I believe the "gazebo" part of the food court is the place where the neon in this mall is closest to eye level, and it too looks very impressive with the lesser amount of background lighting -- especially since it appears that almost all of the non-decorative lighting under its roof is dead! The backlit recesses also pop more after dark, which isn't surprising since the corridor also has big skylights. (It was certainly an interesting choice by the original designers to put in both decorative lighting and lots of windows and skylights that drown out the lighting, but I can't complain!)
On the topic of neon, I only found out a few days ago that there is a National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles, OR. A quick search of the blog shows that you've been to The Dalles, but I don't know if you were able to go to the museum. Just based on the online photos, it does not seem to have a ton of chain retail stuff, but it's still pretty neat for something in an unexpected place! Link: https://g.page/NationalNeonSignMuseum?share
ReplyDeleteOf note is that a Safeway and a Fred Meyer are within walking distance. The Safeway seems to have Lifestyle v3, but this probably isn't making you any more interested in the place, lol. Are these the types of bags Safeway and Albertsons are using in the NW these days? Link: https://goo.gl/maps/wsiQ8igPw4FXsD159
I've been through The Dalles, but never actually stopped. (That was on the last day of my 2019 Portland trip, and I was so burned out on retail that I didn't even stop at the Kmart, which I kind of wish I had.) Cool to see that museum, even if The Dalles seems like quite a strange place for it!
DeleteYep, those are the standard bags these days, since Safeway/Albertsons switched away from using paper bags in favor of those loophole-exploiting thick plastic bags. They went through a few different designs (especially of paper bags), but it seems that they've settled on that style now. Interesting to see that that store has the same deli signs with that weirdly plain font as the woodgrain Lifestyle store I just posted!
On the topic of Fred Meyer and Safeway being next to one another in The Dalles, and in many other places, I'm curious about your thoughts about the Kroger-Safeway proposed merger. That'll have a big impact here in Texas (in Austin and especially Dallas more than Houston since Randall's is a minor player here), but it could have a seismic impact on the Northwest's grocery market. With that, it seems almost assured that either the merger won't be allowed or something will have to be divested.
DeleteYeah, that's been the talk of the town over on Discord all day! At least it means I'm finally getting some help with my Safeway lists from all the Kroger fans over there. 😉 I too have serious doubts about this merger getting FTC approval, especially with all the anti-monopoly talk on the federal level these days, though the lack of overlap on the east coast (which tends to be the only area that gets any attention on the national level) makes it slightly more plausible. 😐 It does appear that Kroger is already making plans to divest a significant part of the company, likely doing something similar to the Albertsons split when they got bought by Supervalu, but I'm sure hoping that the FTC will take a very critical look at their plans, after the Haggen debacle that already gave Albertsons/Safeway monopoly power over a good chunk of the Northwest.
DeleteNow the possibility is that Safeway stores might get Remixed! Or maybe Kroger stores will get Colorful Lifestyle v2 (probably not though unless Kroger simply puts their name on existing Safeway stores...which could well happen here in Houston and also in Austin).
DeleteI'm guessing at least some Northwest stores will be divested into SpinCo (what a name). QFC and Haggen are probably like likely candidates. Here in Texas, it's possible that the Houston, Austin, and Dallas Albertsons properties might get divested, but they might also become Krogers if they aren't closed outright. If Kroger does rebrand Albertsons stores here as Kroger stores, it might create an odd situation where they have to convert non-union stores to union stores.
There's a lot of potential for oddities like you say and Kroger, and even more likely the Albertsons brands, might become broken chains. I think there are going to be some loud cries from the west coast, and maybe even Dallas, about anti-competitive issues with this merger. We'll see what happens. I'm not convinced this merger is really going to happen, but I might be saying that simply because I don't want the merger to happen. I suspect most in the Northwest feel similarly.
Honestly, I feel like Fred Meyer may well be one of the first to go if the merger happens and they have to spin off some stores. Kroger seems to have absolutely no clue how to run Fred Meyer anymore. I'm sure Haggen will go too, for the same reason -- heck, if the merger doesn't go through, I expect Safeway to sell off Haggen sooner or later. And I'm certainly in the same boat with you about wishful thinking and not wanting this to go through! 🙂
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