This store started out more or less square, but it's located on a long, skinny lot, with the only way to expand being an addition on the front... which is exactly what QFC did in the 90s, making a store that's roughly the same size and shape as a typical QFC, but with the entrance on the short end. They could have done what Safeway did on multiple occasions and given the store a relatively normal floor plan with the entrance just in a strange location, but no, they essentially took their standard floor plan and stretched it until it fit. This is still a lot less strange than what Safeway did with my local store, but it makes for a weird shopping experience regardless.
This store got a minor remodel after my visit (not including any decor changes, so I haven't bothered to get more pictures even though it's pretty close to where I live now), which thankfully included a floor plan so you can see just how weird this store is:
That is indeed a strange layout...
ReplyDeleteI tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger wasn't having anything to do with it. Grr.
ReplyDeleteHey, the world headquarters for Blue Jeans Cables is right off to the right of this photo! Blue Jeans Cables is quite well-known in the Hi-Fi world for making fancy audio cables, but fancy audio cables that aren't too expensive. I think that even with their 'reasonable' rates, their cables are too expensive given that regular cables don't have any worse performance, but if one wants the placebo effect of having 'fancy' cables at a reasonable price, Blue Jeans Cables is a way to go. I'm sure nobody reading this will care about such things, lol.
The combination of the skinny store and Blue Jeans Cables makes me think of skinny jeans. Based on the cars in the parking lot, I don't think this store is that trendy though, lol.
This store is roughly the same size as the Greenhouse Kroger at 4000 Polk in Houston, but it is a very different shape! I can tell from the blueprints that this is a much nicer store than 4000 Polk as well. 4000 Polk is an interesting store though with history dating back 90+ years. It'll be the subject of a The Year of Kroger post in May probably.
Interesting! I'm about as far from an audiophile as you can get, and the building doesn't have any signs on it, so I would have never realized that on my own!
DeleteHa, yeah, Queen Anne and Magnolia are definitely "old money" neighborhoods, so not super trendy!
QFC certainly does a good job of making their smaller stores (and this one isn't even that small for them) quite nice regardless of their size! I'll be looking forward to that post.