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| Today's post highlights Shelby County, TN, retail. |
Hey, everyone! I know I said I wouldn't be posting again until close to Thanksgiving, but there's been a couple of big Memphis retail stories that broke over the past week that I can't
not share with you guys. As a result, I'm squeezing this post in as short and sweet as is possible to get the news across without taking up too much of my - or your - time.
The first big story is that Memphis's IKEA store is set to hold its grand opening on Wednesday, December 14th, 2016 at 9AM. The store is located at I-40 and Germantown Parkway, and, acknowledging the excitement surrounding its construction, will allow customers to line up outside for two days beforehand (!) - that'd be Monday 12-12, if you'd like to get your tent set up on the sidewalk outside ;)
Here's the announcement from the Memphis Business Journal website. UPDATE: The MBJ also has a newly-posted interior photo tour slideshow.
In other exciting news, the Midtown Kroger on Union Avenue is set to reopen this Wednesday morning, November 2nd, 2016, at 6AM, with a ribbon cutting to follow later at 9AM. This follows many months of anticipation ever since its closure for demolition and rebuilding back in January. The new store is 54,000 square feet, nearly double the size of the old store that stood on the site. Employees and customers alike are ready for the new store, praising Kroger for their efforts after, in the words of employee Melina Payne, "
Albertsons promised it to them, they didn't get it. Schnucks promised them a new store, they didn't get it. But, oh, they are going to be amazed. They are just going to be blown away, the customers here in Midtown.''
The new store was designed to feature a huge glass wall to allow for viewing area landmarks such as the Idlewild Presbyterian Church (see top photo above); it also includes a local mural (
as announced previously) along the front end of the interior. While those things should appeal to nearly everybody, for us retail fans, there's even more to be seen in this store. The décor is an interesting mash-up of
2012/bountiful and a heretofore unseen look that, in my opinion, is very neat. You can check out the mash-up of décor in the following photos, some of which come from
The Commercial Appeal (captioned) but the majority of which (uncaptioned) are from
WMC Action News 5 (and specifically, if I understood a recent 10PM newscast correctly, from main anchor Joe Birch, which if true is pretty cool!).
Let me know what you think of the décor in the comments to this post! The
last two photos above show the store's manager, Courtland Perry, as well as its
exterior. The new Union Avenue Kroger is a great modernization from
its Seessel's days, and is
something not only Mr. Perry, but the entire Midtown community, can be proud
of.
Finally, the last bit of news I wanted to share with you guys isn't really
new anymore given that it was announced back in September, but I haven't
reported it on the blog yet, so I figured I might as well include it with this
post. The lone remaining Kmart in Memphis - formerly a Super Kmart, and
pictured above (
as well as featured on the blog earlier this year) - is finally giving up the ghost
and closing its doors for good this December, as part of yet another massive
Sears Holdings liquidation blitz that also includes the Jonesboro, AR, store,
marking Kmart's complete exit from the Mid-South market.
I hope to visit at least the closing Austin Peay Highway Kmart and the
rebuilt Union Avenue Kroger, if not the new Germantown Parkway IKEA as well,
sometime in the future, and will gladly post any and all photos I take either
here on the blog or on my flickr account (
which you can visit here) whenever I find the time. Any
photos YOU take of any of those stores, or the closing Jonesboro Kmart, I'll
also happily post to the blog: just send 'em in to
midsouthretailblog [at]
gmail [dot] com along with a message and/or text for your
contributor post, and I'll get to them ASAP.
Until next time... that's what's going on in Memphis retail-wise. Stay safe
if you're trick-or-treating this Halloween, and have fun exploring the retail
world wherever you are!
Retail Retell
There's a Kmart in Burlington, NC that's supposed to be closing this year as well. It was also a former Super Kmart like this one.
ReplyDeleteAfter it closes, there will be no Kmart stores between Raleigh and Clemmons NC, which is a nearly 2 hour stretch of I-40
Congratulations on scoring IKEA! I've never been in one as the closest store is in Charlotte.
I'm not exactly sure where the closest Kmart to the Mid-South will be after Memphis and Jonesboro close, but suffice it to say that it'll be a good distance away. A while back a bunch of flickr users made maps of the Kmart locations remaining in their states. If I had more time, I could definitely make one! It'd be simple for the Mid-South after all, and even simpler for my home state of Mississippi what with its lone two stores XD
DeleteThanks - I know Memphians are really proud of it! I've never been in one either, and despite (more like "because of"!) all the hype, I'm not planning on going to this one soon, either, at least not for picture taking. Once the crowds die down I may stop by. Same with the Union Avenue Kroger.
By the way - thanks again for tipping me off to the opening date and online photos of the Kroger in the first place!
DeleteThanks for assembling all those photos of the new Kroger! Gotta love all the windows in the service departments: a really classy touch. If that non-2012 décor is custom, I have to wonder if the designs were inspired by, or even copies of, some very early Kroger décor, or even Seessel's, as a nod to the first store that was built at the Union Ave. location, since it has a very retro look, and a bit too classy to be Ralph's fresh and local (haha!). I searched around a bit, but couldn't really find anything to prove my theory about it being of vintage origins.
ReplyDeleteWhile searching, I did find what I believe to be the likely source of those vintage-looking wood panels in the current Kroger Marketplace décor however (don't know if the link will work, but here it is anyway): http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI0/SUW5gQnz_SI/AAAAAAAACDQ/f-1pqbtIYbs/s1600/kroger+1965+dallas+bakery+pleasantfamilyshopping.jpg (courtesy of the Pleasant Family Shopping Blog Site). I'd really like to see the new Union Ave. store in person, but might wait until the crowds die down a bit! As far as the closing Memphis Kmart, you can have that one all to yourself :P I may be able to make it to that Jonesboro Kmart before it closes, but no promises there...
You're welcome! And I agree, windows in retail stores are awesome. Cool theory about the décor potentially honoring Seessel's décor, too! Like you said, that'd probably be really difficult to prove, but it's nice to think about :)
DeleteThat'd be pretty neat if 2012/bountiful was inspired by some of their older décor! I remember seeing you, kingskip1, and Bradley_Memphis discuss in some photo comments how 2012 had some superstore-esque colors to it when it first appeared around here. And yep, same here regarding the Union Kroger, and lol about the Kmart!
I am not used to seeing an Aldi modern looking with such open ceilings.... Most of the ones up here are much older and have lower ceilings.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been in the Southaven Aldi recently, but I bet it's a lot like the ones in your area that you're referring to. The newer ones sure look nice though!
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