Rounding out the left wall of mysteries, we find the clothing department (in what used to be electronics), sporting new "dip" branding. Dip is Kroger's brand of clothing, which as far as I can tell has been a complete failure, but apparently that hasn't stopped them from just pushing it even more! I'm not sure if Fred Meyer only sells dip-brand clothing, but they've branded the entire department (formerly signed "Apparel" or "Northwest Style" as "dip", so it certainly looks that way. This branding was supposed to show up in at least some other stores (and possibly be a standard part of the Artisan decor), but it appears that Kroger has cancelled pretty much all scheduled remodels around here due to the recession we're in, so I'm not sure if there are any other stores with a "dip department" yet.
When I think of buying dip from Kroger, I think of something like salsa and not clothing, lol. What an unusual name. The clothing department doesn't look very appealing to me either, but maybe it works for the TJMaxx and Ross type fans. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI was recently kindly informed by some fellow retail enthusiasts that the number of Houston Kroger stores is taking a dip. The infamous 'Disco Kroger' in urban Houston, which used the Kroger Fresh Fare concept at one time, will be closing in January. On top of that, and perhaps related to that, Kroger is running into some labor issues here in Houston which very well might end up leading to an employee strike. Link: https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/kroger-houston-ufcw-455-spar-over-pay-health-benefits
So, yeah, these are interesting times for Kroger here in Houston. That Dip sign made me think of all these problems, lol.
Honestly, I don't think anyone really buys clothing from Fred Meyer anymore. Even at the Ballard Fred Meyer near where I used to live, which was always crazy busy (hence why I didn't like to shop there), there was never more than a handful of people in the clothing department. And that's a pre-Kroger Fred Meyer with a much nicer clothing department than you see here.
DeleteToo bad to hear that Kroger isn't doing so well in your area. It's not surprising that physical retail is having issues right now (I mean, many companies weren't doing so well even before the pandemic), but it doesn't seem like there's been a huge wave of store closings around here yet. But there are signs that Kroger isn't doing great around here either -- like I said, both QFC and Fred Meyer seem to have stopped remodeling stores for now.
I was wondering how well Dip was performing for them. I haven't searched anything out, but it does seem like it could easily be a flop. However, you're right, they certainly keep pushing it! I have a few Dip-branded shirts myself, and they're all nice. I would think the bigger problem (for my area) is getting people to buy clothing from Kroger at all, not what brand it is. Of course, for Fred Meyer where they've always sold clothes, it seems to be a different story. If people used to buy apparel but now have stopped because it's all Dip-branded (because my impression is that Kroger has stopped carrying all other apparel brands -- probably part of the appeal of the store brand was to integrate the entire operation under their control), then that's a problem!
ReplyDeleteKroger Marketplace has been in Houston for a few years and I've been to those stores a handful of times. In all my visits, I don't think I've ever seen someone browsing the clothing department. I'm not even sure why Kroger even bothers with them here at least. In fact, I have an elderly family member who quite dislikes shopping at Kroger Marketplace because the store is too big. I can see what this family member's point. I'm not really a big fan of the Marketplace stores either.
DeleteOf course, Kroger selling clothing is not completely new in Houston. They used to sell clothing and other discount department store stuff at their Kroger Family Center concept which we had here in Houston. Of course, that was quite some time ago so I'm sure most shoppers wouldn't even remember that. I know Retaill Retell has seen this, but I'm not sure if NW Retail has. If you want to see Bauhaus clothing department signage (well, shoes specifically), check out this 1980s image from a Houston area Kroger Family Center: https://s.hdnux.com/photos/62/05/56/13130685/3/920x920.jpg
I think Fred Meyer was having issues selling clothes before the Dip changeover (really, they've had issues with non-food items ever since Kroger took over), so it's hard to say if Dip hurt things more -- but it certainly hasn't helped. It is good to hear that Dip is good quality at least -- the reason I haven't bothered to try it out is that Fred Meyer doesn't even bother to be competitive in price when it comes to clothing (or pretty much everything except for some of the grocery department, for that matter). And that's the real issue -- buying clothes at Fred Meyer shouldn't be any different than buying them at any other supercenter, like Walmart or Target, but when the pricing is way higher than those, I don't know why anyone would bother.
DeleteAnon: Interesting, I hadn't realized that Kroger had experimented with the supercenter/hypermarket concept prior to buying Fred Meyer! With how poorly Fred Meyer (and their other supercenter formats that were inspired by it) have been doing for them, it doesn't seem like they learned any lessons from that! 🙂 (Also, wait, did Texas seriously once restrict selling clothes on Sundays? That seems crazy to me!) And I totally understand the dislike for shopping in large stores -- my family pretty much stopped shopping at Walmart when the one in Port Angeles was replaced with a supercenter, and the size is probably part of why I never liked shopping at the Ballard Fred Meyer.
Yep, Kroger tried combination supermarkets/discount stores going back to the earliest Kroger Family Centers in 1965. The Pleasant Family Shopping blog did a post about this many years ago with some neat vintage photos of the Kroger tire department and all of that, lol. By the Bauhaus era, the Kroger Family Centers in Texas were not as big as they were in the past, but they still lingered for quite some time. Link: http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/2009/01/family-affair-at-kroger.html
DeleteBelieve it or not, shopping was very restricted on Sundays prior to the late 1980s in Texas. Stores could not sell most of what's considered general merchandise on Sundays. Groceries and such could be purchased, but certainly not clothes and all of that. By the 1980s, some retailers were challenging the blue laws by opening illegally on Sundays. We even had some discount malls which were built specifically to be open on Sunday illegally. Due to pressure, the laws were changed in the 1980s.
I don't think Texas was alone in that regard and some countries still have blue laws restricting much of retail on Sundays. Liquor sales are still somewhat restricted on Sundays, but I think that's still common in some states. One odd aspect of the blue laws which linger on even today in Texas deals with car dealerships. Car dealerships in Texas cannot be open on both Saturday or Sunday. They have to pick just one. Most are open on Saturdays, but a few choose Sunday.
In some ways, Walmart Supercenters aren't as bad as a Kroger Marketplace because at least the grocery section at a Walmart is mostly contained in one part of the store. If you only need groceries, you can stick to that part of the store. With Marketplace stores, things get a bit stretched out. At least around here, things like the milk cases are almost on the opposite side of the store from produce and such. It's a long journey and it gets tiring if you have to criss-cross the store a few times. Of course, I quite rarely visit Walmarts these days myself so I suppose we're pretty similar in that regard.
I'd imagine that not very many people would buy clothes at a grocery store. But who knows, Joe Fresh, a Loblaws owned clothing brand is big in Canada, so maybe Kroger will find success in drip.
ReplyDelete"...maybe Kroger will find success in drip."
DeleteI'm not sure which name for clothing would be more strange, Dip or Drip, lol.
I know this is a somewhat of a younger audience, but does anyone remember the "Come See the Softer Side of Sears" marketing campaign in the early 1990s? It was a very memorable advertising campaign to get people to think about Sears for clothing instead of just being a hardlines store. Most current Sears stores are still stuck in the "Come See..." era in terms of decor, lol. Here's one of those Sears commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jkfCLAbapI
Sears also had a related "Come See the Many Sides of Sears" campaign. This is a very memorable commercial from that campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYi9gh8UwYo
Anyway, as implausible as it may seem, maybe Kroger needs a "Come See the Softer Side of Kroger" campaign!
Like I said in my reply to Retail Retell, it's not entirely fair to think of Fred Meyer as being a grocery store brand similar to Kroger. While they've been trending in that direction, Fred Meyer was started as one of the earliest hypermarkets, and they were formerly very successful in general merchandise (including clothing) in addition to groceries. Sadly, the general merchandise side of the business has been getting less and less relevant under Kroger's ownership.
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