Despite its 1950s construction, this store's exterior is extremely bland, and it didn't see any changes in the remodel. About the only noteworthy thing here is the strange reversed colors on the sign, being yellow on black instead of the typical black/dark blue on yellow. QFC signage is all over the place, so it's not that surprising to see something odd here, but this particular style isn't one I've seen elsewhere. And yes, this store has both a pharmacy and a Starbucks despite only being around 25,000 square feet -- one thing I've learned from the Kroger research project that's been going on on Discord is that in most parts of the country, Starbucks kiosks in grocery stores are fairly rare even in full-size stores. Around here, you'd be hard-pressed to find a grocery store from any major brand (Albertsons/Safeway and QFC/Fred Meyer) that doesn't have a Starbucks!
For some reason, the comment box isn't working in the 'Front view' post so I'll try putting it here. But, yeah, all this commentary is from that post so that's why it's not related to the photo here.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, there's a CD store, Silver Platters, in this shopping center! Have you ever been to a Silver Platters? I wonder if they are any good.
This must be a new record to see this many cars parked in front of a NW retailer and not see any Subarus, lol.
On the topic of weather, you're certainly not the only one seeing some unusual weather right now. Texas is seeing some record cold temperatures right now. It'll actually get worse in the next few days with lows in the low teens and we're expecting a few inches of snow and other wintry precipitation. Snow is not unheard of in Houston, but we only see it a couple times a decade and usually not in this amount. It'll truly be quite remarkable and quite dangerous since we're not used to this type of weather. Some supermarket chains have already announced reduced hours for the next few days due to the weather and expectations that trucks won't be able to get out on the roads due to the conditions.
I saw a forecast for the Memphis area and it seems Retail Retell won't know if he's in the south or in Minnesota for the next few days, lol. At least it'll be around 80F for the retail enthusiasts in Florida. They won't know what the rest of us are complaining about, lol.
Ok, this comment will be related to this photo, but Starbucks is pretty common in Randall's locations around here. Some larger Kroger stores will have a Starbucks kiosk as well. Speaking of which, where is a Kroger in Houston that has one. I mentioned this on an AFB post the other day, but it is a Kroger with the Marketplace decor and it has a high drop ceiling and actual floor covering. AFB thought the mezzanine at this location looks nice and I agree with that sentiment. I think this store, which is in a wealthy part of Houston, looks exceptionally nice. I wasn't a fan of the Marketplace decor, but it looks nice here. I have been to this location before, but my last visit was about 15 years ago. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/4gBGcxhDByhALvzm7
Can't say I know anything about Silver Platters, but there are three of them around here, and I know there used to be several more that have closed over the years. Honestly, music stores aren't really my thing.
DeleteYeah, the weather has been crazy all over the place! I have relatives on the east coast that were snowed in for a while a few weeks ago (though they're much more used to it than we are!). Now we're going to get a bunch of rain on top of the snow, which is going to be interesting...
I do think Safeway has been more into Starbucks than Kroger has been, in general. Starbucks kiosks were a big part of the Lifestyle concept for them. That being said, I think QFC was the first around here to put coffee kiosks in their stores, with Seattle's Best Coffee in their stores seemingly dating back to the 90s.
That's interesting about the lack of Starbucks in Kroger stores. I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to the actual spreadsheet to gauge that part of the conversation, lol. But that is a very good point, as I can think of very few Delta Division stores that have Starbucks in them. You're right, that's in stark contrast to the stores we see on your blog!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Yes, it's a mess around here. Oxford (where I'm at) is set to have even higher snowfall amounts than Memphis. And all of Mississippi is going to see something. Not a fun time right now.
Yep, that's something I've often noticed with your pictures -- also, the attention given to stores getting new Starbucks kiosks added stood out to me, since around here most stores had Starbucks (or other coffee brand) kiosks installed in the mid-2000s! Perhaps other areas are starting to catch up to the northwest in that regard, though I remember reading Acme Style talking about coffee kiosks being removed from those stores a few years back, so the concept is clearly not guaranteed to be successful.
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