I'm really conflicted about how this store looks from this angle. The positive side is that the majority of this part of the store really looks like it could be a moderately upscale department store. The negative side is that the concrete floor, especially one which is that patchy, completely ruins any pretensions of this being a somewhat luxurious department store.
Just imagine if this part of the store had something like a marble floor though! Granted, that would probably ruin any impression that Target has low prices! Oh well, I suppose it's not possible to have it all.
Also, those hand baskets, no matter how fancy they are, would be totally out of place at a luxurious department store. Then again, hand baskets are completely handy, no pun intended, at a place like Target, lol.
Honestly, I'd kinda rather have this sort of look than a department store look, but maybe I just haven't been to the right stores. But yeah, I would love to see something like terrazzo or even a fancy vinyl floor like what Rite Aid sometimes has, but that would be a bit out of place with Target! Oh, and speaking of Rite Aid, someone sent me this link which shows the new decor that we had been discussing. Picture 15 shows the trees, though I'm still not sure whether they're real or fake from the picture.
I suppose department stores with marble and such might feel a bit stuffy, but there are more moderate department stores which manage to make their stores look nice, but not too over the top. A great example of this is a modern Sears....haha....I had you going there for a moment, didn't I?
Lol, I actually meant to say a modern Sears, but not one of Eddie Lampert's disasters here in the US. I'm talking about Sears Mexico. I'm not sure if you read Je's Louisiana & Texas Retail blog, but he started covering Mexican malls and department stores in the last couple of years. Seeing some of their department stores is a real revelation. They have very well furnished and maintained department stores which still appeal to a pretty broad range of shoppers. An example of these are the Sanborns and Sears Mexico chains. Sanborns, which was owned by Walgreens for about 40 years in the 1940s-1980s, actually also owns Sears Mexico and they are rather similar in many ways. Lampert and US Sears has nothing to do with Sears Mexico and that's obvious by looking at the photos of their stores.
Here's one of Je's posts about a Sanborns in the Mexico City financial district (the mall photos are first and then the photos of the Sanborns): https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2020/06/reforma-222-open-air-indoor-hybrid.html
And here is a Sears Mexico in an inner-city part of Mexico City: https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2020/06/plaza-insurgentes-mall-cdmx-march-2019.html
Actually, a Woolworth variety store is across the street from that Sears Mexico. Woolworth is a great US retail name, but they're dead here. In Mexico, they still have variety/discount stores and they look quite nice: https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2019/10/woolworth-insurgentes-mexico-city-cdmx.html
If you were expecting that Sears Mexico to look like a US Sears, you'll obviously be shocked by what you see! Parts of that Sears Mexico uses the grey colors that Target has been using, along with other parts which have bright colors, but having a nice ceramic/porcelain tile makes the area look nicer than the above Target, IMO. I'm sure opinions will vary, but I think that Sears Mexico looks absolutely fantastic and I'm jealous we don't have something like that here!
The Woolworth is much less fancy, but even it manages to have nice floor covering and I think that does a lot for the store. Oh, and look at the candy counters at all those stores and the tobacco counter at the Sanborns! Those are mostly extinct in the US.
As for the Rite Aid, maybe it's just me, but it seems the link doesn't work. That said, it's great to hear that they do actually have trees in the store! I suppose we'll have to find out if they're real, but either way, that's awesome. Maybe we're seeing a trend towards a return of a certain type of retail experience which appears to have not died in Mexico. As you can see in the Sears Mexico and Sanborns malls, they both have plants in them. But, yeah, I would be thrilled if we can get some of that back.
Hmm, I wonder if Google finally changed the comments to not accept raw HTML. It was probably a bad idea, but at the same time it was helpful! Here's a test. And here's the link in plaintext: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/10/rite-aid-debuts-its-store-of-the-future.html
Those Mexico stores are pretty cool too! They remind me a lot of some things in Canada that I was really hoping to feature but haven't been able to for obvious reasons. I do like the Sears flooring -- looks a lot like what you'd see in a modern airport. I've said this before, but I am the odd one out who actually quite likes concrete flooring when done properly, however, and would prefer it to plain vinyl in almost all cases -- and for the most part it does look quite nice in this store.
Yep, I'm able to get to the link now, thanks. Wow, that Rite Aid looks even better than I was expecting! Those ceiling-mounted department/register signs with plants on them are amazing! I'm guessing those are fake plants, but still. It's a really neat idea! I like the wood/wood-like decor in part of the store and I like the shelving too. It looks very contemporary, but in a good way. The lounge area up front is a bit strange because I'm not too sure how many people would go hang out at a Rite Aid for free Wi-Fi, but maybe they know something I don't, lol.
I also notice that the store has tile (probably vinyl tile) which looks kind of like concrete. To me, those concrete-like vinyl tiles are better than actual concrete floors especially in older stores where there would be tile scar and patchy concrete like there is at the Target. I suppose some might laugh at the concept of a fake concrete floor though, lol.
If Rite Aid could roll out that design to most of their stores, I think it would help them win/win back customers. Unfortunately, that'll probably be very expensive so it might only get deployed at select locations. Those customers will be quite lucky!
The department stores in Canada are a bit more upscale than our department stores here for the most part. That said, many of them are lacking the variety of departments that Mexican department stores have. At least that was my experience, maybe there are some department stores in Canada which I need to visit which are better. Sears Canada was more upscale and better maintained than US Sears stores, but unfortunately Sears Canada went out of business a couple of years ago.
Maybe it's just an age thing, but I remember when department stores like Macy's had things like electronics, candy counters, and even hardware (well, I don't know if Macy's ever had hardware, but Foley's certainly did). Mexican department stores have that and they also have nice decor. The employees even wear suits like was the case at department stores here for many years. Those Mexican department stores are a modern blast from the past in many ways if you get what I'm saying!
You're not the only one who likes concrete floors, but I'm not a fan. They're okay when 'designer concrete' is used (I'm sure that's not the right word for it) that kind of looks like stone and is very smooth and consistent. One of our Krogers which reopened after Hurricane Harvey badly flooded it in 2017 has such a look and it's okay. Stained concrete isn't bad in some cases and even regular concrete works in certain stores like Home Depot and Sam's. It's certainly low maintenance and stores like my local Sam's Club, which is over 30 years old, still have their original flooring since it is just concrete.
That said, the trend these days is to redesign stores to have concrete floors even if the concrete is patchy (like the Target), has big cracks, has tile scar, and so forth. That concrete was never designed to be seen by the public. Such a look has no place at a retailer who is trying to present themselves in a dignified manner, IMO. I agree that the white vinyl tiles can be an ugly look, especially when the tiles become a bit worn, but I think there are better floor covering options beyond the white vinyl like what we see Publix and some others do.
I'm really conflicted about how this store looks from this angle. The positive side is that the majority of this part of the store really looks like it could be a moderately upscale department store. The negative side is that the concrete floor, especially one which is that patchy, completely ruins any pretensions of this being a somewhat luxurious department store.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine if this part of the store had something like a marble floor though! Granted, that would probably ruin any impression that Target has low prices! Oh well, I suppose it's not possible to have it all.
Also, those hand baskets, no matter how fancy they are, would be totally out of place at a luxurious department store. Then again, hand baskets are completely handy, no pun intended, at a place like Target, lol.
Honestly, I'd kinda rather have this sort of look than a department store look, but maybe I just haven't been to the right stores. But yeah, I would love to see something like terrazzo or even a fancy vinyl floor like what Rite Aid sometimes has, but that would be a bit out of place with Target! Oh, and speaking of Rite Aid, someone sent me this link which shows the new decor that we had been discussing. Picture 15 shows the trees, though I'm still not sure whether they're real or fake from the picture.
DeleteI suppose department stores with marble and such might feel a bit stuffy, but there are more moderate department stores which manage to make their stores look nice, but not too over the top. A great example of this is a modern Sears....haha....I had you going there for a moment, didn't I?
DeleteLol, I actually meant to say a modern Sears, but not one of Eddie Lampert's disasters here in the US. I'm talking about Sears Mexico. I'm not sure if you read Je's Louisiana & Texas Retail blog, but he started covering Mexican malls and department stores in the last couple of years. Seeing some of their department stores is a real revelation. They have very well furnished and maintained department stores which still appeal to a pretty broad range of shoppers. An example of these are the Sanborns and Sears Mexico chains. Sanborns, which was owned by Walgreens for about 40 years in the 1940s-1980s, actually also owns Sears Mexico and they are rather similar in many ways. Lampert and US Sears has nothing to do with Sears Mexico and that's obvious by looking at the photos of their stores.
Here's one of Je's posts about a Sanborns in the Mexico City financial district (the mall photos are first and then the photos of the Sanborns): https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2020/06/reforma-222-open-air-indoor-hybrid.html
And here is a Sears Mexico in an inner-city part of Mexico City: https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2020/06/plaza-insurgentes-mall-cdmx-march-2019.html
Actually, a Woolworth variety store is across the street from that Sears Mexico. Woolworth is a great US retail name, but they're dead here. In Mexico, they still have variety/discount stores and they look quite nice: https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2019/10/woolworth-insurgentes-mexico-city-cdmx.html
If you were expecting that Sears Mexico to look like a US Sears, you'll obviously be shocked by what you see! Parts of that Sears Mexico uses the grey colors that Target has been using, along with other parts which have bright colors, but having a nice ceramic/porcelain tile makes the area look nicer than the above Target, IMO. I'm sure opinions will vary, but I think that Sears Mexico looks absolutely fantastic and I'm jealous we don't have something like that here!
The Woolworth is much less fancy, but even it manages to have nice floor covering and I think that does a lot for the store. Oh, and look at the candy counters at all those stores and the tobacco counter at the Sanborns! Those are mostly extinct in the US.
As for the Rite Aid, maybe it's just me, but it seems the link doesn't work. That said, it's great to hear that they do actually have trees in the store! I suppose we'll have to find out if they're real, but either way, that's awesome. Maybe we're seeing a trend towards a return of a certain type of retail experience which appears to have not died in Mexico. As you can see in the Sears Mexico and Sanborns malls, they both have plants in them. But, yeah, I would be thrilled if we can get some of that back.
Hmm, I wonder if Google finally changed the comments to not accept raw HTML. It was probably a bad idea, but at the same time it was helpful! Here's a test. And here's the link in plaintext: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/10/rite-aid-debuts-its-store-of-the-future.html
DeleteThose Mexico stores are pretty cool too! They remind me a lot of some things in Canada that I was really hoping to feature but haven't been able to for obvious reasons. I do like the Sears flooring -- looks a lot like what you'd see in a modern airport. I've said this before, but I am the odd one out who actually quite likes concrete flooring when done properly, however, and would prefer it to plain vinyl in almost all cases -- and for the most part it does look quite nice in this store.
Hmm, no, the link worked this time, so that wasn't it. I guess I just messed something up the first time I tried!
DeleteYep, I'm able to get to the link now, thanks. Wow, that Rite Aid looks even better than I was expecting! Those ceiling-mounted department/register signs with plants on them are amazing! I'm guessing those are fake plants, but still. It's a really neat idea! I like the wood/wood-like decor in part of the store and I like the shelving too. It looks very contemporary, but in a good way. The lounge area up front is a bit strange because I'm not too sure how many people would go hang out at a Rite Aid for free Wi-Fi, but maybe they know something I don't, lol.
DeleteI also notice that the store has tile (probably vinyl tile) which looks kind of like concrete. To me, those concrete-like vinyl tiles are better than actual concrete floors especially in older stores where there would be tile scar and patchy concrete like there is at the Target. I suppose some might laugh at the concept of a fake concrete floor though, lol.
If Rite Aid could roll out that design to most of their stores, I think it would help them win/win back customers. Unfortunately, that'll probably be very expensive so it might only get deployed at select locations. Those customers will be quite lucky!
The department stores in Canada are a bit more upscale than our department stores here for the most part. That said, many of them are lacking the variety of departments that Mexican department stores have. At least that was my experience, maybe there are some department stores in Canada which I need to visit which are better. Sears Canada was more upscale and better maintained than US Sears stores, but unfortunately Sears Canada went out of business a couple of years ago.
Maybe it's just an age thing, but I remember when department stores like Macy's had things like electronics, candy counters, and even hardware (well, I don't know if Macy's ever had hardware, but Foley's certainly did). Mexican department stores have that and they also have nice decor. The employees even wear suits like was the case at department stores here for many years. Those Mexican department stores are a modern blast from the past in many ways if you get what I'm saying!
You're not the only one who likes concrete floors, but I'm not a fan. They're okay when 'designer concrete' is used (I'm sure that's not the right word for it) that kind of looks like stone and is very smooth and consistent. One of our Krogers which reopened after Hurricane Harvey badly flooded it in 2017 has such a look and it's okay. Stained concrete isn't bad in some cases and even regular concrete works in certain stores like Home Depot and Sam's. It's certainly low maintenance and stores like my local Sam's Club, which is over 30 years old, still have their original flooring since it is just concrete.
That said, the trend these days is to redesign stores to have concrete floors even if the concrete is patchy (like the Target), has big cracks, has tile scar, and so forth. That concrete was never designed to be seen by the public. Such a look has no place at a retailer who is trying to present themselves in a dignified manner, IMO. I agree that the white vinyl tiles can be an ugly look, especially when the tiles become a bit worn, but I think there are better floor covering options beyond the white vinyl like what we see Publix and some others do.