Retail Watchers

I was in the Westfield Shoppingtown in Vancouver, WA earlier today, and noticed the mall hours, which were 10-9 on weekdays, have now changed to 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM weekdays. Is this something Westfield is doing in a lot of their malls? Although there is still a vacant Mervyn's space, the rest of th...

I was in Portland today, and stumbled upon a brand new Target store at Cascade Station near Portland International Airport. I went inside, and they do have the jewelry department in a more traditional spot for Target, across from the checkstands along the "racetrack" aisle. They did not ha...

Although I can't comment on California, the news about Albertsons does not surprise me at all. With the exception being their stores around Boise, Albertsons has really let a lot of their stores go downhill...removing fluorescent tubes, not adequately staffing stores, and not keeping them as clean a...

Two Walmarts are currently under construction near me, Longview, WA and Woodland, WA. It will be interesting to see what the new ones look like, and what they decide to do with Longview's old mid-90s build conventional Walmart which apparently is staying open across town, which has only received a m...

I thought Kmart abandoned the Big Kmart format. Makes me wonder if they salvaged a sign from a closed location instead of installing the newer signs. That would indicate they are not wanting to invest much in this location and that closure is still a possibility.

Target still seems to be doing ok, but maybe they have realized that upscale doesn't always work in a bad economy. I have noticed their stores around here don't seem to be as busy as Fred Meyer and Walmart though.

I visited a Target in Vancouver, WA today, at Vancouver Plaza. I think this one opened in 88 or 89. This store has also installed the panels on ALL of the cases. They also had the sign about the watch bands. Although nobody was working in that section, they still did have a cash register in the depa...

Clackamas is doing ok, they added a bunch of outside retail recently and the ice rink has been replaced by a movie theater. Lloyd center was undergoing a remodel about a year and a half ago, the last time I was there. I don't visit that mall very often. Vancouver Mall (or Westfield Shoppingtown Vanc...

I have not seen any changes to any local jewelry cases. Changing watch bands and batteries is a very time consuming process. Target must be trying to cut labor costs. Selling jewelry is very profitable for stores, so I don't believe they will be getting rid of it any time soon. Changing watchbands ...

I visited the Kelso, WA Target store earlier today, and noticed that the jewelry cases were all covered with translucent panels which allowed some light through, but did not allow you to see in to the cases. There was also a notice that they no longer change watch bands or batteries. Is Target doing...