This store's layout is a little odd, so I've included a floor plan below (along with a rare look at an original Bountiful decor plan sheet). It's built back into the shopping center, with smaller stores running along the street facades almost like those strip mall-like Fred Meyers, so it's basically a normal store with a weird little extension sticking out of the front left corner. That also means that there's very little actual exterior facade for QFC, which explains the very limited exterior photos I took. The little extension is home to the floral department (which interestingly has radiating wood beams similar to the produce signs in many Bountiful stores; maybe this is common too, but the vast majority of QFCs lack the radiating beams even in produce due to their low ceilings), the Starbucks kiosk, and (strangely) the bakery.
You know, I was just thinking the other day that it has been a while since you've done a Kroger post...at least a non-Ralphs one. Now we get a NW taste of Kroger and the hideous ceiling and floors here are enough to make wish you had picked a Lifestyle Safeway or something, lol. At least the floral department looks pretty neat...and not just because of the strange location of it! Although this floral department is quite lacking compared to a Randall's or a nicer Houston Kroger, the radiating beams does look pretty nice and the teal looks like something out of the Food 4 Less Colorful Value decor package! Colorful Value is probably the opposite of what I'd expect from QFC, but I'm not complaining about that like I am about the floors and ceiling here, lol.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the photos from the Collierville Kroger over in the land of Retail Retell? I'm not too familiar with the decor I'm seeing here, but maybe it is because the store is so ugly that I can't really make sense of it. Is this the Reclaimed decor we saw earlier or something based on it? Maybe I'm just a bit off on my Kroger decor packages. Who can blame me? Lol. Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/a-bigger-collierville-kroger-here-s-a-look-inside-the-grocery-store-s-new-expansion/ar-BB1lnP18
I don't know, I don't think this store looks that bad -- it's not anything too special (which is typical for QFC's stores), but I don't have any major complaints.
DeleteOn the other hand, I definitely do have major complaints about that Collierville store! Yep, that's definitely Reclaimed, and yes (unsurprisingly) it looks pretty bad in such a large store. It's hard to tell if it's better or worse than Artisan, but it definitely looks worse there than it does in the smaller Ralphs that have it (and I wasn't super impressed with it there anyway). It's too bad to see Urban Mix (probably my favorite Kroger decor from recent years) get replaced with that!
The beams radiating from the floral sign are cool to see! I don't know that that was particularly common, but this definitely isn't the only store that had that. The early bountiful store in Bartlett had that as well, and was the only time I saw it in person.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous -- I actually hadn't seen that article; thanks for sharing! I knew the store was expanding, but didn't know it had finished that project yet (the article suggests it is still remodeling on the original side of the building). That store was the one I shared on my flickr page with Urban Mix décor, so that package's already limited presence in the Mid-South is down by one more store. On the flip side, though, nice to see Reclaimed make its introduction to the Delta Division -- I don't believe it had been used in any other stores yet. Maybe that is what the new Arlington store will get as well, although given that one was planned as a Marketplace, maybe Artisan is in store instead. Interesting also to learn about a planned expansion in Atoka -- there's definitely a lot of room out to its left side. I have marked on my décor tracker that it remodeled to fresh and local at some point, but I'm failing now to pull up any evidence of that on Google Maps. If it still has script décor, then it's definitely due for a remodel. I, of course, have photos of that store, just sitting in my backlog collecting dust...
In many ways, the Delta Division moves faster than the Houston Division these days! I think we have a grand total of one or two Artisan stores and maybe 3 Urban Mix stores based on my memory. I'm not complaining about the lack of Artisan stores, but unfortunately the Houston Division quite enjoys putting in Remix during their cheap remodels, often very cheap which leaves a lot of Bountiful behind, here in Houston. It might well be a while before we see Reclaimed.
DeleteThat said, Script hasn't been seen in Houston in around five years and it was a rare sight even in the late 2010s even. I guess the Delta Division moves both slower and faster than the Houston Division, but I think the biggest factor there is that it felt like Houston woke up one morning in around 2012 and about 80% of our Krogers suddenly had Bountiful, lol. That quick 2012 sweep pretty much did away with most of the Script decor installations and anything older. Most of that 80% are still wearing Bountiful to this day.
Interesting! That makes sense -- QFC was a pretty early adopter of Bountiful, as they have been with quite a few Kroger decor packages. Most of those early Bountiful stores are still around -- I'm not aware of any that have been remodeled since QFC's pace of remodels is absolutely glacial!
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