Retail Watchers

HEB has finally made it to the Metroplex: https://newsroom.heb.com/h-e-b-frisco-now-open/
Spectacular store, would shop if I were a Texan. It is truly the beginning of the end for Tom Thumb and Albertsons in D/FW, as Kroger buys them.

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑October 16th, 2022, 7:19 pm HEB has finally made it to the Metroplex: https://newsroom.heb.com/h-e-b-frisco-now-open/
Spectacular store, would shop if I were a Texan. It is truly the beginning of the end for Tom Thumb and Albertsons in D/FW, as Kroger buys them.

Store feels like a Hy Vee in structure, but doesn't appear to come close to Hy Vee on perimeter service department offer. Pricing is undoubtedly lower than Hy Vee.

storewanderer wrote: ↑October 16th, 2022, 9:02 pm Store feels like a Hy Vee in structure, but doesn't appear to come close to Hy Vee on perimeter service department offer. Pricing is undoubtedly lower than Hy Vee.

I think HEB should buy Tom Thumb/Albertsons/Market Street/Kroger stores up for divestiture in D/FW. That would be a full entrance ticket into D/FW.

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑October 16th, 2022, 7:19 pm HEB has finally made it to the Metroplex: https://newsroom.heb.com/h-e-b-frisco-now-open/
Spectacular store, would shop if I were a Texan. It is truly the beginning of the end for Tom Thumb and Albertsons in D/FW, as Kroger buys them.

Gorgeous store! MY kind of store!

Makes me so sad that my area (including "greater area") will never see a store like this.

veteran+ wrote: ↑October 17th, 2022, 7:26 am

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑October 16th, 2022, 7:19 pm HEB has finally made it to the Metroplex: https://newsroom.heb.com/h-e-b-frisco-now-open/
Spectacular store, would shop if I were a Texan. It is truly the beginning of the end for Tom Thumb and Albertsons in D/FW, as Kroger buys them.

Gorgeous store! MY kind of store!

Makes me so sad that my area (including "greater area") will never see a store like this.

Kroger likes bigger stores... maybe strategy will shift in SoCal. If they can find the land and get the approvals.

storewanderer wrote: ↑October 17th, 2022, 9:38 pm Kroger likes bigger stores... maybe strategy will shift in SoCal. If they can find the land and get the approvals.

They could've torn down the Fry's Electronics in San Marcos and built a real Ralphs Marketplace there... Costco jumped on it and built a Business Center. It's blocks from a WinCo.
Perhaps there is land in Carlsbad or Poway where a Marketplace could be built.

I think as long as the residential development remains hot and developers approve dense projects the prospect of large Marketplace format stores being built in CA is low. At some point the tides will shift again it is just a question of when.

Other option that probably won't be viable: we see a lot of closures out of Bed Bath and Beyond, and then other chains like the office chains steadily have closed stores, so there may be opportunities in existing "power centers" to merge together a few junior anchor spaces into a single Marketplace Store.

The Midway Ralphs in San Diego sort of did that but unfortunately it isn't a Marketplace Store. It is also the only Ralphs with a Kroger layout (an awkward one at that). The junior Ralphs down the road from there in the former Vons feels like a QFC Store.

storewanderer wrote: ↑October 17th, 2022, 9:38 pm

veteran+ wrote: ↑October 17th, 2022, 7:26 am

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: ↑October 16th, 2022, 7:19 pm HEB has finally made it to the Metroplex: https://newsroom.heb.com/h-e-b-frisco-now-open/
Spectacular store, would shop if I were a Texan. It is truly the beginning of the end for Tom Thumb and Albertsons in D/FW, as Kroger buys them.

Gorgeous store! MY kind of store!

Makes me so sad that my area (including "greater area") will never see a store like this.

Kroger likes bigger stores... maybe strategy will shift in SoCal. If they can find the land and get the approvals.

They've switched from preferring the 124,000+ square foot Marketplace stores to now a preference for a 110,000 square foot conventional store.

I know the newest Fry’s in Buckeye (AZ) at the corner of Jackrabbit/Indian School was originally set to be a Marketplace store, but it opened as a large conventional food/drug store with wider aisles and expanded deli departments (a chicken place, sushi, Murray’s cheese, and Chompie’s deli items, such as prepackaged sandwiches and baked goods)

H-E-B broke ground last week on its new Mansfield store at Broad & 287. At 118,000 SF, it looks to be of a similar size as the Plano and Frisco stores. This will fill a 40-mile gap between the Waxahachie and Burleson stores in serving the fringe of the southern DFW Metroplex.

H-E-B breaks ground, releases details on Mansfield store