Just the other day, I was thinking about how the in-store bar concept seems to have been a flop around here (inspired by the appearance of a bunch of high-end, lightly-used bar equipment in a local Kroger auction). Well, the concept is still alive and well at Save-On-Foods, and they've even gone beyond most of their American counterparts by also selling burgers at the bar! That being said, despite how busy the overall store was on my visit, this area was rather devoid of staff and customers -- I did see some people over here later on, but if my visit was representative of how things normally are, I can see why stores don't consider it worthwhile considering the space, staff time, and equipment required.
Huh, I wonder if Pattison is trying to steal ideas from their Roth's Fresh Markets operations with this grill area. Granted, Roth's doesn't have a bar mixed in with their grill (not at the one I went to at least), but they did have alcohol taps elsewhere in the store (though I'm not entirely sure if they were selling alcohol for consumption at the store or what, I didn't spend much time looking at it when I went to the West Salem Roth's). Roth's does have an in-house coffee bar next to their grill though.
ReplyDeleteRoth's is the only supermarket I've seen, maybe aside from Randall's Flagship stores circa late 1980s, where their grill was actually a busy spot. Based on what I saw at Roth's, and from what I read online, they are a very popular spot for lunch especially. Their food is of pretty good quality too, I can see why people would skip fast food places to eat at Roth's. Roth's has a serious grill too, this is no Kroger type operation! Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ojyP9fSQc2awm1H89
In case you have not received the hint, lol, I think you really ought to visit Roth's if you get a chance! It's probably the best traditional supermarket experience you'll see in western Oregon/Washington at least and that's not even mentioning the in-store wedding hall at the West Salem location at least!
My read on things is that Roth's has been a popular lunch spot for years before Pattison bought them and so it'll be hard for Save-On to try to get that reputation overnight even if the food quality is similar. Being in a smaller (well, relatively speaking given our aforementioned comparisons of Salem to Montpelier, VT!) government town like Salem probably helps too. I'm not sure if selling beer with burgers is really going to bring in the lunch crowd though as I'd like to think that workers on lunch won't be drinking alcohol, but I have no idea what expectations are like in BC!
Save-On-Foods will have an uphill battle if they're trying to get lunch business considering there are two malls with food courts within a few blocks. You might think I'm joking, but mall food courts are serious business in Vancouver! It definitely seems like Save-On was going for a Roth's-like prepared food setup in this store, but didn't quite get there (and definitely didn't get the same level of customer interest as Roth's seems to have). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a lot of good photos of that section since that's where the employees were hanging out...
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