Kroger divisions can do well with stores that feel old and dark in a competitive market.architect wrote:Actually, this store was a Tom Thumb before being sold to Minyard. As a Tom Thumb, this store likely started off well, considering that this intersection was the primary shopping area for West Plano in the late 80's-mid 90's. However, as the Dallas North Tollway was extended northward during the 90's, many of the big-box stores at Park/Preston moved further down Park Blvd. next to the Tollway (Target and Walmart both relocated from Park/Preston), and both Kroger and Tom Thumb built large stores nearby at Parker/Tollway. As a result, the shopping centers at Park/Preston evolved into a collection of higher-end, specialty shops. Due to all of the retail that has been developed along the Tollway in the last 15 years, there is simply more competition surrounding this store then when it first opened. Also, Market Street being located at the same intersection certainly doesn't help things. When the Minyard sale to Kroger was first announced, Minyard claimed that the store had been struggling as a Tom Thumb for several years before they acquired it. They attempted to turn things around, but simply didn't have the financial resources to do so, hence the sale to Kroger.storewanderer wrote:I guess the more fair comparison would be to compare traffic at this store to the traffic Albertsons had and traffic at this store to the traffic Minyard had. I am going to assume the current traffic level is similar to what Albertsons was doing and probably double what Minyard was doing. Since it sounds like they did not change a whole lot in the store and maybe the size of the store is causing mix issues where people come in and due to the small size store, the mix isn't what they expect from Kroger. The self checkouts are missing and now there are lines at checkout. I can see why this store is hindered.
I have seen in some smaller Safeway locations they installed 3 very small self checkouts to take up a space about the same as one regular conveyor belt checkstand. This may be a good option in this store.
As far as the product mix goes, I have actually been somewhat impressed. During a recent visit, I purchased several high-end items which I have never seen in a DFW Kroger before. Overall, the biggest holdup at this location seems to be the facility itself. Although Kroger's decor changes look good, the store still feels old and dark due to the drop ceilings and awkward lighting (the perimeter lighting is still somewhat dim, and the bulbs on the Safeway center-store fixtures don't match the color tone of those used on the perimeter at all). Overall, it is a nice store, but there just simply isn't enough to set it apart from other mainstream grocers in a heavily competitive submarket.
Fry's has several dozen in the Phoenix area that were either:
a.) ex-Smitty's built in the 1970s and 1980s that, while large in terms of square footage, have drop ceilings or "squared" ceilings that feel very old and dark
b.) original built Fry's stores built in the 1980s and early 1990s that have some of the lowest ceilings I've ever seen in a supermarket. These stores are also very wide (on an "x" axis and narrow on a "y" axis).
c.) a really awful late 1990s early 2000s store design that has drop ceilings, odd entrance layouts, and still feel small even though they're 50,000 square feet.
In terms of store design, everyone else in the market (with the potential exception of some Bashas' stores) has nicer looking stores architecturally yet Fry's (with these stores making up a significant amount of its store base) is #1 in the market. Their late 2000s - present stores do blow everyone else's stores away though (but there's really not a lot of these stores yet). Their ex-Smiths stores also tend to be a bit better designed than the 3 groups above.
