QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

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marshd1000
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by marshd1000 »

I would say that there are Fred Meyer outlets that are high caliber outlets with a very QFC type of product mix. Maybe it is time for some kind of integration? The full line Bellevue and Redmond Fred Meyers are like a QFC with clothing and general merchandise. I would also say that the new Gig Harbor store is a QFC quality store. Portland food and drug limited stores, Burlingame and Stadium are also QFCs without the name. I do think that in the Portland/Vancouver market, Kroger could get away with making those few QFCs in that area into Fred Meyer Food and Drug. But even though Freddy’s is also very strong in Seattle, I’m not so sure that the total elimination of the QFC banner would work. I could see the QFC division consolidated into Fred Meyer but with the King and Snohomish County QFC stores retaining the QFC name on the outside. When Safeway acquired Carrs in Alaska, they kept the Carrs name on the outside of the buildings. New stores have been built as Safeway but the Carrs name remained on the stores that they bought. In Alaska, the ads say Carrs-Safeway. In many areas we now have Safeway-Albertsons ads. So why not a permanent Fred Meyer-QFC ad? But the Fred Meyer loyalty program may have to become like the “Spokane Test” stores where you need the card for sales prices. I could see QFC stores in Pierce, Thurston, Mason and Jefferson counties becoming Fred Meyer, since there are so few QFC stores there and the demographics not being as upscale there! But I could see people in Bellevue and Seattle howling with complaints if the QFC name totally disappeared!
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by Super S »

marshd1000 wrote: April 14th, 2018, 1:07 am I would say that there are Fred Meyer outlets that are high caliber outlets with a very QFC type of product mix. Maybe it is time for some kind of integration? The full line Bellevue and Redmond Fred Meyers are like a QFC with clothing and general merchandise. I would also say that the new Gig Harbor store is a QFC quality store. Portland food and drug limited stores, Burlingame and Stadium are also QFCs without the name. I do think that in the Portland/Vancouver market, Kroger could get away with making those few QFCs in that area into Fred Meyer Food and Drug. But even though Freddy’s is also very strong in Seattle, I’m not so sure that the total elimination of the QFC banner would work. I could see the QFC division consolidated into Fred Meyer but with the King and Snohomish County QFC stores retaining the QFC name on the outside. When Safeway acquired Carrs in Alaska, they kept the Carrs name on the outside of the buildings. New stores have been built as Safeway but the Carrs name remained on the stores that they bought. In Alaska, the ads say Carrs-Safeway. In many areas we now have Safeway-Albertsons ads. So why not a permanent Fred Meyer-QFC ad? But the Fred Meyer loyalty program may have to become like the “Spokane Test” stores where you need the card for sales prices. I could see QFC stores in Pierce, Thurston, Mason and Jefferson counties becoming Fred Meyer, since there are so few QFC stores there and the demographics not being as upscale there! But I could see people in Bellevue and Seattle howling with complaints if the QFC name totally disappeared!
On the flip side, while QFC generally has nicer stores, I have been to a few older QFC stores that didn't justify their higher price point and would probably be a better fit for the Fred Meyer name. As for Portland, QFC has closed a few locations in Gresham, as well as one in Vancouver, WA. QFC, like Haggen, never really took off in Portland for some reason. The remaining stores seem to be well run, but QFC does virtually zero radio/TV advertising outside of the Seattle market. A combined ad would work, but they need to keep the card BS out of it in the Fred Meyer stores. Too many games with prices send people to competitors. Fred Meyer has proven it can hold its own against other chains as long as there are no gimmicks involved.

The difference between Fred Meyer/QFC and Safeway/Albertsons is that Fred Meyer/QFC are more highly regarded while Safeway/Albertsons tend to be known for being hit or miss on many aspects of their stores and have a reputation for generally being higher priced.

A lot of people though have figured out who owns what and aren't going to pay extra for the same products just because of a name on the door, especially when the private label names are exactly the same and the different brands coexist in the same market, in some cases only a mile or two apart.
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by storewanderer »

I think Kroger has brought Fred Meyer "up" as far as some of its perimeters go. But the execution seems a little questionable. Having high volume stores really helps to support these perimeter programs though, and Fred Meyer definitely has very high volume stores.

At the same time, QFC overall seems like it has gone down in quality. Years ago when you went to a QFC deli, you'd always get a great sandwich. Now, it might be great and it might not be. Of the last 3 I've had from all different locations, in two cases, the bread was dry/stale. In one of the cases, they didn't put the cheese on the sandwich even when I filled it out on the order form either. It is a shame to use great quality Boar's Head products and fresh quality vegetables and then destroy the product with dry/stale bread. Clearly an execution issue.

QFC has also behaved oddly with its bakery departments favoring a lot of "thaw and sell" vendor items rather than in-store baked/scratch baked items that a store of the caliber of QFC would be expected to have... I know in some cases they have done that because the stores are simply too small for a large bakery prep but there has to be a better way...
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by SamSpade »

The first ad for 'the Q' has arrived at my home. I am much closer to Fred Meyer but still not receiving inserts from them in the mail on Wednesdays.
https://www.qfc.com/weeklyad?StoreCode= ... sionId=705
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by marshd1000 »

This doesn’t look quite like a total re-brand to me. You still see QFC at the bottom of the ad. It reminds me of the Safeway ads that focus on the large S.
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by storewanderer »

At least it is the familiar "Q" and also does not say "The Q."

Still- why are they doing this? Customer reception to the articles when it was announced was less than positive.

Oh well.
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by klkla »

SamSpade wrote: May 30th, 2018, 9:08 pm The first ad for 'the Q' has arrived at my home. I am much closer to Fred Meyer but still not receiving inserts from them in the mail on Wednesdays.
https://www.qfc.com/weeklyad?StoreCode= ... sionId=705
I didn't realize that Rainier beer was still available. There aren't too many regional beer brands left in the U.S.
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by jamcool »

Rainier is owned by Pabst and made in San Antonio
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by klkla »

jamcool wrote: May 31st, 2018, 4:30 pm Rainier is owned by Pabst and made in San Antonio
That's interesting. I didn't know that. Is it sold anywhere besides the Pacific Northwest? I remember it as being a local brand many years ago.
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Re: QFC contemplating re-brand, maybe just ‘the Q’

Post by Bakeragr »

Pabst sells Hamms and Stag here in Missouri. I think they do the same with Ranier, Olympia, Stroh’s, Lond Star and Old Style, among others. They’re all contract brewed by other companies.
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