Aisle 1 looks rather different today, with (relatively) boring oval category markers, doors on the cases, and no more overflow onto the floor. It's interesting to see that Kroger is investing in case doors and other refrigeration upgrades despite the lack of proper remodels -- that's basically the opposite of what Safeway tends to do around here. On a side note, the aisle marker in the background looks pretty cool with most of its category plaques removed and more of the translucent plastic showing through!
One of the local Krogers to me is currently undergoing an Artisan renovation. Yikes! It's still early into the renovation, but one of the first things they did was to paint or replace the refrigerated cases with powder blue ones. I suspect they might have painted or wrapped the old ones because there are still cosmetic imperfections on the powder blue ones so I don't think they are new.
ReplyDeleteI'll certainly take some of the old heavy chrome/brass and glass (brass and glass, nothing but class!) refrigerated case doors that my local Randall's has over the plastic crap that most of the Krogers have these days which are often cracked or completely shattered! And a lot of them don't even close properly either. Fresher than fresh!
It seems one local change Kroger has made is that they've increased their gas prices at their fuel stations. For years, they were one of the cheapest fuel options, but now they are about 10-15 cents/gal. more expensive than name brand gas stations near their stores. It really doesn't make any sense that Kroger is advertising such high prices. I can only assume that Kroger assumes people are going to be using gas reward points and so maybe they don't need to be competitive on price. I don't know how well that'll work though. The aforementioned Kroger getting the Artisan renovation is across the street from an HEB with a gas station and the HEB is 15 cents/gal. cheaper than the Kroger. That surely can't send a favorable message to even non-gas customers.
Powder blue is a new one! I thought everyone had standardized on black or silver cases these days, but I suppose Kroger is no stranger to colorful cases (they loved green and maroon cases in the 00s!). I wonder if your store will actually get Artisan, or the new "Fresh for Everyone" package that seems to have replaced it (it's basically Artisan v2, but with a bit more color -- though I've only ever seen it in decor plans so far, so if it is that, I'd like to see some pictures!).
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