storewanderer wrote:Kroger continues to put polished concrete into new stores and some (not all) remodels in all of the divisions (except Harris Teeter) from what I am seeing. I believe the Ralphs that get remodeled into the standard Kroger decor continue to get the concrete floor. The special stores like Westwood, Woodland Hills, and the fresh fares get the nicer white floor... As far as the brown floor goes, it looks terrible, dark, depressing, and dirty. It is a big mistake and one that they really need to fix.
I have seen some Albertsons with concrete floors but not the majority. The newest Safeways have polished concrete but I suspect it is less than 10 stores in the whole chain that have concrete floors. For example, the remodel they did in South San Francisco in late 2015 has polished concrete floors. It is a former Pak N Save which did previously have a hospital white tile floor throughout.
But then in Florida they installed gray floor tiles in the remodel in Altamonte Springs (probably did that to avoid asbestos issues with that old building involved with going the concrete route).
The WinCos in Reno actually have a grayish-white painted concrete floor. It doesn't look too bad and they keep it clean. It looks far better than the dark brown Kroger or Whole Foods concrete floor. WinCo also displays its products on conventional shelving (not pallet racks). I consider WinCo to be a supermarket. it isn't a pleasant place in my opinion at all, but it is definitely a supermarket.
You're wrong. Ralphs DOES NOT put polished concrete floors in ANY renovated stores anymore. I can cite many locations including the recently renovated (completed March 2016) Torrance location which had polished concrete floors and now has tile. Tile is being added to the currently being remodeled Ralphs in Long Beach. Tile will also replace the polished concrete floors in Redondo Beach over this summer. These are NOT Fresh Fare locations. The flooring is similar, but not exactly the same, as the flooring in Fresh Fare locations that had the polished concrete flooring (Westwood never did but Santa Monica did) but is not exactly the same.
The remodels that are being done on Ralphs locations do not look like the standard Kroger remodel. First one I saw that was different was Venice, Ca. I suggest you check out the latest Ralphs remodels. I am not keen on the orange and pastel colors on the walls that they are using as part of the remodel.
storewanderer wrote:Kroger continues to put polished concrete into new stores and some (not all) remodels in all of the divisions (except Harris Teeter) from what I am seeing. I believe the Ralphs that get remodeled into the standard Kroger decor continue to get the concrete floor. The special stores like Westwood, Woodland Hills, and the fresh fares get the nicer white floor... As far as the brown floor goes, it looks terrible, dark, depressing, and dirty. It is a big mistake and one that they really need to fix.
I have seen some Albertsons with concrete floors but not the majority. The newest Safeways have polished concrete but I suspect it is less than 10 stores in the whole chain that have concrete floors. For example, the remodel they did in South San Francisco in late 2015 has polished concrete floors. It is a former Pak N Save which did previously have a hospital white tile floor throughout.
But then in Florida they installed gray floor tiles in the remodel in Altamonte Springs (probably did that to avoid asbestos issues with that old building involved with going the concrete route).
The WinCos in Reno actually have a grayish-white painted concrete floor. It doesn't look too bad and they keep it clean. It looks far better than the dark brown Kroger or Whole Foods concrete floor. WinCo also displays its products on conventional shelving (not pallet racks). I consider WinCo to be a supermarket. it isn't a pleasant place in my opinion at all, but it is definitely a supermarket.
You're wrong. Ralphs DOES NOT put polished concrete floors in ANY renovated stores anymore. I can cite many locations including the recently renovated (completed March 2016) Torrance location which had polished concrete floors and now has tile. Tile is being added to the currently being remodeled Ralphs in Long Beach. Tile will also replace the polished concrete floors in Redondo Beach over this summer. These are NOT Fresh Fare locations. The flooring is similar, but not exactly the same, as the flooring in Fresh Fare locations that had the polished concrete flooring (Westwood never did but Santa Monica did) but is not exactly the same.
The remodels that are being done on Ralphs locations do not look like the standard Kroger remodel. First one I saw that was different was Venice, Ca. I suggest you check out the latest Ralphs remodels. I am not keen on the orange and pastel colors on the walls that they are using as part of the remodel.
Are the remodels done on Ralph's locations into the Kroger "Marketplace" décor package?
The recent Fry's remodels (including "regular" locations) have been into the "Marketplace" décor. However, they've been done on the cheap (similar to the Albertsons LLC remodels) were only the walls are repainted and the signage is changed (yet the floor and ceiling tiles are un-touched).
Several Fry's locations have flooring that was installed 2 to 3 remodels ago (only new build stores and a handful of renovations got the polished concrete look).
storewanderer wrote:Kroger continues to put polished concrete into new stores and some (not all) remodels in all of the divisions (except Harris Teeter) from what I am seeing. I believe the Ralphs that get remodeled into the standard Kroger decor continue to get the concrete floor. The special stores like Westwood, Woodland Hills, and the fresh fares get the nicer white floor... As far as the brown floor goes, it looks terrible, dark, depressing, and dirty. It is a big mistake and one that they really need to fix.
I have seen some Albertsons with concrete floors but not the majority. The newest Safeways have polished concrete but I suspect it is less than 10 stores in the whole chain that have concrete floors. For example, the remodel they did in South San Francisco in late 2015 has polished concrete floors. It is a former Pak N Save which did previously have a hospital white tile floor throughout.
But then in Florida they installed gray floor tiles in the remodel in Altamonte Springs (probably did that to avoid asbestos issues with that old building involved with going the concrete route).
The WinCos in Reno actually have a grayish-white painted concrete floor. It doesn't look too bad and they keep it clean. It looks far better than the dark brown Kroger or Whole Foods concrete floor. WinCo also displays its products on conventional shelving (not pallet racks). I consider WinCo to be a supermarket. it isn't a pleasant place in my opinion at all, but it is definitely a supermarket.
You're wrong. Ralphs DOES NOT put polished concrete floors in ANY renovated stores anymore. I can cite many locations including the recently renovated (completed March 2016) Torrance location which had polished concrete floors and now has tile. Tile is being added to the currently being remodeled Ralphs in Long Beach. Tile will also replace the polished concrete floors in Redondo Beach over this summer. These are NOT Fresh Fare locations. The flooring is similar, but not exactly the same, as the flooring in Fresh Fare locations that had the polished concrete flooring (Westwood never did but Santa Monica did) but is not exactly the same.
The remodels that are being done on Ralphs locations do not look like the standard Kroger remodel. First one I saw that was different was Venice, Ca. I suggest you check out the latest Ralphs remodels. I am not keen on the orange and pastel colors on the walls that they are using as part of the remodel.
Are the remodels done on Ralph's locations into the Kroger "Marketplace" décor package?
The recent Fry's remodels (including "regular" locations) have been into the "Marketplace" décor. However, they've been done on the cheap (similar to the Albertsons LLC remodels) were only the walls are repainted and the signage is changed (yet the floor and ceiling tiles are un-touched).
Several Fry's locations have flooring that was installed 2 to 3 remodels ago (only new build stores and a handful of renovations got the polished concrete look).
I've never seen this new look they are remodeling the (non-Fresh Fare) Ralphs into at any other Kroger chain (also adding the local city name and how long it has been served on the wall facing checkout just like Vons/Safeway). It's not a full remodel, either. They are doing the walls, changing signage, changing out the freezers, some locations have received refrigerated cases with doors (others not), upgrades to the service deli/service bakery/service meat at all and ALL remodels done this year are getting new floors. They aren't moving departments around or doing much changing on items on shelves. Anything but the cold, hard polished concrete floors is an improvement...but again, I'm not crazy about the pastels and especially orange signage on the walls.
One other thing about Ralphs new flooring, they are using faux wood in the meat department, produce and bakery areas. Cheaper looking than what they are using in Fresh Fare locations but it's still better than polished concrete.
Which store in Venice? That oddball one on Lincoln (former Hughes I guess)?
I am having fun watching Kroger's work on floors. The Smiths in Sparks was remodeled in 2014 and got a new tile floor (white/peach checkered tile) in the front half and then side of the store but stopped at produce. A few months ago, produce got a new faux-wood floor (along with new produce cases); the prior floor in produce was a black/white checkered thing that looked very similar to a Food 4 Less produce department and dated to maybe 2002. The first aisle in the store is a nutrition aisle. The nutrition aisle had a little area in the front of the aisle that was re-tiled in 2014, the middle of it had an old white-tan floor original to the store's 1987 opening, and part of it was the black/white checkerboard produce tile style, and then a few months ago they went about 5 feet down the aisle with the new faux wood floor. I don't know what the issue was but I noticed last month they had gone and run the faux-wood down the entire nutrition aisle.
The last 4 remodels Smiths did in my market kept tile floors. Some areas of the stores were re-tiled and others were not.
Lately Smiths seems to be doing a lot of small, piecemeal remodels.
storewanderer wrote:Which store in Venice? That oddball one on Lincoln (former Hughes I guess)?
I am having fun watching Kroger's work on floors. The Smiths in Sparks was remodeled in 2014 and got a new tile floor (white/peach checkered tile) in the front half and then side of the store but stopped at produce. A few months ago, produce got a new faux-wood floor (along with new produce cases); the prior floor in produce was a black/white checkered thing that looked very similar to a Food 4 Less produce department and dated to maybe 2002. The first aisle in the store is a nutrition aisle. The nutrition aisle had a little area in the front of the aisle that was re-tiled in 2014, the middle of it had an old white-tan floor original to the store's 1987 opening, and part of it was the black/white checkerboard produce tile style, and then a few months ago they went about 5 feet down the aisle with the new faux wood floor. I don't know what the issue was but I noticed last month they had gone and run the faux-wood down the entire nutrition aisle.
The last 4 remodels Smiths did in my market kept tile floors. Some areas of the stores were re-tiled and others were not.
Lately Smiths seems to be doing a lot of small, piecemeal remodels.
The former Hughes Market in Venice is a Smart & Final. The former Boys Market in Venice, next to the Rite Aid (former Thrifty), is the Ralphs.
The Smith's, former Food 4 Less on Las Vegas Blvd. South, the first Las Vegas store that got a Murray's Cheese, has polished concrete floors. The recent remodel of the Smith's on Tropicana and Hualapai Way also got polished concrete floors. I'm not crazy about the layout of that store pre or post remodel, either. They just seem to be one Kroger remodel style behind in the Smith's division.
Unless someone else is "in the know", it looks like Albertsons is through closing stores until the fall (at least). I'm surprised NO stores in California closed, especially considering how Kroger is continuing to prune Ralphs.
Vons did close quite a few stores last year and tons of Albertsons already closed in SoCal.
Probably will see a few more closures in fringe places connected to the CA Divisions (Las Vegas, Santa Maria, Fresno, etc.)... I don't think NorCal has many underperforming stores. Probably just a couple on the edges of their territory.
