At around 35,000 square feet, this store isn't that small for QFC (I know that sounds crazy to some of you, but remember, this is a chain that operated several stores in the 15-20,000sf range until quite recently), but this corner, tucked behind the pharmacy, feels super cramped! (It probably doesn't help that the bottled water display looks like it's about to fall on me!) Interestingly, this store has flat Bountiful aisle markers rather than the typical tri-siders -- and it's probably not just because this store was a very early Bountiful remodel, since they still have the brackets sticking out the sides where they would have been connected together.
Although they've become more rare now, we still have some older Greenhouse Krogers in that size class. I don't think this QFC would feel all that odd to me on the size front, but OTOH, we have many Krogers which are way larger as well! Granted, none are Fred Meyer sized!
ReplyDeleteThose flat Bountiful aisle markers are a bit strange looking to me. Perhaps the triangular ones would have interfered with the lights?
Although a large Kroger Signature store built in the early-mid 1990s (1993) would seem like an odd candidate for low-profile aisle markers, we do have some Krogers which fit that description. This is one of them as the perimeter ceiling is quite low and so Kroger had to use a different from of low-profile aisle markers than what is in use at the QFC. That said, these are still triangular. It should also be noted that this Kroger is among the lowest rated Krogers in terms of Google reviews. The store doesn't look bad in the photos (I've been to this Kroger a few times before, but it's been at least a decade since I've last been here) so the problems must be service related or related to low quality perishables. Different Krogers around here vary considerably on the latter. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/9HwihpmYcidKAdLW9
QFC is all over the place when it comes to aisle markers. It's not that rare for them to use flat ones where tri-siders would be more common, for no obvious reason.
DeleteThose 90s stores probably would have opened with Neon. I've always thought that design looked surprisingly similar to 80s-90s QFCs! Those low-clearance aisle markers are fairly common in QFCs, and it's kind of surprising that this store didn't get them since these aisle markers seem to hang quite low over the aisles. And then there are these extra tiny ones!
Yep, those 1990s Kroger Signature stores did open with the Neon decor. Those 1990s Kroger Signature stores with the Neon decor were real dragon slayers for Kroger here in Houston. In the post-Safeway Houston supermarket scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Kroger and Randall's were about even atop the local marketshare lists. Kroger had slightly better prices, but Randall's had decidedly better looking stores and more premium service/amenities.
DeleteOnce Kroger started opening those Signature stores in 1993, the Kroger was able to match Randall's on store appeal and amenities with the new stores while also having larger stores than Randall's and slightly lower prices. Combine that with Randall's getting bogged down with their purchase of Tom Thumb and an expansion into Austin and Kroger decisively pulled ahead from Randall's in Houston. That helped set up Safeway's purchase of Randall's in the late 1990s.
Not only did those Krogers slay Randall's, but Albertsons entered Houston in 1995 with brand new Blue & Grey Market stores that were smaller and less fancy/more dated looking than the Kroger Signature stores that had opened a couple of years prior. Awnings and Grocery Palace helped Albertsons compete on the decor front, but Kroger Signature stores still had the edge on pricing and size. Service was, at best, even, but Kroger might have had an edge there as well. Those Kroger Signature stores helped to make sure that Albertsons (and Food Lion as well) never had much of a chance here.
Of course, Kroger is doing less well against HEB and Walmart here in the 2000s, but who knows if Kroger would even still be in Texas right now without the success of those Neon Signature stores!