Retail Watchers

I recently stopped at an Albertsons in Portland. I don't remember the exact address, but this had by far one of the worst remodels I have ever seen Albertsons do. It was a blue-gray, painted over, with some new signs on the walls. However, they painted right over the old mouldings and everything, an...

I spent some time in Portland a couple days ago, and visited a couple of older malls. First was Jantzen Beach. The two-story Target which replaced Wards seemed busy. The other two anchors in the mall, Ross and Burlington Coat Factory (former Kmart) were not busy. There were some empty spaces, most s...

I have been noticing more and more Elmer's locations in the northwest are closing down. A few years back, they changed their advertising and installed new signs that read "Elmer's Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner" I guess to change their image. Lately I have noticed they are hardly doing any adverti...

I think it had to do with location and store size. I don't remember Sears offering anything other than a seasonal toy department if anything. The line is starting to blur between what Sears and Kmart carry in their stores, toys are the latest thing in addition to tools and appliance departments. Wha...

That third photo also shows another feature becoming commonplace since Supervalu took over, half of the overhead fluorescent light tubes have been removed.

There are no SuperTarget stores in Washington, Oregon or Idaho that I know of, although a significant number of Targets have added (or been built with) moderate-sized grocery departments in the past few years (no fresh meats or produce.) Given what I would assume to be a significant expense on stor...

That SuperValu was willing to sell the Utah market, where Albertsons has a long history, shows that nothing is sacred. Pocatello only has one Albertsons now. The Blackfoot store has been sold. The Burley store is in sorry shape. There is certainly no Albertsons stranglehold on southern Idaho outsid...

It is kinda surprising that Safeway has stayed out of those areas. I woudn't be surprised though if Albertsons eventually retracts from what they are to concentrate on the pacific northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho) But then again with stores closing even in Washington and Oregon I wouldn't be sur...

That has to be the most hideous Kmart logo. That combination makes me think of "sickness" for some reason.

Not far from my former house in Vancouver, WA, there was also a PayLess similar to the one I mentioned. It replaced an old store nearby, which is now a Bi-Mart. It had the pharmacy and photo departments up front. However, this one had straight aisles. Rite Aid never remodeled it and it closed a coup...