"Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

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"Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by SamSpade »

This is the second smallest QFC in the Portland area (Moreland has to be smaller...) and steps from a Fred Meyer.

As noted earlier in this forum, this store dropped 24/7 operation shortly after a New Seasons Market opened almost directly across the street.

I'm sad to lose a "Fresh Fare" layout store but I'm not surprised.

QFC in Portland is running the same food ad as Fred Meyer now, just presented a bit differently in print.

No article online yet, but this was reported on KGW 8, Saturday December 29.

I assume 2-2-19 is the end of Kroger's fiscal 2018?
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by storewanderer »

This store always seemed really low volume... I wonder what will take its space. Maybe demolish and non-grocery use will go there.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by Super S »

Much like Haggen, QFC never really took off in the Portland market. QFC I have noticed does little to no radio/TV advertising in the Portland area, while they do run ads in the Seattle markets.

Most QFC stores strike me as low volume stores which people rely on for convenience, but not as a place for regular grocery shopping. The stores are nice enough, but a lot of people have figured out that Fred Meyer sells many of the same items for lower prices, and could in some cases have fresher products because of higher volume.

QFC seems to have lost their way. Fred Meyer, then Kroger, did still have a more upscale experience at QFC for quite a while, but the focus seems to be shifting more towards Fred Meyer while the lines are becoming blurred as to what QFC should be. I could see converting what's left in Portland to a grocery-only Fred Meyer Foods banner, but retaining QFC for the Seattle area where it is long-established.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by storewanderer »

I agree that QFC has suffered a major decline the past few years as Kroger took away much of what was unique about it. Quality of perimeter has slipped considerably with either items not being as fresh as they should be, or changing from the higher quality items QFC used to sell over to standard Kroger product that is lower quality. But as this happened, QFC kept its high prices on perimeter/fresh items; higher than Fred Meyer for the same quality items.

When was the last time QFC opened a new store? QFC had a good shot at some growth when the Haggen bankruptcy happened but did not take that opportunity. If Kroger wanted to run QFC the way they run the other banners, they should have taken that shot and adjusted the pricing on fresh items to be more in line with other Kroger divisions.

If something doesn't change I am afraid we will continue to see QFC fade away. It has already been fading over the past decade with a decent chunk of the stores closed... granted many of those were not great stores and probably did need to go.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by marshd1000 »

It seems to me that Fred Meyer has increased their quality to the level of QFC in quite a few locations around Seattle and Portland. In Portland, the Stadium store on Burnside and the Burlingame stores are very QFC like. In the Seattle area, Gig Harbor, Bellevue, Greenwood and Redmond are also high quality. To me it seems to make sense to convert the few QFC stores in Portland to food only Fred Meyer stores like what was suggested. In Seattle, there would be gnashing of teeth by some, if the QFC banner were to be eliminated! But maybe a co-branded ad should happen? It also seems to make sense to expand the Fred Meyer banner to conventional grocery stores, especially in smaller towns that may not support a full Fred Meyer but could support a high quality conventional food and drug operator!
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by babs »

A little bit of history might help here. I used to be friends with a Fred Meyer exec at the time of the merger so I do know the real story. Fred Meyer bought QFC for three reasons.

One, and most importantly, they ran the numbers. By switching distribution to Fred Meyer's own warehouse and away from Associated Grocers, the purchase would pay for itself in 3-5 years. Essentially, they viewed it as getting QFC for free.

Two, it gave them #1 market position in Seattle. Something they felt they could never achieve with their own stores since finding suitable real estate for a 135k sq ft store is so hard in the Seattle market.

Three, they viewed the QFC format as a great way to fill in the holes in the Portland market where they could never build a full-size Fred Meyer. The plan always was to keep QFC slightly more upscale than Fred Meyer to justify higher prices. They need the higher prices to maintain profitability since they couldn't count on higher-margin sales from home and apparel products that Fred Meyer carries.

Then the Kroger merger happened. Kroger never really understood why QFC couldn't be just like all their other stores so that's why they turned them into a just another Kroger branded store.

As for the future, that's a great question that I don't think they've answered themselves. A lot of QFC functions are being managed by Fred Meyer in Portland already. They have some great stores in the Portland market that work. The Bethany, West Hills stores are the example of great fill in stores with little competition. The Sellwood store likely does well too due to the location and the small size probably keeps costs down. Not buying some of the Haggen locations seemed odd to me and showed the lack of commitment to the chain. Unfortunately, I think the Portland stores stay in limbo for the foreseeable future. No new stores yet the existing ones stay open.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by SamSpade »

Nice context, Babs! :-)

For non locals, Sellwood and Moreland are roughly the same thing, two neighborhood shopping districts within a short distance of each other. Sellwood itself does have a smaller format New Seasons squeezed into what was years ago a Piggly Wiggly.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by Super S »

babs wrote: December 31st, 2018, 10:51 am A little bit of history might help here. I used to be friends with a Fred Meyer exec at the time of the merger so I do know the real story. Fred Meyer bought QFC for three reasons.

One, and most importantly, they ran the numbers. By switching distribution to Fred Meyer's own warehouse and away from Associated Grocers, the purchase would pay for itself in 3-5 years. Essentially, they viewed it as getting QFC for free.

Two, it gave them #1 market position in Seattle. Something they felt they could never achieve with their own stores since finding suitable real estate for a 135k sq ft store is so hard in the Seattle market.

Three, they viewed the QFC format as a great way to fill in the holes in the Portland market where they could never build a full-size Fred Meyer. The plan always was to keep QFC slightly more upscale than Fred Meyer to justify higher prices. They need the higher prices to maintain profitability since they couldn't count on higher-margin sales from home and apparel products that Fred Meyer carries.

Then the Kroger merger happened. Kroger never really understood why QFC couldn't be just like all their other stores so that's why they turned them into a just another Kroger branded store.

As for the future, that's a great question that I don't think they've answered themselves. A lot of QFC functions are being managed by Fred Meyer in Portland already. They have some great stores in the Portland market that work. The Bethany, West Hills stores are the example of great fill in stores with little competition. The Sellwood store likely does well too due to the location and the small size probably keeps costs down. Not buying some of the Haggen locations seemed odd to me and showed the lack of commitment to the chain. Unfortunately, I think the Portland stores stay in limbo for the foreseeable future. No new stores yet the existing ones stay open.
That pretty much sums it up. I think Kroger doesn't understand the concept of what QFC was.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by SamSpade »

As (almost) always, neighbors seem distraught at losing this QFC. Store is now open 8 am to 8 pm only. Signs are posted all over as many departments are thin. An older woman was chatting with the self checkout cashier about everything. Of course she finds Fred Meyer too big.

The company is working to place employees with other stores. Signs in the store ask customers to visit the QFC on E Burnside no January advertised specials are being honored.

Produce, bread, deli, and meat are almost gone. The store has plenty of Kroger / Swan Island Dairy products to buy.
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Re: "Grant Park" QFC closing February 2nd

Post by SamSpade »

Rob Manning, a reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting tweeted photos. Story reposted in Portland Business Journal:
https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/ne ... water.html

The sidewalk chalk tributes are really sweet. People grow attached to things.
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