Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. No non-grocery posts.
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Brian Lutz »

Continuing with Fred Meyer remodels, the Snohomish Fred Meyer is currently in the process of remodeling, although it appears that changes to this store will be less significant than the ones seen in other stores. The process is still ongoing, but so far the biggest change s seem to be 8 foot wide aisles in the grocery department and new freezer cases being installed closer to the main store entrance. Interestingly, the way the store is laid out means that they can't really shrink softlines much (clothing is walled off behind the deli/bakery departments) so aside from moving the shoe department it seems to be staying mostly as is. Then again, they don't have much competition nearby when it comes to clothing (there's a Kohl's sharing a parking lot, but aside from a Target a few miles away in Lake Stevens and a Walmart a few miles up Highway 9 you pretty much have to go to Everett or the Outlet Mall in Tulalip for any significant clothing shopping.) This means that most of the grocery expansion is coming at the expense of the hardlines department. This store was built with polished concrete floors, and will retain these.

A lot of recent Fred Meyer remodels (such as the Kirkland one) have also taken over any remaining tenant spaces, but it appears that these will remain after this remodel.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by storewanderer »

Brian Lutz wrote: August 5th, 2019, 7:58 am Continuing with Fred Meyer remodels, the Snohomish Fred Meyer is currently in the process of remodeling, although it appears that changes to this store will be less significant than the ones seen in other stores. The process is still ongoing, but so far the biggest change s seem to be 8 foot wide aisles in the grocery department and new freezer cases being installed closer to the main store entrance. Interestingly, the way the store is laid out means that they can't really shrink softlines much (clothing is walled off behind the deli/bakery departments) so aside from moving the shoe department it seems to be staying mostly as is. Then again, they don't have much competition nearby when it comes to clothing (there's a Kohl's sharing a parking lot, but aside from a Target a few miles away in Lake Stevens and a Walmart a few miles up Highway 9 you pretty much have to go to Everett or the Outlet Mall in Tulalip for any significant clothing shopping.) This means that most of the grocery expansion is coming at the expense of the hardlines department. This store was built with polished concrete floors, and will retain these.

A lot of recent Fred Meyer remodels (such as the Kirkland one) have also taken over any remaining tenant spaces, but it appears that these will remain after this remodel.
This is consistent with their project to ruin the South Medford Store. Softlines area really did not get downsized much. Hardlines is what got a major hack. The way these Fred Meyer Stores are designed makes it difficult to downsize the softlines much.

What they could do is move some soft home items into the softlines space. Then they can fit in even more wide grocery aisles, more pallets of soda/water, and even wider facings of chips. I shouldn't give them any ideas.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Super S »

I was in the Longview Fred Meyer tonight, and saw something really odd for a newly remodeled store. There appears to be multiple issues with the lighting. I noticed random sections of grocery had one row of tubes not working, as well as several random fixtures with the LED side pointed UPWARD into the reflectors. This looked really weird, and a few of them you can tell are made of plastic as they have started to bow in the middle. The apparel department had almost 1/3 of the lights off for some reason (with all bulbs out in some fixtures), as well as all of the display racks along the walls, and almost looked as if it was closed. The outside had all of the road signs off, and random parking lot lights not working, and the old mercury vapor lights around the front and entryways were working but still getting dimmer. I didn't get much time in the GM side, but to look like this after a major remodel was finished just months ago looks really bad. Either there are some major electrical issues, or they have shut off some lighting as a cost saving move.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 7:55 pm I was in the Longview Fred Meyer tonight, and saw something really odd for a newly remodeled store. There appears to be multiple issues with the lighting. I noticed random sections of grocery had one row of tubes not working, as well as several random fixtures with the LED side pointed UPWARD into the reflectors. This looked really weird, and a few of them you can tell are made of plastic as they have started to bow in the middle. The apparel department had almost 1/3 of the lights off for some reason (with all bulbs out in some fixtures), as well as all of the display racks along the walls, and almost looked as if it was closed. The outside had all of the road signs off, and random parking lot lights not working, and the old mercury vapor lights around the front and entryways were working but still getting dimmer. I didn't get much time in the GM side, but to look like this after a major remodel was finished just months ago looks really bad. Either there are some major electrical issues, or they have shut off some lighting as a cost saving move.
Same issues at Smiths with a remodel they did last year out in Sparks. This is a very busy store, very high volume. Perhaps their fixtures and equipment just can't handle the heavy customer traffic the store has. They put a pergo-like floor around the fresh departments and it is coming up and there is duct tape (of various colors) holding it down all over. It looks awful. They installed 16 self checkouts but there are usually 3-4 broken. Once in a while they are all working. The floors within the main food aisles (now concrete) are stained up so bad, it it literally if something spills the stain does not go away even once cleaned.

I think Kroger needs to take a hard look at these "remodels" then go look at a Harris Teeter store and how those look inside (first class, polished, and top of the line) and get this polish back to at least some of their stores. Fred Meyer is one that should have a first class look for sure. Not so sure about Smiths given it is more of a price focused format, but it would be nice.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Super S »

For what it's worth, The Longview Fred Meyer has restored the lighting in apparel and the road signs. Not sure what was going on.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Super S »

I went in to the Longview Fred Meyer a few days ago, and noticed that the shipping center that replaced the Playland area has already been taken out, and it's now some sort of random display space. I will also add that some of the random lighting issues have returned...many of the recessed fixtures in the center part of the store (where they took off the covers) had some or all bulbs turned off and/or flickering, and some of the random spotlights are flickering as well.

I don't shop there as much now, but this last remodel is not aging well in my opinion.
Post Reply