Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

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SamSpade
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Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by SamSpade »

Last night I was in the Fred Meyer at the corner of Interstate and Lombard (forgive me, I forget how they "name" this store, Interstate maybe?) and a major remodel is underway. The Starbucks is moving to the food floor as books and magazines already did (sad) from the apparel and shoes 2nd level. I am assuming they will rework the space to give apparel a little more room or maybe registers like in Wood Village. Toys also moved up to the 2nd floor and had a department sign I've not seen in any store before.

This is one of two stores the newly opened New Seasons posted about earlier in this forum is in-between. The other is the "St. John's" Fred Meyer Marketplace store (no apparel/shoes) also on Lombard but just northwest of University of Portland and much closer to the St. John's neighborhood of Portland.

The new decor is the standard Kroger Marketplace package. The old decor was probably native to the store build out as this store was closed and 100% rebuilt sometime around 2005 (I couldn't find the exact date). This store is famous for examples of the photo written about here. There are a few on Yelp from over the mezzanine as well as one on the main Fred Meyer Wikipedia page.

Despite all the mess, the store was executing the "Taste of Spain" event that Kroger Co's are holding right now very well. Queue Vision seems to temporarily be out of commission because there were long checkout lines that looked like a Safeway store.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Brian Lutz »

It sounds like this is the same layout as the Redmond WA store, which also has the mezzanine that overlooks the grocery section. I believe that particular store opened sometime around 2003 or so, and would probably be getting close to the point where a remodel might happen, but with the nearby Bellevue store closing completely for 7 months for its remodel I wouldn't expect one to happen for a while.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by SamSpade »

Brian Lutz wrote:It sounds like this is the same layout as the Redmond WA store, which also has the mezzanine that overlooks the grocery section. I believe that particular store opened sometime around 2003 or so, and would probably be getting close to the point where a remodel might happen, but with the nearby Bellevue store closing completely for 7 months for its remodel I wouldn't expect one to happen for a while.
F-M has a lot of stores on the decor package being used just prior to the current "Marketplace" layout in the Portland area. The only ones with apparel above the main store I've run into are Wood Village and Interstate. At others it is sometimes center store, but also frequently on an end behind grocery.
Ones I've been in recently:
  • Oregon City
  • Vancouver - Grand Central
  • Wood Village Town Center
  • Gresham
  • The Dalles (this is a unique store)
  • Beaverton - Central

Marketplaces (adjusted merchandise mix, most without apparel and footwear):
  • NE Glisan and 60th Ave
  • Raleigh Hills, combined the store into one building
  • Foster Rd at SE 82nd Ave, combined the store into one building
  • St. John's
  • Oak Grove

They appear to have stopped using this decor set around the time the Gateway remodel was complete, about 2? years ago now. I would hope they might look further out at the chain and make improvements elsewhere, since, for example, the Fred Meyer in Idaho Falls, Idaho (and likely Twin Falls) is on its original decor from opening in 1997 with a minor update. I think the Boise - Federal Way store just got moved from the older decor set from when it opened (c. 2002) to the current "Marketplace" set. In Utah, the "unofficial" Fred Meyer stores (Smith's Marketplace) are on different decor sets as well - I'm not sure about the Salt Lake City bi-level store on 500 E, but the store on 3300 E was remodeled into "Fresh Fare" upon becoming Smith's instead of Fred Meyer in 2004. It looks like Bountiful has been reset as "Marketplace."

Fred Meyer is also adding a number of nearby but off-site fuel stations - newer ones include one east of the Gateway store and west of NE Glisan & 60th, another north of SE Foster and 82nd, and a third north of Oak Grove on SE McLoughlin Blvd.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by SamSpade »

After operating for 16 years (since opening), Pocatello Fred Meyer is getting a major remodel, expected to be complete in time for holiday season shopping. The store is receiving a Click List area so that must be working out OK for the division. I haven't seen it being used by guests in Portland, but maybe that's because I actually enjoy going shopping. The pharmacy and relocation of Playland sounds a lot like what is happening as remodeling at Interstate wraps up.Pocatello Fred Meyer begins $9M remodel
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by SamSpade »

Spokane Valley's Fred Meyer is also getting a facelift, albeit with a different contractor. Note how Fred Meyer stores are about 160,000-170,000 sf, where as the Kroger Marketplace stores are between 120,000-130,000.
The dirt: Fred Meyer in valley ready for remodel
Nearest competition is a freeway adjacent Walmart Supercenter and a nearby Safeway.

Fred Meyer closed one north Spokane-area store in 2013, after failing to resolve a lease dispute with the landlord.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

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Pocatello's Grand Re-Opening is happening the weekend before Thanksgiving this year. Pocatello Fred Meyer hosts grand re-opening The corporate claim is that they actually took community feedback in deciding on the remodel.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by SamSpade »

Video of the Pocatello re-opening. Looks similar to most Kroger "Marketplace" layouts these days. I think the Interestate Bistro in Portland got fewer food offerings, though.
KPVI: Pocatello Fred Meyer holds grand re-opening
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Brian Lutz »

I'm pretty sure the Bellevue store was originally scheduled to reopen before Black Friday, but they have not reopened yet. I'm guessing they are at least a couple more weeks away, but it's looked for a while like construction was behind schedule.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

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Brian Lutz wrote:I'm pretty sure the Bellevue store was originally scheduled to reopen before Black Friday, but they have not reopened yet. I'm guessing they are at least a couple more weeks away, but it's looked for a while like construction was behind schedule.
I bet there were some surprises in that building. Stadium in Portland took much longer than planned and rumor is went way over budget. It's a lovely store, though I still sometimes miss the more compact "supermarket" sized Fred Meyer it replaced.
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Re: Fred Meyer Remodels Continue

Post by Super S »

It is interesting how they did a half-hearted reset in Longview though. The store is still on the interior package from around 2003, and the non-food area has mismatched tiles where the furniture dept. was redone. While the store looks clean overall, this area looks a bit junky. They have also added a new Clicklist area here, taking over a portion of parking. I have yet to see anybody using the service. Somewhere I read that Fred Meyer remodels about every 10-12 years, if that is the case this one is due. This may be one of the only Fred Meyer stores left that, with the exception of apparel and specialty departments, is still using 8 foot fluorescent fixtures throughout the store...
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