I'm so used to seeing malls in the US, even successful ones, having failing food courts that it's neat to see this mall have food tenants spilling into the main parts of the mall -- it's almost like being in Canada! Though I have to say, having a Dairy Queen/Orange Julius right across from a diamond store is a bit strange.
Ha, the DQ-Helzberg Diamonds combo shouldn't be considered all that unusual given that they are both owned by Berkshire Hathaway/Warren Buffett! Now, if they ever put DQ and Helzberg in the same storefront, now that would be a bit weird, but I guess no weirder than Kroger owning a jewelry store!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was also going to mention that I had a guest post at HHR go up a couple of days ago about a Colorful Lifestyle v2 Randall's store, but one still kind of carrying Randall's original 1984 wedding cake ceiling design. With that, this store has a very strange application of Lifestyle decor since most parts of the store actually has two walls where Lifestyle decor could go. I'm sure you'll be quite confused by this design! It'll certainly be something Safeway that is outside your expectations. Link: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/2023/07/19/randalls-very-successful-1980s-store-format-is-still-a-success-in-galveston/
DeleteHa! Berkshire Hathaway sure owns a lot of disparate companies.
DeleteThat is an interesting store! I've seen Safeway do similar things with their ancient stores with similar ceiling designs (much older than the 80s), but that deli is particularly weird. It almost looks like the Lifestyle v2 designers just gave up and threw the product photos and small text signs randomly up there! It was even weirder before the remodel with the product photos and "great lunches" sign on the normal Lifestyle Beige paint rather than the red that's supposed to be used at the deli.
Would you happen to know what the story is with the 'assisted self-checkout' that the Galveston Randall's had? There was a sign for it, but Mike said it wasn't turned on for use yet. Neither Mike or I really know what's different about that self-checkout as compared to any other Safeway self-checkout.
DeleteI have no clue! Never heard of that before. Sounds like something that would only happen in stores with significantly better staffing than what I'm used to!
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