I suspect a lot of the branding here was directly inspired by Trader Joe's, but what this store really reminded me of was the Lucky's Markets in Florida (and other states, but that's where I saw pictures of stores from). Unfortunately, that chain was short-lived too, shutting down most of its stores not long after New Seasons got bought out. While there haven't been many major shake-ups in the year or so since then, it seems like the grocery market could be going through a similar bifurcation as the rest of the economy, with the discount and very-high-end stores doing the best (and expanding significantly) while the mid-range stores (both traditional grocery stores like Safeway and higher-mid-range stores like this) aren't doing so well. Which is a shame, since mid-range stores are by far my preference...
While there isn't the obligatory Subaru parked in front of a NW natural foods supermarket in this photo, there is one in another photo you posted today of this New Seasons. In other news, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, lol.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point about supermarkets. In the future, will there only be some mix of Walmart/Aldi-like supermarkets and Whole Foods-like supermarkets?
Well, I don't think that's going to happen in the near future. The mid-level Kroger, Safeway, HEB, etc. type supermarkets still seem to be doing pretty well even with the pandemic. Having said that, it does seem like the successful mid-tier supermarkets seem to be trying to do their best to become more like discount grocers while keeping enough higher-end touches to differentiate themselves from the true discount grocers. You can see this at places like Kroger. 20 years ago, you could still have the Kroger baggers take your groceries out to your car. Now, you're lucky to go to Kroger and not have to deal with self-checkouts (Kroger is especially bad about not having any regular checkout lanes open at night here in Houston). Austerity has led, I'm quite sure, to things like concrete floors instead of other trendy flooring trends like the fake wood vinyl tiles which look very nice at most of the grocers who use it.
There are a few grocers who seem to be unapologetic about sticking with the mid-tier model. Publix in Florida is probably a great example of this, but the strength of Publix means that Florida also has limited competition and I'm sure Publix has higher prices than, say, a Kroger in Houston which has a lot of competition.
Mid-tier natural foods stores might have a harder time though. Natural foods shoppers might have certain demands which might be harder for a mid-tier grocer to meet, but Sprouts can probably be defined as a mid-tier natural foods grocer and they seem to be doing okay here in Houston. It helps that they advertise good sale prices on non-organic produce in order to gain shoppers who ordinarily would not even step foot in a natural foods supermarket.
Of course, Houston really isn't a natural foods city so this might not be the best place to judge such things. We have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and stuff like that, but perhaps their presence here is not as big as you'd expect in a city this size. Sprouts is really the biggest of the bunch.
Yeah, I wouldn't expect mid-range stores to completely die off anytime soon, but it is noteable that (at least around here, I know the story is different in other places) there's essentially no growth in the mid-range grocery market, with almost no new stores opening (though there have been some replacement stores) and quite a few existing stores closing in recent years (the Albertsons/Safeway merger is largely to blame for this, but there have also been some QFC closures).
DeleteSprouts is an interesting case, and I haven't gotten around to checking any of their stores out (they're a very new entrant to the Seattle market, but there's one that recently opened in my neighborhood, so I don't have a good excuse for not visiting it yet!). It looks like it's somewhat more my style than something like PCC, but I'm still not much of a natural foods person. I'd rather make my own food than buy fancy pre-made food, and raw ingredients are just as easy to get at a normal store like Safeway.
It certainly seems like Seattle does live up to its stereotype as a place for people who like organic foods! 😉 That's where most of the growth in new grocery stores comes in, for sure.
You may or may not like Sprouts, it's hard to say. If you like produce, I would say that it's worth checking out their ads and seeing if they have any good specials on non-organic produce that you might like. Sometimes their sale prices are as good as the sales at regular mid-tier supermarkets on similar produce.
DeleteAt the Sprouts near me, the center part of the store is mostly just produce and the bulk bins. The outer parts of the store with the canned goods, meats, dairy, and so forth are all the more expensive, natural stuff which you probably wouldn't want. If you stick to the central produce area, you might find products and prices which meet your standards. Also, around here in Houston at least, the typical Sprouts shoppers look quite normal, lol.
If the Sprouts near you are new, they might look like the Sprouts that AFB posted about last year: http://albertsonsfloridablog.blogspot.com/2019/09/former-albertsons-4412-oviedo-fl.html
Here in Houston, most of our Sprouts have been around for a few years and so they have what I assume to be an older decor package that I prefer. The one in AFB's post has that modern natural foods store look with austere decor, polished concrete floors, and other industrial looking things which seem to send the compete opposite feel of how a natural foods store should feel. It's not quite PCC level bad, but it's in that direction, lol. The Sprouts here have a farm theme that's a bit more colorful and the stores usually have stained concrete floors which at least have some color to them. Here's a Sprouts near me (though this isn't the one I usually shop at, but it's a tad bit nicer than that one) which is located in a former Randall's that was sub-divided between it and a Total Wines & Spirits store (which are really neat if you've never checked then out, it's a rare B&M store which still emphasizes good service). The Sprouts kept Randall's fancy vestibule which is awesome: https://goo.gl/maps/iNhun6uoi1m4jBeWA