Interesting. I didn't know that two different stores were being built in Star. I thought it was just the Albertsons.
Ridley's built a store and it opened sometime in the past two weeks. Looks largely like a stock new Associated Food Stores building as far as layout, etc. (looks very similar to the new build Lin's in St. George) except it has Ace on the side as well. Arctic Circle for the fast food operation in the store, interesting, have not see a new one of those in a long time but I guess Boise is one of their markets.
I am surprised to see Ridley's built a new stores as it appeared they were having some issues a couple years ago and closed a handfull of stores. I guess they resolved whatever was going on.
I am kind of surprised they built this given the new Albertsons is coming but it is nice to see someone else besides Albertsons trying to respond to the growth around Boise. Because Kroger can't be bothered to add any Fred Meyer Stores like they should be doing.
I also see this new Ridley's includes a pharmacy. This seems to go against the trend of independents leaving the pharmacy business. I wonder what Associated Food Stores is doing differently to support pharmacy, to enable these small operators to continue operating pharmacies?
Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
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Re: Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
There are some photos of the new store on Google. Looks nice enough yet tailored for a more rural community.
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x ... GXoECDcQAw
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x ... GXoECDcQAw
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Re: Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
This is a stock Associated Food Stores layout and design. See Lin's (corporate AFS) 2928 S. Mall Drive in St. George, UT - even the same round thing on the left side for the fast food (Dairy Queen in that case).
There have been two builds by AFS independents in eastern Nevada in the past few years: the first is Khoury's in Carlin (this has a mining themed decor), the second is a very small Khoury's in Spring Creek at 282 Spring Creek Pkwy. Both are much smaller so they don't follow this prototype yet there is still a similar feel.
There have been two builds by AFS independents in eastern Nevada in the past few years: the first is Khoury's in Carlin (this has a mining themed decor), the second is a very small Khoury's in Spring Creek at 282 Spring Creek Pkwy. Both are much smaller so they don't follow this prototype yet there is still a similar feel.
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Re: Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
Another independent chain supplied by Associated is Harvest Foods, which seems to build similar stores. For example, this one is in Spirit Lake Idaho:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mille ... 16.8678379
I've visited this one, and it's a pretty nice modern store, especially for a town as small as Spirit Lake is. It also seems to be common for these small town stores to be combination grocery and hardware stores (this one is ACE hardware, I've seen others that are True Value.) Harvest Foods is based in Spokane, and appears to have stores scattered throughout Eastern WA, Northern Idaho, Western Montana and one store in Umatilla OR.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mille ... 16.8678379
I've visited this one, and it's a pretty nice modern store, especially for a town as small as Spirit Lake is. It also seems to be common for these small town stores to be combination grocery and hardware stores (this one is ACE hardware, I've seen others that are True Value.) Harvest Foods is based in Spokane, and appears to have stores scattered throughout Eastern WA, Northern Idaho, Western Montana and one store in Umatilla OR.
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Re: Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
I think Harvest is supplied by URM Foods though, not Associated.Brian Lutz wrote: ↑February 8th, 2021, 11:18 am Another independent chain supplied by Associated is Harvest Foods, which seems to build similar stores. For example, this one is in Spirit Lake Idaho:
Harvest Foods is based in Spokane, and appears to have stores scattered throughout Eastern WA, Northern Idaho, Western Montana and one store in Umatilla OR.
There does seem to be some link between URM and Associated- both kept Western Family until the end and then switched to Food Club, both use the same point of sale equipment, though different shelf tagging systems.
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Re: Ridleys Star, ID - Now Open; Albertsons construction starting
Doing a bit of research, it looks like URM was one of the part-owners of the Western Family brand before it was sold to Topco. They are also a member of ROFDA (Retail Owned Food Distributors and Associates), a trade organization representing a number of similar independent distributors, and of which Associated Food Stores is also a member, so it isn't surprising that there are a lot of similarities there.