding demographics when planning/merchandising this store, while also still remaining true to the Hispanic/international flair which they are known for. Pricing was slightly high, but certainly lower than the typical Albertsons/Tom Thumb ridiculous local prices.

It will be interesting to see if this scenario repeats itself in the months to come. A couple of years ago, there was a rumor that Randalls could be selling their Westheimer/Shepherd store in Houston to Fiesta. Although this rumor never came to fruition (and honestly doesn't make sense now, as this is one of Randall's highest performers), Fiesta taking over additional stores with Lifestyle decor could be a possibility if Randalls ever decides to pull out of Houston completely.
The décor is largely derived from a recent set they rolled out in Houston. But...Fiesta's attempts at going upmarket have consistently ended in failure. Around the late 1980s and very early 1990s, they opened a number of stores in the suburbs, including Deerbrook, Willowbrook, Katy Freeway, West Houston, North Houston, and the king itself, a 200k square feet store off of I-45 near the Johnson Space Center, featuring a hydroponic garden. The hydroponic garden store went first, Randalls later ended up buying two of them (only to close them after a few years, admittedly), and the others just waited it out until demographics changed around them, never trying to go "upscale" again...until Fiesta Market Place in 2013 (Sugar Land) with a variety of features including Red Mango and Caribou Coffee, but that store closed a year later. Their latest acquistions in Houston include an old Kroger greenhouse (renovated to hide greenhouse) that Kroger finally gave up on. Of course, their strategy in Dallas IS different (no clothing departments, generally smaller stores) so maybe it might work.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by klkla »

They could definitely give Albertson's a lesson on how to make stores brighter without being tacky. Looks pretty good IMHO.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by BatteryMill »

I was fooled... I almost thought this was an actual operating Albertsons/Safeway store, just with a special type of remodel. They did a good job with the backdrops, looking like the new version of the official with colors. The store is quite clean looking anyway.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by architect »

BatteryMill wrote:I was fooled... I almost thought this was an actual operating Albertsons/Safeway store, just with a special type of remodel. They did a good job with the backdrops, looking like the new version of the official with colors. The store is quite clean looking anyway.
Do note that some of the department signage is actually new (most notably the "Tortillas and Tacos" sign, but also "Prepared Foods"). I was impressed by the level of detail in the new signage; it matches the existing Lifestyle decor perfectly.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by SoleOwnerOfMyName »

I stopped by this store this evening to pick something up on my way home from work - and there were signs hanging on the outside that the store was closing. Not sure how long the closing sale has been going on. There was a sign that the new hours were only until 8:00 PM and I was there a few minutes after that. From what I could see through the window the shelves looked mostly empty.

I think this is a shame - it had by far the widest selection of International foods and other items as well of any Tarrant County Fiesta. But I can't say that it surprised me as I never saw many people in it on the occasions I went, including not long after it opened. And the stores price's were quite high on a lot of items when I first visited it - something I also noticed not long after at a couple of other Fiestas.

I used to shop at Fiesta quite a lot until a new job meant that I no longer passed on on my way home from work. At one time Fiesta's prices were quite competitive. But lately I have noticed that this is no longer the case - and in some cases can be almost Albertsonesque. I wonder how well they are doing these days having to compete with HEB in Houston which has always been their main market. HEB has low prices and it knows how to appeal to the Hispanic market as well. I wonder if the higher prices at Fiesta are the result of a drop in volume or just the operating philosophy of its new management team.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by architect »

SoleOwnerOfMyName wrote:I stopped by this store this evening to pick something up on my way home from work - and there were signs hanging on the outside that the store was closing. Not sure how long the closing sale has been going on. There was a sign that the new hours were only until 8:00 PM and I was there a few minutes after that. From what I could see through the window the shelves looked mostly empty.

I think this is a shame - it had by far the widest selection of International foods and other items as well of any Tarrant County Fiesta. But I can't say that it surprised me as I never saw many people in it on the occasions I went, including not long after it opened. And the stores price's were quite high on a lot of items when I first visited it - something I also noticed not long after at a couple of other Fiestas.

I used to shop at Fiesta quite a lot until a new job meant that I no longer passed on on my way home from work. At one time Fiesta's prices were quite competitive. But lately I have noticed that this is no longer the case - and in some cases can be almost Albertsonesque. I wonder how well they are doing these days having to compete with HEB in Houston which has always been their main market. HEB has low prices and it knows how to appeal to the Hispanic market as well. I wonder if the higher prices at Fiesta are the result of a drop in volume or just the operating philosophy of its new management team.
It's a shame that this store is closing so soon. Although the shopping experience was well executed, FIesta's increasingly high prices and lack of marketing to the surrounding area are likely what killed this store. Also, a lack of a heavily concentrated Hispanic population in the surrounding area probably didn't help. Now we will have two former Minyard Sun Fresh/Fiesta locations playing grocery musical chairs (the Forest/Marsh location in Dallas is also history).
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by storewanderer »

So Fiesta closed 2 of these stores after... 4 months?

What else is going on at Fiesta?

Closing new stores after 4 months strikes me as a very troubled operation... that is even faster than Haggen.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by SoleOwnerOfMyName »

The Bedford location was open longer than four months - but not much more beyond that. My first visit to the store was in early January and it first opened about a week or so before that.

Perhaps the two locations being closed were part of an all or nothing bundle when they took over the remaining Minyard/Minyard SunFresh locations after the sale of the other stores to HEB? If so they would have been stuck with the stores regardless so perhaps they decided to give them a try.
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Re: A Lifestyle Decor Party (Bedford Fiesta Photos)

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:So Fiesta closed 2 of these stores after... 4 months?

What else is going on at Fiesta?

Closing new stores after 4 months strikes me as a very troubled operation... that is even faster than Haggen.
Fiesta has been in Dallas for a while now (I don't know when, but I think it was the 1990s), but yes, it is unusual. In their first twenty years, they never closed a store until the early 1990s, after an attempted expansion to the suburbs (one closed after just a few years, followed by a Randalls that didn't last too long either; another one was a massive 200k square foot store that made industry headlines with a functioning hydroponic garden inside, it made overhead ridiculously high and had to close after about four years).

With the Forest Lane store closing conveniently after rumblings were made about Kroger moving in, maybe Kroger has bought them and they're keeping it semi-secret.
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