Yep, it certainly looks like there's a former service department hiding behind there! I'm guessing it used to be the meat counter, as that's the only one missing here and it seems like about the right spot for it, but I certainly can't say for sure. It's quite strange for Safeway to remove a service department, especially in a Lifestyle store (though I obviously don't know when it was removed), and I have to wonder if it's a sign that the store hasn't been doing great for a while now.
Arguing against that is the fact that this store got the Lifestyle v3-era refresh package, including the new aisle markers shown here. Unlike the original Lifestyle remodels, which seem to have been applied across the board, the refresh only seems to have been put in stores that were doing relatively well, so it's rather surprising to see a refreshed store on the chopping block. But, as always, trying to find patterns in this stuff only leads to frustration...
I just wrote my comment then accident scrolled to the next post instead of hitting reply -_-
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if that's what it was! My eyes were playing tricks on me, and I wasn't sure if that ceiling really extended beyond that counter or not XD
I wonder if it's not that uncommon to remodel stores that are doing poorly. Cosmetic upgrades are kind of a last-resort effort, and probably don't do much to change customers' shopping habits (!), but I suppose the stores must think there's no way to know until they try, and must be willing to bear the cost regardless, just in case it does work. I know the Clarksdale Kroger was remodeled, only to close last year. I'm not sure *when* the remodel took place, but I'm pretty confident it was within five years of the closure.
Now, all this still doesn't mean I understand why they'd bother XD
Also, this is completely unrelated, but was the Kroger décor package you'd asked me if I'd heard of called Urban Mix, by any chance? Because I found this while scrolling through bookmarks I've saved to my phone over the past year... http://www.jackierequeima.com/krogerwork/
DeleteI suppose, and the "refresh" was presumably fairly cheap. It's just that I haven't seen Safeway remodel/upgrade poorly-preforming stores all that often (again, after the Lifestyle remodel wave). And yeah, who knows what these business/marketing/whoever makes these choices people are really thinking!
DeleteYep, Urban Mix is one of the new Kroger decor packages I've been looking into. That's the link I sent you about it a while back 🙂
...oops XD
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