Health and beauty appears to be the one and only department Target really invested in for most P17 remodels, which seems like a bit of a strange choice, but at least they did a good job with these departments. I would have loved to see just a bit more color here (as always), but at least the woodgrain adds something beyond just plain grey. But of course they had to go with grey faux-wood flooring. (Still the nicest flooring in the store!)
Snark aside, it's neat that Target included a men's cosmetics section in most of their P17 stores, something you don't see all that often. I'm not likely to ever actually buy anything from this department -- it's all too expensive and too scented for my tastes -- but it's still nice to see.
Men's cosmetics? Who knew! I'm still using a Philips Norelco electric shaver purchased from the Memorial City Mall Target in 2009! Believe it or not, I'm still using the original blades! I don't really have a choice, Philips discontinued making new blades for their older shavers many years ago! I have some Safeway/Albertsons 5 for $1 Signature Select disposable razors for the few times I want to use a razor to shave and a can of Kmart American Fare shaving gel from ~2000. So, yeah, I won't be spending much time at the Target men's cosmetics department, lol.
ReplyDeleteHere's something for you, Retail Retell, and even AFB. It seems Kroger has converted a Houston Krogertsons into a Hispanic-format Krogertsons. This El Krogertsons isn't exactly unprecedented because, even though the news article implies otherwise, Kroger did try a Supermercado format back in the 2000s which didn't last long.
As you can see from the photo gallery in the link, it appears Kroger is using a new decor package with these stores. At least it is new to me, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is some kind of new Ralphs/F4L decor package. Perhaps one of you know something about it. It also looks like the floral counter was turned into a service department for sliced fruit. Huh, I didn't see that coming.
FWIW, this Krogertsons had a terrible tile scarred concrete floor even before this renovation. Kroger really stripped this store out somewhere along the way...maybe during the Bountiful renovation. Also, check out the photo of the decor being installed with the workers wearing 'Install Crew' shirts! Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/exclusive-kroger-debuts-first-of-its-kind-hispanic-concept-in-houston/ar-AA1gMuoR
That's definitely Remix... just a customized version of it, it looks like. Interesting store concept!
DeleteThat is interesting, although it seems like some of the big-name grocers have a hard time coming up with a successful Hispanic format, considering the failed Kroger's failed attempt in the 2000's, Albertsons few unsuccessful attempts at Hispanic groceries, and the failure of Walmart's Mas Club. The reimagined Kroger looks nice, but I'm surprised Kroger didn't try to give the format a new name on the front of the building to differentiate this store from the other, more mainstream Krogers in the area (like "Kroger y Mas", or something to that effect).
DeleteHa! I'm pretty much the same way, though I have replaced the blades on my electric razor once, at least. I think they've already stopped making new blades for it and it's just a few years old! 🙄
DeleteVery interesting! That decor looks quite nice -- there are some similarities to Remix, but it looks so much nicer. It will be quite interesting to see what happens with that concept, whether Kroger decides to keep expanding it or if it just slowly fades away and the store gradually reverts to having a standard Kroger product mix, as has happened with so many experimental formats, from all sorts of different companies, over the years.
I certainly agree that these Hispanic format stores have generally not been a big success for major grocers. In addition to Mas Club, Walmart also tried a Hispanic-format Neighborhood Market store called Supermercado de Walmart in Houston and it failed very quickly. I did actually visit that one though. But, that said, if this new format is successful for Kroger, they could roll it out to a number of Houston Kroger locations with a large number of Hispanic shoppers in their areas. It'll be interesting to see what direction things go.
DeleteMike and I have talked about things and I think it is safe to say that this new Kroger format will be the subject of an HHR post at some point! It probably won't be a main The Year of Kroger post, but maybe a supplemental TYOK post or maybe just a plain ole' Retail News post. We'll see.