Retail Watchers

I went to a Marina Safeway yesterday in Martinez, CA. It had the Lifestyle format. There was a false front, but the Marina ceiling was visible inside. The store was larger than an old style Marina. I assume that the store had been expanded years ago. What I found interesting was that the spot lights...

One reason that Safeway and other supermarkets added Starbucks to their stores is that Starbucks offers expensive and popular non-coffee drinks. The frappuccino drinks have non-coffee versions. These are very profitable and can cost well over 6 dollars. Teenagers often see Starbucks as a cool place ...

In the San Francisco Bay Area, there are many Starbucks located in the same shopping centers as Safeways with Starbucks kiosks. It is ridiculous. I believe that too many Starbucks are just overkill. I think that some people would drive out of their way for Seattle's Best Coffee or Tully's. In the Ba...

These are really great photos. I have seen photos of other false-fronted Marinas turned into Lifestyle stores. It is interesting that they seem to have even painted the ceiling a light brown color. This does seem to dim the store. However, I have noticed that more recent Lifestyle stores don't seem ...

An employee blamed the closure on competition from the WinCo Foods which opened in 2007. "The Vons supermarket in west Visalia also shut its doors over the past year, as have the Tulare Albertsons and the Dinuba Save Mart." This is unfortunate. So many supermarkets are being forced to clos...

Those are interesting photos. It looks like they have a mix of carpeting and tile.The aisles don't look too narrow. I find it interesting how many of their shelves light up the products. I think it looks nice.

Was this store supposed to open as a Longs or was it completely CVS's idea?

I have only eaten at the Baker's Square in Davis. The food was ok. That location will become a Black Bear Diner.

Where is the Longs Distribution Center? What will CVS do without it?

Strangely enough, it seems like each store is different. I went to Lucky today and they had a large selection of coffee from many brands. The prices were not higher than the local Safeway. The Lucky stores in the Bay Area seem to be run very differently from the Save Mart stores up in Nevada. Everyt...

Save Mart gives too much leeway to individual store managers. Under Lucky, managers were watched over closely by Lucky. Later when Save Mart took over, It was totally opposite. If the store manager is good, the store will be well run. If the store manager is only concerned about a paycheck and does ...