DFW Kroger News/Observations

Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. No non-grocery posts.
wnetmacman
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 994
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 2:36 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 44 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by wnetmacman »

architect wrote: During my last visit to the Longview store a couple of years ago (post-remodel), I didn't recall seeing a restaurant. Most of these closed during the 2000's; I am not sure if any actually remain in operation. Along the front wall of the Longview store when I last visited, there was a Southside Bank branch along with the bakery and deli to the north of the registers, while the pharmacy was to the south (if I remember correctly).
The pharmacy actually ended up in the old Produce prep room, IIRC, while the bank is in the old pharmacy. It's been several years since I've been to that one. I grew up in that area, and we shopped that Kroger weekly. The bank could have expanded into the seating area; it was between that old pharmacy and the deli, which did not move during that remodel. Produce was moved to the old Dairy area. Dairy was moved to the back wall, which is incredibly long.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by SamSpade »

wnetmacman wrote:During my last visit to the Longview store a couple of years ago (post-remodel), I didn't recall seeing a restaurant. Most of these closed during the 2000's; I am not sure if any actually remain in operation. Along the front wall of the Longview store when I last visited, there was a Southside Bank branch along with the bakery and deli to the north of the registers, while the pharmacy was to the south (if I remember correctly).
That sounds right to me too. I was there last year about this time. The deli had a seating area, I think, but don't quote me on that. The prepared foods were pretty small compared to some Smith's and the modern Kroger Fresh Fare I saw in Dallas or Fred Meyer delis (or any United Supermarket).
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

Take this with a grain of salt, but on a Kroger employee forum, there is a rumor going around about a Kroger potentially opening at Forest/Marsh in Dallas. This intersection is already home to a Tom Thumb and a Minyard Sun Fresh turned Fiesta, along with a Sprouts. Ever since Fiesta took over the former Sun Fresh, business has remained slow at this location, and likely has little chance of improving as much of the surrounding area is moving more upscale. I wonder if Fiesta is possibly looking at selling this location to Kroger? If so, it would mark a return to this exact same site for the company, as Kroger formerly had a Greenhouse store at this site which was closed and replaced by an Albertsons in the early 2000's.

Forum link: http://krogerforum.activeboard.com/t636 ... -dallas-a/
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

architect wrote:Take this with a grain of salt, but on a Kroger employee forum, there is a rumor going around about a Kroger potentially opening at Forest/Marsh in Dallas. This intersection is already home to a Tom Thumb and a Minyard Sun Fresh turned Fiesta, along with a Sprouts. Ever since Fiesta took over the former Sun Fresh, business has remained slow at this location, and likely has little chance of improving as much of the surrounding area is moving more upscale. I wonder if Fiesta is possibly looking at selling this location to Kroger? If so, it would mark a return to this exact same site for the company, as Kroger formerly had a Greenhouse store at this site which was closed and replaced by an Albertsons in the early 2000's.

Forum link: http://krogerforum.activeboard.com/t636 ... -dallas-a/
Update on this location: No official announcement of Kroger opening at this location has been made yet, but I can confirm that Fiesta has closed and the space is available for lease. Apparently the store is 52,443 sq ft., which is much larger than it feels like in person.

Link to leasing packet: http://ucr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/ ... -flyer.pdf
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by klkla »

How long did the Fiesta last at that location? It looks like they are the ones offering a sub-lease on the property.
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

klkla wrote:How long did the Fiesta last at that location? It looks like they are the ones offering a sub-lease on the property.
Fiesta lasted less than a year. The company acquired all of the former Minyard stores in DFW, along with two Sun Fresh locations in July of last year. However, they took their time converting the stores. The Minyard conversions were pretty straightforward as Fiesta could simply continue using the Minyard branding until each store was ready to convert. However, the two Sun Fresh conversions were somewhat interesting. The Forest/Marsh store was still operating when acquired, and was required to drop the Sun Fresh branding at some point prior to Fiesta fully converting the store. As a result, the store operated with just the small "Minyard" portion of the exterior signage intact for well over a month, giving the impression that the store was closed to most people driving by. On the other hand, due to the store remaining open during construction, no decor was changed whatsoever, and store still looked exactly like an Albertsons, in contrast to the Bedford store which had previously been closed by Sun Fresh which allowed the store to receive some new decor and theming prior to reopening. Even once Fiesta reopened the store under their own banner, traffic just never seemed to pick up. This was honestly a poor location for Fiesta, as although there is a substantial Hispanic population nearby, they mostly shop at another well-established FIesta just off of Northwest Highway to the south. In addition, the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the store are growing more and more upmarket every day.

Speaking of the Bedford location, it appears that is may have closed too as it does not appear on the Fiesta store locator. I will try to drive by next time I am over that direction.

(Edit) The Bedford store is closing too, according to another poster: http://www.retailwatchers.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1479
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by architect »

Bumping an old thread, but interesting movement seems to be happening with Kroger in DFW right now. Most notably, a general slowdown in new store construction has opened the floodgates for numerous remodels, including stores at Frankford/Midway in Dallas, Coit/Belt Line in Richardson, Campbell/Shiloh in Garland and Eldorado/Lake Forest in McKinney, along with one or two more that I have recently noticed but can't think of right now. All of these stores have also upgraded or are in the process of upgrading to Marketplace decor from the 2012 decor package. When these renovations are taking place, the "Signature" branding and signage is being eliminated, while all Kroger signage is being converted to the standard logo signage used throughout most of the company, as opposed to the block letter signage which has been mostly used in Texas up until now. Honestly, the Signature store concept was innovative when first introduced, but is now mostly redundant due to the fact that any decently-run store is going to perform local customer surveying and product selection based on local demographics. In addition, in recent years, the Texas Signature stores have had essentially no unique items just on virtue of being branded as Signature stores. It does not surprise me to see this branding dropped. Now I am curious if the same trend is occurring in Houston (now that the two markets are entirely separate divisions) or if they are moving in two different directions.

Also, the new Downtown Dallas-area location announced a couple of years ago on Hall Street appears to be stagnant right now, but with no official cancellation having been announced. It will be interesting to see if this ultimately gets build, as it is located nearby both another Kroger at Haskell/Capitol and a Tom Thumb to open next year at Texas/Live Oak.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3851
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote: June 25th, 2019, 8:35 pm Bumping an old thread, but interesting movement seems to be happening with Kroger in DFW right now. Most notably, a general slowdown in new store construction has opened the floodgates for numerous remodels, including stores at Frankford/Midway in Dallas, Coit/Belt Line in Richardson, Campbell/Shiloh in Garland and Eldorado/Lake Forest in McKinney, along with one or two more that I have recently noticed but can't think of right now. All of these stores have also upgraded or are in the process of upgrading to Marketplace decor from the 2012 decor package. When these renovations are taking place, the "Signature" branding and signage is being eliminated, while all Kroger signage is being converted to the standard logo signage used throughout most of the company, as opposed to the block letter signage which has been mostly used in Texas up until now. Honestly, the Signature store concept was innovative when first introduced, but is now mostly redundant due to the fact that any decently-run store is going to perform local customer surveying and product selection based on local demographics. In addition, in recent years, the Texas Signature stores have had essentially no unique items just on virtue of being branded as Signature stores. It does not surprise me to see this branding dropped. Now I am curious if the same trend is occurring in Houston (now that the two markets are entirely separate divisions) or if they are moving in two different directions.

Also, the new Downtown Dallas-area location announced a couple of years ago on Hall Street appears to be stagnant right now, but with no official cancellation having been announced. It will be interesting to see if this ultimately gets build, as it is located nearby both another Kroger at Haskell/Capitol and a Tom Thumb to open next year at Texas/Live Oak.
I noticed about six months ago or so that the College Station Signature store dropped the Signature branding. When the Signature branding was introduced, it really was unique, even the College Station Signature Kroger had a daycare in the early days, and the Houston ones in the 1990s had real food courts inside the store. It also was a big deal since at the time the Signature stores began to be rolled out in the mid-1990s, the Houston division was pushing around a lot of outdated Greenhouse stores which had caused their market share to slip in the 1990s.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by SamSpade »

Market share discussions, courtesy The Dallas Morning News:
Walmart’s share in the 12 months ended in March increased from 27.4% to 28.6%, and H-E-B Central Market’s share jumped from 2.2% to 3.1%. Both companies aggressively built up their online pickup services, where customers place orders and designate a time to drive up and have their groceries loaded into their cars.

Surprisingly, Whole Foods’ market share dropped last year in D-FW and Austin, two of the first cities to get Prime Now deliveries out of its stores.

Whole Foods’ D-FW market share fell to 2.2% in March from 2.5% the previous year.
Image
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: DFW Kroger News/Observations

Post by storewanderer »

I thought the Albertsons/Tom Thumb/Market Street combination was like 4-5% ahead of Kroger at the time of the merger. So they have really been bleeding share in Dallas. Before long their share will be as bad as it was before they all merged together at the rate things are going.

As for Kroger, it is interesting they have held on as well as they have. But despite my efforts since April to stop shopping Smiths due to the no Visa policy, I have not been too happy with the alternatives. I have been most disgusted with Safeway though it is still useful in certain cases, and find Save Mart completely useless. Raleys, WinCo, Sprouts, they all have their place but it isn't as my primary store. As a result of how things have gone at these competitors, I have found myself gravitating more and more back toward Smiths again all summer. So I would say Kroger presents a compelling package with its private label lines, well priced produce, reasonably priced basic meat items, and large number of self checkouts making it so there is rarely a wait in line.
Post Reply