This, on the other hand, is the absolute least useful place to have category plaques, since you would have to walk through the entire department to get this view... and yet, it has a bunch that are missing from the previous picture. Anyway, I actually quite like the way that Artisan's zigzag woodgrain graphics look in this store, where they're covering the entire visible part of the wall, compared to the standard version where they're just in a small accent panel!
Hey, check it out, Fred Meyer-branded paint buckets made their way to this store on the top shelf there! Of course, all of this looks like it would be more at home at a Fred Meyer than a QFC! I wonder if this is the only QFC which has a Fred Meyer-branded item?
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm guessing regular QFCs would have the automotive items. I know regular Krogers do here in Houston. In fact, Kroger has been giving their own brand of automotive fluids (MotoTech I think?) more space on the main actionways here in Houston here recently. Another retail enthusiast here in Houston noticed that as well. I'm guessing these Kroger house brand automotive fluids are probably purchased by Fred Meyer for the whole chain, but I'm not sure!
It's a bit strange that this store has so many bags of soil! Isn't this store mainly in an urban area where people presumably live in apartments and condos? I doubt someone shopping here after work wants to take bags of soil home with them on the train or bus to the suburbs, lol.
Not only might this be the only QFC to sell something with Fred Meyer branding, these buckets are probably some of the only things anyone sells with Fred Meyer branding! Most of their store-brand items (and QFC's too) are just Kroger branded.
DeleteI'm almost certain regular QFCs don't sell auto products -- in fact, I don't believe any mainstream grocery store around here (including Safeway and Albertsons) does! (Some larger Safeway/Albertsons stores might have a tiny auto section, but nothing like this or like what you're describing.) I had no clue Kroger had their own brand of auto products!
Yeah, that's definitely a strange choice, especially since these pictures are from February. This store doesn't have any sort of garden center, either, so I really don't know what they were thinking. My only thought is that perhaps someone forgot that this isn't a normal Fred Meyer when they were ordering products! 😃
It does appear that Seattle Safeways do sell motor oil, Signature Select motor oil at that, as I looked up the Seattle Safeway Big Book of Savings for April and the oil, along with Signature Select Antifreeze, are on page 27. It also shows up on an online search I did at a random Seattle Safeway (516 1st Ave W). So, yeah, if you wanted to do a Signature Select oil change, it looks like you could! You'd have to get a Fred Meyer bucket to catch the oil oil through, but this QFC has it!
DeleteThat's funny, the random store you picked is my Safeway! If they sell motor oil, I have no clue where it is, despite having walked down every aisle of the store several times searching for things that end up placed in utterly bizarre locations due to that store's layout (which has only become more bizarre since I started shopping there!).
DeleteHuh, I have no idea how I ended up at your store! I just searched for a Seattle Zip code, found one, and clicked on the nearest one, lol. Well, anyway, I guess you'll have to try to see if you can find the Signature Select motor oil the next time you're at the store! It has to be in the household items area of the store somewhere...probably near where they keep light bulbs, house air filters, and so forth.
DeleteI know they have light bulbs, though my store cleared out a large part of its light bulb section in its recent reset, but air filters are something that I haven't ever seen in Safeway! And unlike motor oil, Safeway's website actually acknowledges that they don't sell those.
DeleteInteresting! Randall's most certainly does sell house air filters, but I reckon all Houston Randall's are located near neighborhoods with single family houses. In places where the customers mostly live in apartments, it really doesn't make sense to sell air filters. Safeway might be better at local merchandising than QFC!
DeleteIt's probably also because even in single-family houses, central forced-air HVAC systems are super rare in the Northwest. Most houses just have radiators or wall heaters (even in new-build housing), though split system heat pumps are gaining in popularity as air conditioning becomes more and more useful.
DeleteThat is random, because most Publixes I've been to also have small air filter, light bulb, and motor oil sections (all of which are usually on the same aisle). I don't think I've ever seen dirt at a Publix though . . .
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