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Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 11:23 pm
by SamSpade
In 2019, 22 years after first opening, the Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store is receiving a major remodel.
Floor Planogram, Highlighted Changes
The store previously had a minor facelift that added a Starbucks kiosk, opened up the juniors / young men's apparel department and added the "Kroger style" aisle signs to grocery but nothing else. The exterior was painted 3 years ago based on photos on Google Maps.

If you've never seen a vintage Fred Meyer decor set, many photos are actually of this store (some of the generic Kroger Marketplace decor photos are mixed in).

I believe my mother reported that the newspaper showed the building permit at $2.5 million.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 18th, 2020, 9:12 am
by SamSpade
The remodel of this store turned out pretty beautiful. It does have plain concrete floors (Sorry person on this forum that hates this) but Kroger made really great use of the available space. The store is laid out well and I thought I'd be annoyed by having 'natural choices' blended into the main store. However, it was just fine.

Also, despite not having "one way aisles" in the grocery department like Albertsons Co's and Walmart stores, it was OK at this store with a decent amount of space available in aisles. Unlike the stores in the Portland area, the layout mostly made sense.

This store now offers pickup (they converted a former tenant space) and a much enlarged pharmacy waiting area. They converted another tenant space (Chase bank seems to be trying to leave Kroger as a landlord) to the new pharmacy. Interestingly enough, the electronics department remained in its front of store location and was still quite large, obviously with less emphasis on photos and physical media. I didn't notice if books were in that department as this was mostly a grocery shopping trip.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 18th, 2020, 9:27 am
by TW-Upstate NY
SamSpade wrote: June 18th, 2020, 9:12 am It does have plain concrete floors (Sorry person on this forum that hates this)
Since I have no plans to set foot in Idaho anytime soon, I guess it's OK :mrgreen:

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 19th, 2020, 6:41 am
by veteran+
Love those concrete floors.

I prefer the polished ones though.

And the very best are the new ones with interesting tints.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 20th, 2020, 5:47 am
by cjd
Concrete floors look fine in new build stores where they are built with this in mind. But in stores where the flooring is removed, it leads to uneven floors and old patterns and patches visible and doesn't look that great. Overall polished concrete does look nice with a tint I agree.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 20th, 2020, 7:11 am
by veteran+
cjd wrote: June 20th, 2020, 5:47 am Concrete floors look fine in new build stores where they are built with this in mind. But in stores where the flooring is removed, it leads to uneven floors and old patterns and patches visible and doesn't look that great. Overall polished concrete does look nice with a tint I agree.
I agree and would add that small spaces with those irregularities are even more unattractive.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 20th, 2020, 9:12 am
by TW-Upstate NY
cjd wrote: June 20th, 2020, 5:47 am But in stores where the flooring is removed, it leads to uneven floors and old patterns and patches visible and doesn't look that great.
This happened in a local Wal-Mart with a twist. Store was expanded to a supercenter and the original section was left intact with the tile floor remaining in place and concrete in the new part. Several years later, tile was removed completely and there are numerous places you can see outlines of squares where the tiles were-not very attractive at all. Guess I shouldn't complain too much because at least they left the drop ceiling in place. And yes, open and exposed ceilings are another one of my pet peeves-they're downright ugly if you ask me.

Re: Kroger remodeling Idaho Falls Fred Meyer store

Posted: June 20th, 2020, 6:37 pm
by Super S
cjd wrote: June 20th, 2020, 5:47 am Concrete floors look fine in new build stores where they are built with this in mind. But in stores where the flooring is removed, it leads to uneven floors and old patterns and patches visible and doesn't look that great. Overall polished concrete does look nice with a tint I agree.
Fred Meyer has a lot of older stores, and those stores have seen some really bad conversions. The Longview, WA store, which opened in the mid-1970s, is one. You can still see tile marks in many areas of the store, plus many patch jobs from previous remodels and some uneven parts of the concrete which look like somebody tried patching with JB weld. The newer addition on the grocery end which is from around 2003 looks a little better but you can clearly tell which part of the store is newer. They didn't do this store any favors by removing the tile. This should be reserved for the newest locations. Then you have stores like the Salem Lancaster store which removed all of the drop ceilings and didn't even bother painting what is now exposed. Some old Kmarts actually look better.