Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

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Super S
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Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by Super S »

http://www.columbian.com/news/2018/mar/ ... ntys-last/

One advantage they have is that Ridgefield doesn't have a regular supermarket. This is a fast growing area though and has some potential. I'm not sure if upscale is the right fit though (remembering how they entered the Boise area then closed their only store there), but it is a good thing to have another choice in a regular supermarket.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by storewanderer »

Pretty interesting they are doing another "distant" expansion. Though this is only about 1.5 hours from their Hood River Store, it still looks like an island geographically.

I am disappointed they did not make it in Boise. I think Ridgefield may have demographics that are not all that different from Spokane.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: March 3rd, 2018, 9:11 pm Pretty interesting they are doing another "distant" expansion. Though this is only about 1.5 hours from their Hood River Store, it still looks like an island geographically.

I am disappointed they did not make it in Boise. I think Ridgefield may have demographics that are not all that different from Spokane.
Possibly. But if the only supermarket in town has higher prices, people may continue their present shopping habits unless the store truly offers better service or products. There is an Albertsons, Safeway, and Fred Meyer to the south at Salmon Creek, a WinCo a little further in Hazel Dell, as well as a Walmart and Safeway in Woodland to the north. Upscale grocery has been hit or miss in Vancouver over the years.

A lot of growth has taken place, particularly along Interstate 5, not to mention a huge new casino that just opened at the LaCenter exit to the north.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by Super S »

The Ridgefield Rosauers opened last Saturday:

https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/dec ... irst-week/

It will be interesting to see what happens in the long run. They have hinted at the possibility of opening more locations.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by storewanderer »

This is a fantastic store. They also have a newly built newly opened fuel center and drive through coffee concept on the next lot over from the store so I assume given they added these items recently the store must be doing well for them.

I actually went up to this store twice. Once in the evening and once in the daytime. The evening traffic was good for a store of this size/location. The daytime traffic seemed a little slow (not much busier than the evening was). The store has a very large deli area with various prepared food options. For some reason the hot case was closed (sign said due to maintenance issues) so they had no fried food. They still had pre-pack roast chickens, and also pizza, available. This part of the store seemed pretty quiet and given its size felt like it should be a lot busier.

Bakery is excellent. Typical for this chain- full scratch bakery. Many options. High quality. Good service. Appeared to be popular with customers.

Produce area seemed on the small side but was well assorted and looked good. Some really good prices (fuji apples .79/lb for instance) but many items at full retail. Meat area looked good.

Center store was interesting. Really high assortment level especially when you add in the attached nutrition department which is very extensive. Pricing was all over the place but what I noticed was they had a lot of very aggressive promotions going in center store, dairy, etc. I think they may be trying to draw in customers with this pricing as I do not recall Rosauers having this number of really good promotions in the past.

I kind of felt like this store was trying to run with an upscale perimeter but more of a price focused center store. Maybe a mesh between a Super 1 Foods and a Rosauers.

Also I found the service to be very good in this store and was happy it was a simple transaction (no loyalty card) process.

It will be interesting to see if they venture closer into Portland. Might fill a void Haggen left... too bad no available sites.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by klkla »

Is that their only store west of the Cascades?

A lot of images of it on Google. Very nice store.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rosau ... 22.7018356
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by storewanderer »

Well, the store out in Hood River, OR isn't too too far from this (maybe 1.5 hours drive). However they have some independents they are supplying even more west now.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by Super S »

I don't stop at Ridgefield very often, but was there yesterday and finally stopped in at Rosauers. The store itself is very nice and is clean in every aspect. Produce, deli, meat, and bakery all looked good. Layout is also good and the store feels bigger inside than it looks outside. The store actually seemed to have a steady flow of customers, not what I would call busy but not dead either. Center store is interesting. Prices were all over the place, there were some good buys but overall were on the high side. They had a Topco private label program which was actually pretty well-rounded and had some products that even WinCo's private label program can't seem to keep in stock including frozen waffles and certain varieties of cookies. At least everything was straightforward with no cards etc.

I came away with the feeling this store will stick around. This is a new development in a fast growing area, and really is the only full supermarket in town. They timed the planning of this store well with the growth in the area.

Will Rosauers end up expanding their presence in the region? I am not sure. The economy is stagnant in many areas north of here until you get into Lewis County and people are a lot more sensitive about prices. But I think they have potential to compete against the likes of Safeway.
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Re: Rosauers to build new store in Ridgefield, WA

Post by storewanderer »

If nothing else this store serves as another "stop" for URM as they are making deliveries to stores elsewhere. They have a handfull of independent stores they are supplying in the area also. I expect that business to grow continually. C&S's entry into the Pacific Northwest may have thrown a bit of a wrench into their potential I-5 path growth, but at least independents have 3 choices now to select from for wholesaler along the I-5 Corridor because for a while Unified/Supervalu were their only choice. Also URM is a far superior supplier to small independents than C&S is and anyone who wants to run the best possible store will pick URM given the choice. I don't think any URM customers have switched to C&S. But numerous Unified/Supervalu customers have switched to URM or C&S up there.

I can't find a store locator but they have really added a lot of independents.
https://www.urmstores.com/distribution-area

These are the small chains they supply.
https://www.urmstores.com/currentads
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