The back half of produce, behind the service island, was one place where the store's impending closure could be felt. This space was originally home to wine and natural foods; the 2018 remodel plans I saved show that it was planned to either be converted into the liquor department (as happened in many of Fred Meyer's Banner remodels) or used for an expansion of the produce department, depending on which page in the plans you look at. This Google Maps photo shows that the latter was eventually done in the mini-remodel, but unsurprisingly, it seems to have been done on the cheap, meaning only dry (non-refrigerated) displays were installed. I'm guessing the closure resulted in produce items being consolidated to the front part of the department, leaving the back part filled with random promotional displays instead.
It's weird seeing the new Murray's v2 design combined with decor that's close to 20 years older!
Is that ceramic tile?! Ok, it is probably porcelain, but still, it is rare to see that at a major chain store! Randall's used tiles at their front ends in the 1980s and the carts going over the grout lines made a tremendous racket aurally and it also made the carts shake. I figure that's one big reason why it is rare, but I guess it was tried here.
ReplyDeleteThe flooring and decor/colors look a bit higher-end in a Lifestyle era (though not Lifestyle style) way, but then the open ceiling is a contradiction reminding you that you're in a Wal-Mart Supercenter type store!
Yep, some Fred Meyers from this era had real tile! I had originally written that I wasn't sure if it was actually real since I don't remember it being massively rattly like in some other stores I've visited, but then I remembered that the plan sheets I have from this store's original construction are the floor finish plans, which list it as Dal-Tile, Rocky Mountain, beige, which is porcelain tile like you had guessed. It's funny that I have two sets running at the same time featuring grocery stores with real tile floors!
DeleteIn this era (from the late 90s through the mid-2010s), Fred Meyer was definitely trying to be quite a bit more upscale than the other hypermarket chains, and this decor package was literally called "Upscale"! The clothing department was particularly nice, often looking like a proper department store. That all ended when Kroger decided to homogenize Fred Meyer in the late 2010s, taking away most of their unique features and designs in favor of Kroger's lower-end generic style.