Downtown Bellevue QFC to be remodeled and expanded

[Brian Lutz]

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesste ... uexml.html

In addition to a remodel of the store (presumably to the more recent Kroger style as seen in the Bella Botega QFC in Redmond after its recent remodel) they are also planning a 6,000 square foot expansion to the store as well for a total of 64,000 square feet.

As the store that I do most of my grocery shopping at these days, this is definitely one of the nicer stores in the area (although it does come with prices to match) and has what seems to be a somewhat more upscale version of the Fresh Fare design package (with things like a nicer tile floor than you see at other stores and no drop ceiling.) Even if it is one of the best performing of QFC's stores, it still surprises me just a little bit to see this, since I'm sure the real estate the store is sitting on has to be quite expensive by now (just a couple of weeks ago, a small lot in Downtown Bellevue a few blocks away sold for a price of over $800 per square foot) and has to be sitting in the crosshairs of some developer or another.

[storewanderer]

That store is in prime condition and in my opinion one of the best looking stores in the entire Kroger chain. It is nicer than Frys Signature Marketplace down in Shea/Tatum in Phoenix.

Waste of money to remodel and I am afraid a major decor downgrade is coming. I hope I am wrong. That is such a nice, nice store.

[Brian Lutz]

I doubt they can get away with just installing generic Kroger decor in this location, since this store serves some of the most affluent areas in Washington. There will probably be elements of the Kroger decor here, but they'll need to keep the store more upscale. As is, the QFC corporate offices are upstairs from the store (dating back to their pre-Kroger days) so they tend to use this store for experimental things before rolling them out across the chain.

[Brian Lutz]

I visited this store today to do grocery shopping, and found that work has now begun on the remodel. So far, most of the main store is unaffected, as the work going on right now is in the space formerly occupied by the kitchen store (which has apparently been there since the mid Seventies, and is currently searching for a new location.) It looks like that space is going to be used for a new wine and liquor department, which will presumably be much larger than the current one in the store. It is not clear what effect this will have on the bakery department, which is located at the edge of the current store, and might become something of an island if it is left where it is.

[Brian Lutz]

I visited the store again this evening to do some shopping, and progress on the remodel seems to be coming along well. A few things to note:

- The wine and liquor department has now been moved into the expanded space. The former location of the wine/liquor deparment in the back of the store is being turned into an expanded natural foods department.
-It looks like the tile floor is going to stay, as at least a portion of the expanded space is having tile laid down.
-The bakery counter has been moved over to the area where the Starbucks used to be, and the old bakery is being demolished. The plan is for that to be used for a housewares section.
- Most of the main store has been left unaffected by the remodel so far but it looks like it will get a new decor package, but based on the look of the new wine/liquor section I don't think it'll be the "standard" Kroger one seen in other OFCs. As far as locations of items goes, it looks like most of the store will be left as is in terms of layout.
-As has been the case with a lot of other QFC remodels here, they've expanded to 12 self checkout stations in the front of the store, although when I was there today it looks like only half were in use. Previously this store had 6.

More on this as construction continues.

[Brian Lutz]

The remodel of this store has now been completed, and tomorrow will be the grand reopening of the store. For the most part it does stick to the now standard Kroger design package with some minor variations in places, but they did keep the tile floor and the exposed ceiling (which also seems to have been repainted in a lighter color. Along with that they also seem to have upgraded the lighting as well, which makes the store feel brighter and more open (it was a little bit on the darker side in the previous design package compared to other Fresh Fare stores.) As noted below, they also added a small bar to the store in the liquor and wine section, although it seems to be focused more on beer (specifically take-home growlers) than wine. They also added a fairly significant section selling higher-end kitchenware, which is probably a nod to the kitchen store that previously occupied the space the store took over in the remodel. Other minor additions included the addition of a new alcove in front of one of the entry doors, and relocation of the bakery section to open up the space a bit more.

All in all, I think it looks quite nice after the remodel.