Quite a bit changed in the bakery during the remodel, but that odd cylindrical donut case is still there, and still hooked up to that overhead extension cord! Its cherry finish kind of clashes with the new cases here, but it also kind of clashed with the old ones, so I guess it's a wash. That's too bad, since I quite like the way it looks otherwise! (Though, is that Comic Sans on the decals?)
I don't think that is Comic Sans, but it might be some relative of it. The thing that caught my eye was the use of 'Signature' at a Kroger..err..Fred Meyer! Perhaps in a few months, that won't be so strange, but at least as of now, it is a bit strange!
ReplyDeleteA permit has been filed for this 2017-built Dallas-area Kroger Marketplace to receive a $1.3 million dollar renovation. I wonder if they'll be removing the Banner decor and replacing it with something else. In some ways, this Marketplace store looks a bit fancier than the ones here. With that in mind, it's a bit strange that it is receiving a renovation, but perhaps the low Google user review rating, 3.8, indicates that this store is not well-received by the public and Kroger is wanting to give this store at least the appearance of change. The nearby Walmart Supercenter has a 4.1! That's pretty bad that Walmart is beating a fairly new Kroger Marketplace by a relatively wide margin. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/aHRg91RihxB8UW189
Albertsons does not really have a store very close by. The nearest Albertsons property is a Market Street with a 4.5 user review. Interestingly, that Market Street C-store is named 'A Taste of Market Street'. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/vy7eNM3Uf36ACaPd7
On the topic of Albertsons, they seem to be in expansion mode here in Texas and nearby. There is word that Albertsons is returning to Oklahoma with a newly-built store in Ardmore, which is near Dallas/the Texas border, and it seems this will be with the Albertsons name. Oklahoma has not been kind to national chains before as the local Homeland chain seems to have won over the area, along with Walmart of course, even though Homeland's stores are often a bit basic.
More interestingly, Tom Thumb is said to be building a store in Waxahachie. Waxahachie is a small city/big town in North Texas that, with the rapid growth of Dallas' suburbs, is kind of becoming a remote Dallas suburb. For many years, Waxahachie was the closest regular format HEB to Dallas and it is considered an HEB dominated town. It seems Tom Thumb sees an opportunity by building a store across town from the HEB. Usually, the likes of Randall's and Kroger like to steer clear from HEB, but in this case, Albertsons is taking them on rather directly. It's a bit of an odd, unexpected development along with the Oklahoma news/rumor. Anyway, if HEB is going to smother Albertsons with their Dallas expansion as many people think will happen, it seems Albertsons will not take it laying down.
Ha! It isn't exactly surprising to see such a generic term used elsewhere -- while Signature does have Safeway roots (from the Lifestyle-era Signature Cafe branding), it is a little surprising that they chose such a generic term for their store brands that I imagine can't easily be trademarked.
Delete$1.3 million seems very high for a typical decor swap/reset type of remodel, so I wonder if something bigger is going on there! Not sure what that would be, though... I can't imagine Kroger expanding a store like that which is already larger than what they typically build these days. With the way Fred Meyer, at least (I don't know about Kroger Marketplace) is going these days, I could see Walmart getting higher ratings -- Fred Meyer's pricing and selection really can't match Walmart anymore, even though Fred Meyer stores are often quite a bit larger than Walmarts!
Interesting to see Albertsons expanding when they've been acting like they're going to die imminently if the Kroger merger doesn't go forward! I have to wonder if there will even be an Albertsons left for HEB to take on in Dallas -- I certainly have some doubts about whether Kroger will keep all of their legacy brands following the merger, especially in areas where Kroger already operates under their own name.