Retail Watchers

I smell trouble for Bristol Farms as The Fresh Market expands in California. TFM runs circles around Bristol. I don't particularly care for either format, but TFM is much better than Bristol: better selection, better quality, better (but still very bad) prices, more efficient checkout, maybe worse s...

I am guessing the cash is just not there to convert more Top Stores to Haggen. I would expect the ROI on that remodel in Bellevue was probably non-existent. That Bellevue Store was largely unimpressive; I saw a lot of pointless changes (like rebranding the Belterra bread, moving bulk foods up front,...

I was in the Federal Way Top Store recently (another one I expect to close soon). I noticed the pricing looked a little bit better than in the past. They seem to keep scaling back bakery, deli, and even produce more and more. I saw various private labels present; Haggen, Western Family, and Food Clu...

There is also a vintage QFC in Lacey (last remodel was probably, I don't know when...). I wouldn't expect it to make it.

I see a few more closures for Haggen/Top Food. Unfortunate, but, there is an awful lot of competition...

I am pretty sure the guy walking around selling siding (they have this in the Reno Sears, but I've never seen it in a Kmart.) is actually working for some third party that is just using the Sears name.

http://www.boston.com/business/news/201 ... story.html

I'm debating what is run into the ground worse: Pacific Northwest Albertsons (OR/WA) or Shaw's.

I see the Vallejo Lucky had its grand reopening as Food Maxx today. That was the last new store built by Albertsons in NorCal. It wasn't as nice as some of the other new builds, but it was still a modern store.

I get the feeling Kmart is close to pulling the plug in the Pacific Northwest entirely. They haven't had a good presence up there ever, but the closure activity of the past couple years has diminished their presence even more. There are also a ton of 8 PM closing time stores up there. A Seattle stor...

How is the condition of this Lucky? I think this is an ongoing part of Save Mart's attempts to reduce expenses in the stores (cut inventory, cut staffing, use lower paid employees to perform various tasks, replace full time people with part time, keep perimeter items out a little longer than you sho...

Okay, it is official now. But the closure date is uncertain.

Raley's states the store "did not fit with long term plans." Why then, just over two years ago, did they spend probably $400,000 to convert the store from a standard Raleys to Food Source?