The dairy department sign moved around the corner in the remodel, which honestly makes a lot more sense (seeing as the old sign was halfway over the meat department), though it's not particularly easy to see over here. It's nice to see that the dairy cases got nice new doors installed in the remodel, something that QFC seems to be doing again with many of their new remodels (after having not done so for quite some time). In the winter, it can really make for a more pleasant shopping experience, not being blasted by the cold air escaping from open cases!
This is not really related to anything QFC, but I came across a great retail video on YouTube which you might be interested in as someone interested comparative store layout design. It's a video from the Best Products chain in 1990. Best Products was a catalog showroom like Service Merchandise. You're probably too young to remember any of these chains and I'm not sure if they had much presence in the NW, lol. Best Products was the chain that had the artistic facades at some of their locations like the one in Houston which was designed purposely with a facade that looked like it was crumbling: https://www.siteenvirodesign.com/content/best-products
ReplyDeleteAnyway, in this video, Best compares their 'Regency' layout to the 'Store of Tomorrow' layout. The 'Regency' layout is more departmentalized and doesn't use a racetrack whereas the 'Store of Tomorrow' does use a racetrack and has what would probably be considered a more modern layout. Even with all of this, as they discuss pros and cons of each layout, it seems that the 'Regency' layout has more pros than cons as compared to the 'Store of Tomorrow'.
A lot of focus is put on the electronics department and how they differ between the two departments. I like how Best mentions practical aspects that differ between the two layouts rather than focusing purely on short-term profits. I love seeing the stereo demo room in the 'Regency' layout. I remember those things well especially at Service Merchandise! I also like how they mention using more carpet for 'acoustic' purposes. Good luck getting that in today's concrete floor dominant world!
You might laugh at seeing those vintage computers in the computer department, but I remember those well. I liked the 'Regency' department where they put the computers on computer desks that were also for sale. I remember that way of selling computers and computer accessories. That's something which is long gone in modern times.
You may consider this to be dinosaur stuff, lol, but it's great seeing internal information about store layouts. It's also great seeing all those vintage electronics! Best Products was a nice place to shop and I think that comes through in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMfqiOxDtVk
Those Best stores were super cool! I was really in to architecture growing up, and those were in several of the books I had. I'm still sad that, as far as I know, all of the interesting buildings are gone by now. Anyways, I know neither of those two chains were ever in this area, but I'm not sure if anything else with that concept ever was. I think my parents mentioned shopping in stores like that at one point, but (unlike me) they have lived in a lot of different parts of the country, so I'm not sure if that was around here or not.
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