More Fred Meyer security issues?

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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by SamSpade »

Super S wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 9:26 am I had to run to Beaverton yesterday and while there stopped in the Fred Meyer. Looks like this location has permanently closed the entrance to the GM side of the store as the windows are all covered up on the doors now and the checkstands at that end of the store have been removed. This store still has a center entrance and one at the grocery end.

This could imply that there were theft issues (electronics is situated by this set of doors) or it could imply that the GM side of the store is struggling. I honestly am not sure what the story is here. But it now places Electronics in a far corner of the store where it is not very visible, and the center entrance is down a bit of a corridor instead of right by the main checkstands, with only one register awkwardly placed there by the doors for apparel.
When this store opened, it was the largest in the chain. I think maybe the only one with a similar floorplan (off the top of my head) is East Salem.

They did block off the one set of G.M. doors to emergency exit only and expanded "Pickup" in that area but after adding the fuel center, they continue to operate the G.M. doors that are adjacent to the garden center and fuel center. This store had four exits rather than the normal 2 - 3 for a Fred Meyer store.

Trivia- this may be the only Fred Meyer that still has Peet's instead of Starbucks coffee for their kiosk. They sell Starbucks or Fred Meyer bakery pastries, which is a bit odd.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by marshd1000 »

It is the odd Kroger outlet that has something other than Starbucks. I live in Renton, WA but it is not too far to Maple Valley form where I live, I was last in the Maple Valley Fred Meyer and they still had Peet's at that point. But looking on the Starbucks locator, it looks like it is Starbucks inside that Fred Meyer too!
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by babs »

Super S wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 9:26 am I had to run to Beaverton yesterday and while there stopped in the Fred Meyer. Looks like this location has permanently closed the entrance to the GM side of the store as the windows are all covered up on the doors now and the checkstands at that end of the store have been removed. This store still has a center entrance and one at the grocery end.

This could imply that there were theft issues (electronics is situated by this set of doors) or it could imply that the GM side of the store is struggling. I honestly am not sure what the story is here. But it now places Electronics in a far corner of the store where it is not very visible, and the center entrance is down a bit of a corridor instead of right by the main checkstands, with only one register awkwardly placed there by the doors for apparel.
That's not the whole story. They added a gas station on the north side of the store, by the garden center along with new retail with Wing Stop, Monkey's Subs, and a few others in a new building. They added self-checkout in addition to the staffed checkout at that door. My guess is that fewer doors requires less staffing and they wanted to get more traffic through the door where the gas station is. Also the entrance that was closed off also is being used for Clicklist and because of that parking has really been reduced at the entrance right outside that door. So multiple factors led to the closure of that entrance.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by babs »

SamSpade wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 9:52 am
Super S wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 9:26 am I had to run to Beaverton yesterday and while there stopped in the Fred Meyer. Looks like this location has permanently closed the entrance to the GM side of the store as the windows are all covered up on the doors now and the checkstands at that end of the store have been removed. This store still has a center entrance and one at the grocery end.

This could imply that there were theft issues (electronics is situated by this set of doors) or it could imply that the GM side of the store is struggling. I honestly am not sure what the story is here. But it now places Electronics in a far corner of the store where it is not very visible, and the center entrance is down a bit of a corridor instead of right by the main checkstands, with only one register awkwardly placed there by the doors for apparel.
When this store opened, it was the largest in the chain. I think maybe the only one with a similar floorplan (off the top of my head) is East Salem.

They did block off the one set of G.M. doors to emergency exit only and expanded "Pickup" in that area but after adding the fuel center, they continue to operate the G.M. doors that are adjacent to the garden center and fuel center. This store had four exits rather than the normal 2 - 3 for a Fred Meyer store.

Trivia- this may be the only Fred Meyer that still has Peet's instead of Starbucks coffee for their kiosk. They sell Starbucks or Fred Meyer bakery pastries, which is a bit odd.
The Raleigh Hills store down the street also has Peets. So does the other Beaverton store on Walker Road. However, it's always visibly obvious the Peet's locations don' t do as well.

Beaverton is still the largest store by sq ft. There's a lot of wasted and underused space in that store.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by storewanderer »

Klamath Falls still has Peets.

I think the non food business at Fred Meyer is in real trouble. Too many years of neglect at this point, and it does not appear the people running things have a background in general merchandise but rather a background in grocery. They can blame online all they want but Target and Wal Mart are both doing fine. Weaker competitors like Kmart and Shopko are gone, maybe those two did so little volume that it really did not leave much business to pick up...
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 11:21 pm Klamath Falls still has Peets.

I think the non food business at Fred Meyer is in real trouble. Too many years of neglect at this point, and it does not appear the people running things have a background in general merchandise but rather a background in grocery. They can blame online all they want but Target and Wal Mart are both doing fine. Weaker competitors like Kmart and Shopko are gone, maybe those two did so little volume that it really did not leave much business to pick up...
We have been discussing this very topic elsewhere on here, but one thing to point out is that, as service areas such as sporting goods counters and paint mixing have been eliminated, and apparel registers have been eliminated from some locations, and some locations such as Longview using forced self-checkout on the GM side, it has become very clear that Fred Meyer is trying to cut costs as much as they can on the GM side. What is interesting though is that, at least at the Longview store, they seem to do a pretty good Garden Center business during the spring/summer months and have dedicated registers in the garden center (which are their regular registers on carts and wheeled out as needed) I think the lack of staffing in some locations is making it easier for shoplifters, and the variety of added security measures in some stores is reflecting this.

I have to agree though that, as the GM side seems to be shrinking in favor of expanded grocery, and as certain things are eliminated like big & tall sizes, paint mixing, firearms, automotive offerings such as batteries, and reduced electronics selection (which is gone altogether in some stores apparently) the GM side is starting to lack variety, and Fred Meyer's price point is too high for some of the things they still carry.

Kroger has proven itself in grocery, but hasn't done Fred Meyer any favors on the GM side. This is an area which has been gradually slipping ever since Kroger entered the picture.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by veteran+ »

I wonder what happened with the GM side of Fred Meyer?

When I worked for Ralphs we received almost all our GM merchandise form Fred Meyer. It was high quality, stylish and competitively low priced ( I was surprised!).

It was well received by customers and lauded by them as well. We would often sell out and customer demand was high.

?????
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by Super S »

veteran+ wrote: January 25th, 2020, 7:34 am I wonder what happened with the GM side of Fred Meyer?

When I worked for Ralphs we received almost all our GM merchandise form Fred Meyer. It was high quality, stylish and competitively low priced ( I was surprised!).

It was well received by customers and lauded by them as well. We would often sell out and customer demand was high.

?????
A lot of it has to do with competition. When Home Depot arrived in the market it wasn't long before they pretty much exited the home improvement business (lumber, plumbing fixtures, etc.) More recently they haven't been able to compete as well with Target, Walmart, etc. While Fred Meyer is higher quality on many items, their GM prices are not always competitive and selection has been reduced as the grocery side has been expanded. It also doesn't help when some of the remodels make the stores look more low-budget and downscale than they did before the remodels.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by Super S »

I was in Beaverton a couple days ago. I made a quick stop at the Fred Meyer at about 8:30 PM and it looked like things are slipping even more. They have set up a couple of those "lot cop" camera trailers with the flashing blue lights around the parking lot, and had the center set of doors locked, with only the grocery end doors open. I was puzzled a bit by the center doors locked because of the store's layout and the fact that those center doors are close to the grocery side. Has theft gotten so bad that they can only watch one set of doors? Or does Kroger not want to staff anybody at the registers by those doors? The parking lot on the grocery side was nearly full to capacity which is why I parked toward the center in the first place, and it's not exactly a safe feeling at night when you have to walk further to the only set of open doors. The far end doors were still covered up as they were on my last visit to this store.

If Fred Meyer continues to operate GM departments (which seem to be slipping) I can see future new stores being built with one central set of doors only. That seems to be the direction they are heading. Or perhaps we are seeing the early signs of Kroger wanting to spin off the GM side of the stores.
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Re: More Fred Meyer security issues?

Post by storewanderer »

Some Wal Mart locations close their second set of doors as early as 6 PM or 7 PM though their policy states it should not be closed until 10 PM. I think closing the second set of doors is getting more and more common with security issues, shoplifting, and staffing challenges. The key is they need to be consistent about when they are closing the doors. If they close one night at 10, and the next night at 8:15, and the next night at 7:45, regular customers are going to start to get confused and frustrated. Worse is when you park there, enter on the center doors, then by the time you are done shopping those doors are closed and you have to walk all the way around from whatever doors are left open (in some cases through not real well lit areas).

Also in OR you now have the plastic bag ban in place with mandatory super thick plastic bag fee. Given that a bag means product is paid for, it is more difficult to detect what is and isn't paid for at the exit. In a store like Fred Meyer with the somewhat strange layout, and registers that are not necessarily near or within view of the doors, and customers coming to the doors from a lot of different directions, this creates a bit of a theft monitoring challenge. Folks trying to shoplift love reusable bags- they shop into them and if a lot of other customers are using them too, they blend right into the crowd. Then they make a quick getaway.
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