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New Grocery Outlet to Occupy Former Craft Store/Closeout Store Space
Posted: June 13th, 2022, 9:28 am
by SamSpade
It's a very strange phenomenon in Eastern Idaho, buildings will be referred to what used to be in them for years later.
For example, most probably still refer to the "old Ernst" or "old KMart" for what is at the moment a U-Haul storage facility.
So this story calls this building the 'old Porters' - The Porter family owned The Rexburg Standard-Journal newspaper then ran two craft supply stores for many years as well. They sold the business to AC Moore, though Moore went bankrupt shortly afterward.
Anyway... back to being on topic. Here's the link to the story, a new Grocery Outlet franchise operator is coming to town. Idaho Falls had a 'Rainbow' Grocery Outlet in the 1990s not that far from here, but that was back when the company (at least in this part of the country) was a very different animal than today's 'bargain market.'
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/06/h ... aho-falls/
Re: New Grocery Outlet to Occupy Former Craft Store/Closeout Store Space
Posted: June 13th, 2022, 10:32 pm
by storewanderer
SamSpade wrote: ↑June 13th, 2022, 9:28 am
It's a very strange phenomenon in Eastern Idaho, buildings will be referred to what used to be in them for years later.
For example, most probably still refer to the "old Ernst" or "old KMart" for what is at the moment a U-Haul storage facility.
So this story calls this building the 'old Porters' - The Porter family owned The Rexburg Standard-Journal newspaper then ran two craft supply stores for many years as well. They sold the business to AC Moore, though Moore went bankrupt shortly afterward.
Anyway... back to being on topic. Here's the link to the story, a new Grocery Outlet franchise operator is coming to town. Idaho Falls had a 'Rainbow' Grocery Outlet in the 1990s not that far from here, but that was back when the company (at least in this part of the country) was a very different animal than today's 'bargain market.'
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/06/h ... aho-falls/
The article comments are great.
I think the people commenting on expired products will be pleasantly surprised. Grocery Outlet corporate does not allow sale of expired products anymore. Some poor operators have been slow to stop selling expired products but it has become less and less common. I also have found at least in my area the operators who were doing that have, moved on from being Grocery Outlet operators.
There is a markdown program in place to blow items out a day or two before expiration and a lot of pressure on the stores to keep up with it. The stores are also not penalized for pulling expired product from sale (inventory is on consignment basis from Grocery Outlet corporate) whereas in the past it seemed like they were basically encouraged to sell expired products.
I thought it was odd Grocery Outlet kept an Idaho presence yet they exited Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in the past (also Phoenix).
The ongoing poor conditions at various retailers have really helped Grocery Outlet attract and retain a stream of operators in recent years. For instance I learned recently the excellent operator of Grocery Outlet units in Sparks and North Reno is an old Albertsons person from Omaha then managed Lowes for a number of years. You can't ask for a better fit than someone with decades of grocery experience and also experience running a warehouse type store which slots products on the shelf in the exact same manner as Grocery Outlet does. And there are many other well experienced candidates to take and operate these stores.
Re: New Grocery Outlet to Occupy Former Craft Store/Closeout Store Space
Posted: June 14th, 2022, 5:01 am
by Romr123
That is nice to hear--the store in Palm Springs was quite pleasant to shop in, and they were careful, as you say, to blow out the stuff near expiration.
Re: New Grocery Outlet to Occupy Former Craft Store/Closeout Store Space
Posted: June 14th, 2022, 10:02 am
by Super S
storewanderer wrote: ↑June 13th, 2022, 10:32 pm
SamSpade wrote: ↑June 13th, 2022, 9:28 am
It's a very strange phenomenon in Eastern Idaho, buildings will be referred to what used to be in them for years later.
For example, most probably still refer to the "old Ernst" or "old KMart" for what is at the moment a U-Haul storage facility.
So this story calls this building the 'old Porters' - The Porter family owned The Rexburg Standard-Journal newspaper then ran two craft supply stores for many years as well. They sold the business to AC Moore, though Moore went bankrupt shortly afterward.
Anyway... back to being on topic. Here's the link to the story, a new Grocery Outlet franchise operator is coming to town. Idaho Falls had a 'Rainbow' Grocery Outlet in the 1990s not that far from here, but that was back when the company (at least in this part of the country) was a very different animal than today's 'bargain market.'
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/06/h ... aho-falls/
The article comments are great.
I think the people commenting on expired products will be pleasantly surprised. Grocery Outlet corporate does not allow sale of expired products anymore. Some poor operators have been slow to stop selling expired products but it has become less and less common. I also have found at least in my area the operators who were doing that have, moved on from being Grocery Outlet operators.
There is a markdown program in place to blow items out a day or two before expiration and a lot of pressure on the stores to keep up with it. The stores are also not penalized for pulling expired product from sale (inventory is on consignment basis from Grocery Outlet corporate) whereas in the past it seemed like they were basically encouraged to sell expired products.
I thought it was odd Grocery Outlet kept an Idaho presence yet they exited Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in the past (also Phoenix).
The ongoing poor conditions at various retailers have really helped Grocery Outlet attract and retain a stream of operators in recent years. For instance I learned recently the excellent operator of Grocery Outlet units in Sparks and North Reno is an old Albertsons person from Omaha then managed Lowes for a number of years. You can't ask for a better fit than someone with decades of grocery experience and also experience running a warehouse type store which slots products on the shelf in the exact same manner as Grocery Outlet does. And there are many other well experienced candidates to take and operate these stores.
The "Rainbow" Grocery Outlet once was known as "Canned Foods Grocery Outlet" and has evolved from simply being called "Canned Foods Warehouse" (which is mentioned in the history section of Grocery Outlet's website). Boise had one of these Canned Foods stores on Chinden in an Industrial-looking building, and basically it was a closeout store which mainly carried only canned items, cereals, and other items that required no refrigeration. They may have carried some bread as well. I don't think they even had a cooler in the store at the time, and they often had products that were within a week or two of their expiration date. This store was replaced long ago by the current Fairview location.
They have become more of a mainstream operator. In some towns such as Rainier, Oregon, their stores are new builds, and in the case of Rainier, the town's only grocery store.
Re: New Grocery Outlet to Occupy Former Craft Store/Closeout Store Space
Posted: July 25th, 2022, 9:36 am
by SamSpade
While in town, I visited this store. It's a really pleasant setup. It is like every other 'Gros-out' I've been in recently, so it appears they've really come up with a uniform floor plan / model for buildout like many other chains.
There were a number of produce markdowns but nothing looking buggy or iffy like I frequently bump into by visiting a particular location in the Portland, Ore. trade area. They did have some fresh cut flowers and some garden plants that probably should have already moved to the garbage bin, but overall it was a decent experience.
I think the biggest barrier here will be reinforcing to neighbors and such that this is not the same 'Rainbow grocery outlet' of yore with weird 'factory quality issue' stickers on frozen items, no fresh produce or meat, etc.
My family's household did not have one of the discount flyers they have posted online, but it should bring some traffic in.