I was confused for a moment to see the wing bar seemingly operational in this store, but then I remembered that these pictures were taken
just before everything started shutting down due to COVID! Those shutdowns really did a number on Safeway's prepared foods offerings, which have been quite slow to recover over the following years due to Safeway's post-merger short staffing (which was already bad before COVID and is only getting worse as time goes on).
I'm sure you'll have another image of it to show later on, but that "thank you for shopping..." sign by the registers and under the security catwalk glass looks like something straight out of the 1980s! The wood, white floor, and the lights above the registers only adds to the vintage feel of that. Wow, seeing that is like being transported back to the 1980s except that Safeway did not sell wings at that time, lol.
ReplyDeleteSwitching topics to Kroger for a second, and Retail Retell might like this, check out these weird Bountiful department baskets at a Dallas-area Kroger. Cards & Party and one for a Bookstore! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/YarUwJCNgTBb2zbq8
Judging by the newer photos in this store's photostream, it seems the Bookstore might have been converted into a Kosher foods department with a Kosher basket sign: https://goo.gl/maps/nMuBW7gybTHFGoDg9
Maybe Retail Retell would know, but I suspect those are one of those Kroger 'Power Alley Concept' stores from the mid-to-late 1980s that were one of the first stores to receive Kroger Neon decor.
Back to Safeway for a second, check out this Tom Thumb near that Kroger. This is one strange installation of Lifestyle v2! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/rFYD9fs7TUaF9aG68
In addition to strange Lifestyle v1-like department signage in some areas where there is a very short height wall, there is this very odd installation of lights and an aisle marker! This is strange! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/xv4PDXdv4SCxrzpP8
Yeah, those non-recessed square fixtures are super retro looking! Those are a common sight in older Safeways around here -- it seems like neither Lifestyle remodels nor post-merger lighting modifications tended to touch them.
DeleteThat's a weird couple of stores! Those Kroger signs look like they're the "boat-shaped" signs Bountiful often used for smaller departments (and the produce department in low-ceiling stores like QFCs), just split in half to be installed up against the wall. It's surprising to see a Kroger adding a specialized kosher department, but then again it's also weird to see a dedicated "bookstore" department like that.
That Tom Thumb honestly just looks like a mess! Some parts of the store have ceilings that are too low for the department signs, others have ceilings that are too high so they just look like they're floating on the wall, and the "bridges" of low ceilings like in that picture you linked to just look bizarre. Looks like that store used to have a cool zigzagging roofline that they covered up in the most awkward way possible! Looks like it's been remodeled to Colorful Lifestyle v3 recently, and may well look even worse now (just look at that floor scar, yuck!).
I noticed that tile scar in the entrance earlier, but I didn't notice that the paint scheme in the store from that photo is that of Colorful Lifestyle v2. Good catch on that. Hopefully that photo was taken during the remodel and they had pulled the old floor up before putting a new one in, but I don't know. That tile scar might well be the finished product. If so, yuck indeed! What a terrible sight to see as one enters a store.
DeleteI have seen Randall's with kosher departments as we have a kosher Randall's here in Houston in the Meyerland area that I've been to. Not only does it have a kosher area for dry goods, but it also has two hot delis with one having a kosher kitchen. That said, I have not seen a Kroger with a kosher area like that, but then again, I have not seen a Kroger with a 'bookstore' either! That Kroger is very strange, but it does look pretty good. I wouldn't mind shopping there just to see the oddities.
There's another Tom Thumb near that Kroger and also near that weird Tom Thumb that has a kosher market as well so it might be similar to the Meyerland Randall's in Houston. Here's a picture of the Kosher Market sign out front on that store. This store has a bit of a strange western look like something from New Mexico or Arizona or something: https://goo.gl/maps/o3JWhnRyNZjNLtLG9
Yep, definitely looks like a formerly neon store to me. Also looks like an early bountiful remodel, which would probably explain the deluxe usage of the boat signs for those departments instead of just letters on the wall (or nothing at all!)
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