Retail Watchers

Hmm--I'm not sure I'd agree with the characterization of Aldi (house brands heavily predominant, corporate ownership, standardized operations, low costs primary, limited assortment, routinized promotions for food (German week; then 3 weeks later Italian Week, then on and on). with Grocery Outlet (f...

Within the last week Aldi has opened its 1st store in north central Phoenix (14th St. / Bell Rd.). This is the 2nd store in Phoenix city limits (Laveen was first and opened in January) but is the 1st store in what I would consider Phoenix proper. The store was clean and well stocked (and as it has ...

I know Baskin Robbins has had a few mall stores, I think there was even a kiosk-based operation in my hometown for a while (I'll have to look into it, it came and went). More recently, I haven't seen any new-build BR stores, they're all part of a co-brand with Dunkin'. The Häagen-Dazs ice cream sho...

I actually think the Burger King fries are pretty good. McDonald's are pretty good if a little dry, and Wendy's to me have improved a little with their crispier campaign. DQ has good fries too although FIve Guys are just too greasy to me. I like Checker's fries a lot too it's too bad the one here c...

Burger King used to have a $4 for 4 something menu years ago. Then that disappeared. They have the 8 chicken nuggets for $1.49. I think they used to be 99 cents for several years. Burger King said that they were going to cut menu items to increase efficiency just recently. They also were getting ri...

With Central Market, you have a ton of shoppers who are making small purchases. It's not the type of store where people make weekly grocery trips to, but instead for one-off items they can't get at a Tom Thumb or Kroger. On top of that, H-E-B already has to eat up higher distribution costs having t...

I don't think this is an entirely fair take. H-E-B definitely seems to be serious about their expansion. They're now 3 stores under construction and they continue to present their plans to municipalities for additional stores (Melissa and Forney being the latest). As far as existing buildings, H-E-...

It seems like at this point they just keep teasing an expansion that never happens... The market keeps growing. There should be very ample opportunities. I am starting to wonder if they are scared of something in DFW... Look at WinCo- they opened Texas distribution in 2017 and at this point they ar...

Amazon has attempted to put brick and mortar stores out of business. Why not put brick and mortar restaurants out of business? Amazon wants to deliver everything to you. Why not food? Amazon could set up kitchens in their warehouses and then use their own delivery drivers to deliver food. The same ...

In terms of square footage, the Burlington store at Everett Mall is fairly large at around 69,000 square feet, having been built out of what used to be interior space in the mall leading to the (now detached) former Mervyn's space occupied by an Esporta (rebranded LA Fitness) club. It seems that a ...