New Format QFC To Open In Gig Harbor

[marshd1000]

It is interesting that this store is opening across from what was a Haggen. Basically a similar type of store. In reality, the demographics of Gig Harbor should have worked for Haggen. I do think that Main & Vine will work well in Gig Harbor! Especially if their prices are lower than Whole Foods or Haggen. It will be interesting to see what happens on Friday with Haggen. May Kroger learn lessons from them!

[marshd1000]

Here is what the News Tribune says about Main & Vine on opening day:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/busi ... 38053.html

[pseudo3d]

I didn't realize how TINY Main & Vine really was...27,000 square feet! That's about as big as a store can get where you can still squeeze all the required perishables and pharmacy in and still end up with a decent-sized store.

The videos and photos made it seem bigger than that, I'll say that much.

[VibeGuy]

No pharmacy. Meat production is apparently outsourced to Northwest Processors in Olympia.

Daylighting the ceiling makes the store look SO much bigger, but, again, only 7.5 aisles of dry grocery. They have one size and variety of Tide. Two of Oreos.

The footprint is precisely the same as the QFC it replaced, but it has wider aisles and is much more spacious feeling - the secret sauce is very much in the brutal editing of the center store. A typical Target has much much more dry grocery and household.

[storewanderer]

Sounds like the old Henry's concept in SoCal a little bit but with some more upscale products. Sprouts canned the Coke and Oreos I think.

[storewanderer]

I think they have big plans for this format.

They have some kind of loyalty program but it doesn't seem to be connected to the rest of Kroger. When I try to log in using the typical Kroger information I have it does not work. Also they seem to have a different toll free service hotline for this chain which is unusual since they have been centralizing all of their customer service functions.

So now we have this small format Kroger and the Ruler Foods small format Kroger. Two VERY different formats... and two formats being kept off the general Kroger marketing platform.

[submariner]

I think they have big plans for this format.

They have some kind of loyalty program but it doesn't seem to be connected to the rest of Kroger. When I try to log in using the typical Kroger information I have it does not work. Also they seem to have a different toll free service hotline for this chain which is unusual since they have been centralizing all of their customer service functions.

So now we have this small format Kroger and the Ruler Foods small format Kroger. Two VERY different formats... and two formats being kept off the general Kroger marketing platform.

Aside from knowing they're Kroger-owned, do they also stock Kroger brands, and to what extent (Since most Kroger stores carry an aggressive array of Kroger/Private Selection/P$$t items)?

[marshd1000]

I was there today. Most private label was mostly Simple Truth. But I did see some Mountain Dairy gallon milk. I did see Private Selection Ice Cream. As for the number of SKUs, the are small selections of mainstream products. For example, while in the condiment section, I saw Best Fiods Mayonnaise and not Kraft. As for salad dressings, I saw Newman's Own but not Kraft. But for heavily leaning towards healthy and organic, it still has enough mainstream products for that one stop grocery experience. I also had pizza, the salad bar and a drink from the Cutters Point Coffee kiosk! All in all, it was a great store and great experience!

[storewanderer]

I really like the idea of this format. I think the store size is just what a lot of customers are looking for. Packaged goods just aren't as popular as they once were. It is too bad they are out of San Francisco this would have been a really good format for some of the old Cala/Bell locations (if properly executed, which I think they could have done).

Also the loyalty card sign up on the Main and Vine program is curious. You cannot log in with another Kroger loyalty account. However when I got through the sign up part and it asked me to select an ALT ID (says any 10 digit number) it would not allow my phone number saying it was already enrolled. The loyalty card also seems to be tied to "perks" which you earn based on your spending. You can get rewards like free coffee/espresso, etc. I wonder if the "perks" also work as fuel points. It would be good for them to offer something in lieu of fuel points for people who do not drive or do not have a Kroger affiliated gas station nearby.

[pseudo3d]

I really like the idea of this format. I think the store size is just what a lot of customers are looking for. Packaged goods just aren't as popular as they once were. It is too bad they are out of San Francisco this would have been a really good format for some of the old Cala/Bell locations (if properly executed, which I think they could have done).

I was there today. Most private label was mostly Simple Truth. But I did see some Mountain Dairy gallon milk. I did see Private Selection Ice Cream. As for the number of SKUs, the are small selections of mainstream products. For example, while in the condiment section, I saw Best Fiods Mayonnaise and not Kraft. As for salad dressings, I saw Newman's Own but not Kraft. But for heavily leaning towards healthy and organic, it still has enough mainstream products for that one stop grocery experience. I also had pizza, the salad bar and a drink from the Cutters Point Coffee kiosk! All in all, it was a great store and great experience!

With so much focus on the perimeter departments, Kroger basically has to execute the perimeter departments almost perfectly to be able to make the concept work. The problem is, Kroger's perimeter departments across many divisions generally don't inspire confidence (to put it nicely). We'll see how this turns out after a year.