One of the major components of the 365 concept was that the service departments were set up to have people order at a kiosk instead of in person. This was supposedly intended to be a cost-cutting measure, though I have to wonder how much that would really save in the long term -- it doesn't seem like it would be very much, since they would still need the employees to prepare the orders.
It's very sneaky of them to have the online order counter at the back of the store in the hopes that people will make impulse purchases along the way.
ReplyDeleteThis place looks very similar to the North Loop Whole Foods 365 in Houston that has managed to survive as a regular Whole Foods: https://goo.gl/maps/fBjdL992aJGoGWsU9
I think it goes without saying that the nearby Kroger that was previously a Weingarten's, Safeway, and AppleTree is far more interesting! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/LDnKwoq3p9cUWb1V7
I didn't realize you could order food online -- that certainly makes more sense than just being able to order from the kiosks!
DeleteYeah, since Whole Foods 365 was such a short-lived concept, I wouldn't be surprised if all of their stores look pretty similar. I wonder if Whole Foods is planning to remodel their ex-365 stores to look more like regular Whole Foods, since the original designs look rather different (though I haven't been in all that many Whole Foods stores to compare).
Yeah, that store is certainly more interesting! I do quite like the 365 look, however.
It's interesting to note that at least as of January 2021, the Houston North Loop Whole Foods still has Whole Foods 365 signage on the outside. Although I drive past this Whole Foods everyday on the way to work, I can't tell you if it still has 365 signage to this day. I suppose that tells you how much I care about this chain that I don't even bother to look, lol. Granted, crazy Houston traffic and drivers might have something to do with that as well as I try to keep my eyes on the road! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/tBRm6RU3v4eTUGUYA
DeleteIn somewhat related news, this Dallas Albertsons just got converted into a Tom Thumb. That's interesting to note because Albertsons just got done renovating a lot of their Dallas-area stores and kept them as Albertsons. I'm not sure why this store didn't follow that precedent. So, at least in this one case, the NW is not alone in seeing Albertsons get rebranded to Safeway banners. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/T5jTDP9omWkREr66A
Huh, that is weird -- my understanding is that the brand was retired in 2019, so you'd think they would have gotten around to replacing the signage by now!
DeleteAnd that's interesting too! It seems like Washington is the only area currently converting stores en masse -- in Idaho, Albertsons is obviously much stronger so that brand is sticking around, and down in Oregon, there have been a few conversions, but they've also been remodeling Albertsons stores to the new Legacy package (though not very many, and I haven't gotten to visit any yet). So it's hard to say what the long-term plan is -- if there even is a long-term plan.