South Medford Fred Meyer downsizing general merchandise, expanding food

[storewanderer]

http://www.mailtribune.com/news/2017041 ... -footprint

Another stupid move by Kroger this year. South Medford is the primary Fred Meyer to serve Ashland as well as those down over the state line in California who drive up into Oregon to shop without sales tax.

If they wanted to add more food, they should have expanded this store. There is ample space on the lot next to the grocery area with a former Office Depot and some other former things. Maybe they could not acquire the land or make arrangements to expand.

Kroger must just want to hand the general merchandise business to Wal Mart.

[Super S]

Fred Meyer has done this in smaller stores in the past, and has tweaked its general merchandise a bit over the years. I do question the elimination of electronics departments however.

The general merchandise side tends to be hit or miss depending on location. Some locations do ok. Others not so much. I do notice far fewer people on that side than on the grocery side though....

[mbz321]

Fred Meyer has done this in smaller stores in the past, and has tweaked its general merchandise a bit over the years. I do question the elimination of electronics departments however.

Electronics isn't really that great of category for a store to offer anymore, especially one that doesn't specialize in electronics. The profit margins are too slim and there are too many other places to buy electronics. Not that it is saying much, but most Sears and Kmart stores have already ditched electronics departments and reduced them to a few aisles of accessories like headphones and phone chargers (much higher profits than selling a TV).

[Super S]

Fred Meyer has done this in smaller stores in the past, and has tweaked its general merchandise a bit over the years. I do question the elimination of electronics departments however.

Electronics isn't really that great of category for a store to offer anymore, especially one that doesn't specialize in electronics. The profit margins are too slim and there are too many other places to buy electronics. Not that it is saying much, but most Sears and Kmart stores have already ditched electronics departments and reduced them to a few aisles of accessories like headphones and phone chargers (much higher profits than selling a TV).

Fred Meyer does operate in some smaller towns, particularly along the Oregon coast, where there aren't many competitors close by. And very few electronics retailers in some areas. It would seem that those stores would do better with electronics. But they shouldn't eliminate whole departments as long as stores like Walmart and Target still feature such departments. Under Kroger ownership, Fred Meyer has for the most part become a pretty standardized chain as far as the store experience goes, and people do have certain expectations from the chain. Kroger needs to be careful and not mess with a competitive formula.

[storewanderer]

They can eliminate departments, and customers will take them less and less seriously as a "one stop shop." I understand certain general merchandise categories are struggling in Fred Meyer, that is very clear, and are perhaps over-SKUed. However, the supercenter/multi department store format is very successful in the United States when it has a full assortment and a good grocery program, and that is why Wal Mart Supercenters (okay, maybe that is not so much a "good" grocery program by some of our measurements but they sure do move a lot of food) are so successful from coast to coast.

If anything a better strategy for them would be to try and focus on building general merchandise sales. Get those food customers to buy more general merchandise so the total basket value increases. That is the whole idea behind the Kroger Marketplace format. Why is Fred Meyer being dumbed down?

[pseudo3d]

Fred Meyer has done this in smaller stores in the past, and has tweaked its general merchandise a bit over the years. I do question the elimination of electronics departments however.

Electronics isn't really that great of category for a store to offer anymore, especially one that doesn't specialize in electronics. The profit margins are too slim and there are too many other places to buy electronics. Not that it is saying much, but most Sears and Kmart stores have already ditched electronics departments and reduced them to a few aisles of accessories like headphones and phone chargers (much higher profits than selling a TV).

Unlike Sears/Kmart, Kroger can afford to keep electronics as a full category. Not unless there's something going off the rails internally that they were trying to keep hidden, of course. That scenario is highly unlikely I know, since Kroger is a public company and such a scandal would do massive damage, and I just can't imagine execs allowing that to happen.

They can eliminate departments, and customers will take them less and less seriously as a "one stop shop." I understand certain general merchandise categories are struggling in Fred Meyer, that is very clear, and are perhaps over-SKUed. However, the supercenter/multi department store format is very successful in the United States when it has a full assortment and a good grocery program, and that is why Wal Mart Supercenters (okay, maybe that is not so much a "good" grocery program by some of our measurements but they sure do move a lot of food) are so successful from coast to coast.

If anything a better strategy for them would be to try and focus on building general merchandise sales. Get those food customers to buy more general merchandise so the total basket value increases. That is the whole idea behind the Kroger Marketplace format. Why is Fred Meyer being dumbed down?

For what it's worth, I still think Meijer (similar pronunciation than FM) is better as a supercenter concept than Walmart because Meijer was founded as a grocery store and still keeps a "real" grocery department. Walmart's perishable departments range from "pretty mediocre" to "non-existent", depending on the store.

[Super S]

For what it's worth, I still think Meijer (similar pronunciation than FM) is better as a supercenter concept than Walmart because Meijer was founded as a grocery store and still keeps a "real" grocery department. Walmart's perishable departments range from "pretty mediocre" to "non-existent", depending on the store.

Meijer has more similarities to Fred Meyer than it does to Walmart. Fred Meyer in the northwest is perceived as having better quality than Walmart across the board.

Whether or not the general merchandise side is struggling I think can vary by location. But one thing I do find interesting is how a number of Fred Meyer stores have brought back firearms in recent years, possibly to better compete with Walmart. They also still seem to have a pretty strong garden center business, at least in the spring/summer months. Their home goods departments and furniture offerings seem to be struggling though.

Depending on how much Kroger decides to expand the Marketplace format in markets where there are no Fred Meyer stores, they could gain enough buying power in categories such as electronics to at least be somewhat competitive.

[StoreLiker2006]

What about the original Medford Fred Meyer at 2424 Crater Lake Highway?

~Ben