Retail Watchers

The Corvallis Fred Meyer is going through a remodel. This is a small-ish store that is non-rectangular, so the layout is a bit different (nothing really abnormal, but a bit awkward in a few places) to accommodate the block it was built on. The store has an awkward second floor above the checkstands that has the Starbucks, books, toys and sporting goods. This store is reasonably high volume. It is the closest store to Oregon State and does a lot of business with students.

• They moved produce to the front. It probably has a bit more space than it did before and is much more prominent.
  They expanded the size of the grocery area. They raised the shelves but also widened the aisles. All told, there is definitely more space for grocery than there was before.
  Clothing shrunk ... a lot. They really pruned the selection back. There is an alcove that used to be primarily shoes. Now it is half shoes and half team shop.
  The former Chase bank is still empty. (OnPoint CU took over a lot of the Chase spaces in Portland, but not here). I don't know if they'll use it for Clicklist. At some point someone mentioned that they might move the Starbucks down there, but there is no evidence of that yet.
  They trimmed back paperbacks and magazines aggressively.
  They are not removing the tile floor. They actually laid new tiles in a few spaces.
  It looks like they have fully integrated natural foods into the grocery section. There is no separate natural foods market.

The store looks good. I wish they could figure out a way to expand it because it is noticeably smaller than a typical Fred Meyer ... but it is constrained by roads on all sides.

There is a picture of the new decor on the Google results for this store - looks like a new design completely?

ClownLoach wrote: ↑September 18th, 2021, 11:43 pm There is a picture of the new decor on the Google results for this store - looks like a new design completely?

Font in the new signs looks like the Main & Vine font, but the background of the signs and overall fixtures look somewhat like the Fresh Fare decor used more recently. Overall- looks pretty good. Certainly better than the other most recent Fred Meyer decor package.

ClownLoach wrote: ↑September 18th, 2021, 11:43 pm There is a picture of the new decor on the Google results for this store - looks like a new design completely?

They used that decor at the Walker Road Fred Meyer in the non-food parts of the store. The food area did not receive a new decor package during their recent remodel. They also tried a different layout at Walker Road with clothing in the middle and all the other non-food departments on the perimeter. I thought it was a good idea and better integrates the two departments.

babs wrote: ↑September 19th, 2021, 9:57 am

They used that decor at the Walker Road Fred Meyer in the non-food parts of the store. The food area did not receive a new decor package during their recent remodel. They also tried a different layout at Walker Road with clothing in the middle and all the other non-food departments on the perimeter. I thought it was a good idea and better integrates the two departments.

That is the way they have cut clothing into a handfull of the Frys Marketplace in AZ and how it has been built into some of the Dillons Marketplace/Kroger Marketplace locations. Clothing has no wall space. But it is certainly more prominently displayed. Now if they can just get a program that people want to buy from...

Sorry, I had forgotten to comment on the decor. It looks sharp and modern. I like the package much better than the rounded letters package that Kroger had been using until recently (and which they used on the Fred Meyer in Albany -- which incidentally did get an OnPoint Credit Union). They did redo the decor for the whole store in this case, which would have been necessary because they expanded the amount of floor space available for the grocery side and shuffled around a few departments (beer and wine, and produce).

babs wrote: ↑September 19th, 2021, 9:57 am

ClownLoach wrote: ↑September 18th, 2021, 11:43 pm There is a picture of the new decor on the Google results for this store - looks like a new design completely?

They used that decor at the Walker Road Fred Meyer in the non-food parts of the store. The food area did not receive a new decor package during their recent remodel. They also tried a different layout at Walker Road with clothing in the middle and all the other non-food departments on the perimeter. I thought it was a good idea and better integrates the two departments.

ClownLoach wrote: ↑September 18th, 2021, 11:43 pm There is a picture of the new decor on the Google results for this store - looks like a new design completely?

It is very similar to the one used at the Fry's in downtown Phoenix.