T-Minus Five Weeks to Sprouts!

Today's post highlights Shelby County, TN, retail.

It's been several weeks now since our last check-in at the former S Perkins Seessel's/Schnucks/Kroger, so now's as good a time as any to take an updated look at how construction is progressing on what will become the Memphis area's third Sprouts Farmers Market! This post actually comprises photos taken on three separate trips by the store, on April 23rd, May 20th, and just last week, by l_dawg2000. Apologies for holding onto these so long, but hopefully they're still timely enough for you guys!

Beginning in chronological order with the April 23rd, 2017, photos, here we're taking a wide view of the storefront, where you can see the new entrance gable proudly rising above the rest of the building, as well as future windows/entrances being framed out.

A second storefront view, this one angled from the other direction, shows the parking lot remains fenced off, with plenty of those storage crates sitting in it. It's very likely interior work was proceeding simultaneously by this point. Now that the opening is nearer, work is likely focusing inside exclusively.

This right-side view, taken from across the tracks, shows Sprouts isn't altering too much over here: not that there was much to see over here anyway, haha! I actually kinda expected them to spruce up this view a little, but it appears it must not have been broken since they're not fixing it... 

Taking a look at the rear now from the same road as the last pic, it looks like Sprouts has constructed a new backroom area at the very back right corner of the store: either that, or simply demolished the existing one and rebuilt it identically, like they did with that wide gray column at the front right corner of the store.

Moving on to the May 20th photos now, with this one a near spot-on comparison shot to the one exactly three photos above. For a minute there I thought the old Seessel's roadside sign frame had been removed, but thankfully it's just hidden behind that tree :P

A closer look reveals Sprouts is adding their faux façade at this point. You can see that, in most areas, it will raise above the height of the rest of the building (matching the height of that gray column), giving the illusion of a taller space. It will also drastically reduce the amount of brick visible on the building, for better or for worse...

That faux façade continues around the front left corner, before suddenly dropping off back to the true building height, where a mural will be painted. The MSRB showed you this in a rendering courtesy of The Commercial Appeal in an earlier post covering this store's construction.

Two additional "coming soon" signs had joined the construction company's one by this visit. These are a bit more tailored to the company's promotional identity (that is to say, they're more advertisement-like). The right one, seen best here, reads, "Coming Soon!"...

...while the left one, seen from afar in this overview photo of the entire store, reads "Now Hiring" and includes a phone number (conveniently blocked by that telephone pole!) for potential employees to call.

Fast-forward to early June, and those two signs inexplicably disappear! However, the building has clearly gained more, with the new faux façade all but completely painted and looking ready to go. It's sorta hard to tell, however, just which windows/entrances will be real and which will be fake...

Another comparison shot to the other two mentioned earlier in this post shows, once again, the storefront as viewed from across the street (albeit in black and white, to avoid bad sun glare!). This time, those storage crates appear to have either moved elsewhere or been removed entirely, which is a testament to how ready this store must be for its rapidly approaching grand opening!

This view reveals those two relatively new "coming soon" signs are indeed still at the site after all, but have been turned over for some reason: you can see them on the right of the photo. (Perhaps the recent powerful storm is to blame for that; thankfully, the remaining few hundred without power - down from a total in the upper hundreds of thousands - are expected to get that restored today!)

Finally, l_dawg's final photo of the three batches featured today is a rather cool view, with the to-be-Sprouts framed by some trees in a parking lot across the intersection. I've gotta say, this store is shaping up to look pretty classy, especially with that all-glass gable up top! :)

In case you missed it, the Memphis Business Journal recently announced the opening date for this store: Wednesday, July 12th, 2017 at 7AM, meaning that this post officially marks the start of the five-week countdown (as the title implies). I'm eager to see how the final project turns out - as are a bunch of East Memphians, I'd imagine! l_dawg2000 may stop by again before the grand opening, and if he does, be sure to watch out for those photos to be posted here on the blog. I'm sure he plans to visit the store once it opens as well, but I won't blame him if he saves photos he takes at that time for his flickr account, haha! As for me, I'd like to see the store too, but can't guarantee I'll make it (or that I'd want to make it, for that matter, what with it being such a small store!) to the grand opening. But whenever I do find the time to go, I plan on posting whatever photos I'm able to get here on the blog.

Until then, that's what's going on with the former "Baby Kroger" in East Memphis. Stick around for more from this store in the future, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!

Retail Retell

Albertsons Stores in Mississippi (Complete List)

 

I mentioned in the previous post two special features that I found in my Mid-South Retail Blog inbox recently from my pal Albertsons Florida Blog. Well, today I'm happy to share with you the first of the pair!

You might remember an essay I posted last summer, "The Aftermath of Seessel's." If you follow me on flickr, you'll recall that concurrently, I uploaded an album of photos investigating Albertsons's presence in the state of Mississippi. (You can view either of those items by clicking on the attached links.) The Seessel's story has been well-documented over the years, but there seemed to be very little information available on Albertsons's other Mid-South endeavors. From what info I could find, I discovered that Albertsons had a minimal presence in Mississippi, entering the state in 1997, peaking at ten stores, and exiting not long after in 2002 (when they also left the entire Mid-South region).

Albertsons Florida Blog was very kind to surprise me with a detailed spreadsheet of the Albertsons stores in Mississippi, complete with store numbers and operating divisions (which I did not find in my original research). It is his and my hope that this table will serve as a valuable, accurate, and composite resource for anyone interested in Albertsons's history in Mississippi, whether they are former employees of the stores or just fans of retail. If you have any additional information, memories, or other comments regarding these stores that you'd like to share, please feel free to leave them in the designated area below this post!

And now, without further ado, here is the table! After much trial and error (in which I attempted to present the table both in HTML code form and as an embedded PDF), AFB has gratefully offered to go ahead and host the table over on his blog, with access reserved to readers of the MSRB via an exclusive link. So in other words, please click this link to access the table! I've also uploaded it as a screenshot, albeit with lower visibility, below; clicking on the photo (or right-clicking and selecting "view image," if you're on a mobile device) will allow you to enlarge it.

Albertsons Florida Blog is no stranger to compiling such tables; you can view his list of Albertsons stores in Florida (alongside other spreadsheets) here on his blog. The table above is almost entirely his work (as someone who has never been to the Mid-South, no less!), with only a few edits of my own added in, namely the current tenants and opening and closing dates. You can also find additional information (in paragraph form) individualized to each store at the links to my flickr account that AFB included in the notes column, which you can access individually at AFB's table page linked above (or, alternatively, you can access all ten of those photos via my album link earlier in this post).

I also thought it would be a good idea to direct you to images of how each of the ten stores look today, so clicking each of the links below will take you to a Google Street View capture of that location. Unfortunately, none of the Street Views extend back far enough to the respective stores' Albertsons days, but they're better than nothing!

Gulfport -- Hattiesburg -- South Jackson (Terry Road) -- Ridgeland -- North Jackson (Ridgewood Road) -- Brandon -- Southaven (Stateline Road; originally opened in 1975 as Safeway) -- Southaven (Goodman Road; originally opened in the early 1990s as Seessel's) -- Tupelo -- Horn Lake

Before the post is over, I'd like to sneak in this quick photo that I found in an old LoopNet listing...

...an aerial view of the old Hattiesburg location (top right area, with the white roof), what I believe to be the only picture in existence (on the internet, anyway) of an Albertsons store in operation in Mississippi! If you're viewing this table and have any photos of your own to share of operating Albertsons stores in Mississippi, whether of the exterior or interior, please feel free to send them to midsouthretailblog [at] gmail [dot] com along with any additional information about them (such as which store they are from, or even a complete post if you wish) as well as how you would like to be credited, and I will happily post them here on the blog.

A very big thank you is in order to Albertsons Florida Blog for this awesome reference table! I am proud to be able to host such a resource here on the Mid-South Retail Blog, and am even more excited to share with you sometime later this summer the second of the two surprises that AFB contributed for us. Be sure to check back soon for that post, and as always, have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!

Retail Retell

East Memphis Sprouts Construction Update (April 2017)

Today's post highlights Shelby County, TN, retail.

This month's post is going to be a quick one, everybody, so I apologize in advance for that. To tell you the truth, I had another post - equally short in length - planned out already, but my flickr friend l_dawg2000 sent in some more East Memphis Sprouts construction photos to the blog's email address (midsouthretailblog [at] gmail [dot] com), and those are obviously much more timely to put up! Also in my inbox recently, I found two very cool treats from fellow flickr pal (and blogger) Albertsons Florida Blog. I was hoping to share one of them with you guys today in addition to this post, but unfortunately time hasn't been in my favor, despite the fact that this is a holiday weekend. Those will still go up in the future, of course, just not this month, sadly. Anyway, getting on with the post...

Front corner, looking from across Poplar Ave.

l_dawg titled his photos this time around, so I've included those in the captions underneath each photo. Even though the titles pretty much give away what you're looking at in each pic, I'll still try to add some explanation of my own, haha! His photos for this post were all taken at the very start of the month, on April 1st, and the majority of them from the Walgreens parking lot across the street as well.

Stripped north corner and front

Here we're again looking at the store's front left corner, which obviously has been stripped down to its bare bones. We also see a wider view of the left-side wall, however, and that indicates that at least some of the old brick will be staying on the exterior - so at least the store wasn't completely dismantled and reconstructed by Sprouts!

North side - wide view

In this wide view, we can see the left- (or north-) side wall in its entirety, with that stretch of untouched brick. Glad Sprouts will be incorporating that bit, little as it is, into their design! Just behind the roadside sign frame, you can see Sprouts is doing something where this window once was. I can't quite tell what it is, though - aside from the fact that it won't be a window again, anyway.

South side and rear corner

l_dawg also circled around the building on this visit, hence this shot of the back of the store. Once again, you can see just how close those railroad tracks are to the store itself! And we can also see that it looks like Sprouts is doing minimal construction work back here, too, which is good I suppose, but I actually kind of think this area could use some sprucing up... it's a little bland, in my opinion.

Stop for Sprouts (coming soon)

Last up from l_dawg, a promised close-up of the "coming soon" sign at the corner of Poplar and S Perkins. I love how this turned out, what with the pedestrian crossing light, and how he titled the photo! There's no mystery now what will be taking over the former Kroger/Schnucks/Seessels...

Photo courtesy

Lastly, to wrap up this post, here are a couple more photos of the store under construction that I was able to dig up from around the internet. The one above was posted to Twitter on April 5th, and shows not only the same "coming soon" sign as we saw in the previous photo but also the building behind it - with one major difference! Apparently, Sprouts began constructing a gable over their future entrance to the store just after l_dawg's most recent visit (sounds like he's got my luck, haha!). That will change the look of the building dramatically compared to its previous incarnations, and is sure to draw the attention of potential customers driving down Poplar and S Perkins!

Photo courtesy

And finally, here's a better shot of the entire building with the gable prominently displayed. This is from an article posted just this week to the High Ground News website (you can visit the article by clicking the courtesy link in the above photo's caption). Some highlights from the article:

• "The new Memphis store will be Sprouts’ second on Poplar Avenue. The other is within The Shops of Forest Hill in Germantown, and the company also operates a store in Lakeland."
• "[I]f all goes well a projected completion date is expected in mid-June."
• "'We took the building back to just a shell, and we even cut out all of the interior concrete floor,' said Tyler Waldrip, project manager with Oklahoma City-based L5 Construction, the general contractor. 'The reason we removed all of the floor on the inside is because we are pouring it back with a special colored concrete to try to simulate a dirt floor since it’s a Farmer’s Market.'"

That first bullet point you probably already knew; the second one was news to me; and the third

is sad but not unexpected confirmation that all of the old Albertsons Industrial Circus décor has been completely removed from the store :(  Again, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, considering it was doubtful it would be spared this time around by a new retailer like it was with Schnucks and Kroger who simply slapped up their own signs on the exterior and called it a day. Plus, the majority of the actual décor/signage sold off during the auction after Kroger's closure (not to mention the bulk of the shelving and equipment inside, too!), so little more than the floor could've been reused even if Sprouts did want to do so. But it's nevertheless a little sad to hear it said. Luckily, the old décor lives on both in my store album on flickr and here on the blog, at my auction post!

It's very much likely that l_dawg2000 will stop by this store at least once more before opening, and should he get more construction photos and send them in, you can expect to see them here on the blog. And once the store does open, not only will he probably go to the store, but I'd like to also, and any interior photos will be posted here as well. Plus, beyond this store, there's lots more to look forward to here at the Mid-South Retail Blog over the summer, including a couple new feature posts I've gotten the photos for this month, and Albertsons Florida Blog's two surprises for the blog, which you definitely won't want to miss, I promise! All that said, thanks again to l_dawg for these photos; I hope you all have a great Easter holiday, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!

Retail Retell

Fred's, Hernando, MS

Today's post highlights DeSoto County, MS, retail.

Back in December, I shared the news that Fred's has entered a deal whereby they will come to operate (at least) 865 in-need-of-divesting Rite Aid stores should that chain's merger with Walgreens go through. Since Fred's is a Memphis-based company, I'm sure many of my readers who are actually from the Mid-South are at least familiar with their name, if not their stores, too. But for those who live out of the area, such as my friend styertowne over on flickr who asked me what a Fred's store is like, this post's for you!

The store we'll be touring in this post is the Fred's in Hernando, MS. I do want to point out before the post gets majorly underway that this store probably isn't indicative of your typical, more modern Fred's store. Fred's was founded just south of here in Coldwater, MS, in 1947, and it's quite obvious that this is one of their older stores. I wasn't able to find an exact opening date, but the earliest deed I could find online for this store was dated 1979/1980, and the next-door shopping center opened in the mid-1960s, so keep that in mind as we go along!

Stepping inside, though, we see that just because it's old doesn't mean that it can't be well-kept! This is the view from just inside the entrance, complete with an impulse-buy Christmas toy display in the foreground. (These pictures were taken on December 22nd, 2016, so that explains that!)

Looking over to the right from that same vantage point. Mostly seasonal here.

I hadn't been in this store for a few years prior to my visit last December to get these photos, but I always remember thinking that this was the coolest feature of the store! The grocery department here, on the right side of the store, is in an alcove of sorts a few feet above the rest of the salesfloor, accessible by that ramp. We'll explore it more in-depth later in the post...

...but first, let's head onward through the salesfloor. Here we're looking from the clothing department, also on the right side of the store, back toward the front.

Good to know, Fred!

Looking across the rear wall towards the back left corner of the store here. The department I'm standing in is home décor. More home items such as rugs and vacuums are along the wall itself.

Here's a shot of the pet supplies department, looking toward the same spot I was standing in to take the previous photo. Notice how the department is branded "super discount." That's the essence of what Fred's is: a discount chain, not unlike Dollar General or Family Dollar. (It's worth mentioning that a Family Dollar store in the next-door shopping center closed down a few years back, maybe from competition from this Fred's store.) Lately, however, they've been focusing more and more on their pharmacy operations, and certainly plan on keeping that up with the whole Rite Aid deal. But beyond the pharmacy, the rest of the affected Rite Aid stores' product offerings might be gearing a little more toward this sort of stuff if and when Fred's takes over.

Examples of some aisles and products in the store. On top is the electronics section, and on bottom, As Seen on TV. Fairly typical for what you'd expect from a discount store, and on the plus side, of better quality than you'd probably find in a true dollar store. The middle photo was just me validating my use of the word "logo'd" in the past here and on flickr XD

Looking across the center aisle of the store, from the left side to the right. You can see where the wall extends backwards, creating the grocery alcove.

And here's a similar look from left to right, except this time across the rear aisle of the store. The back wall is sorta hidden from view here by the display table with furniture on it on the left of the shot. This is the opposite angle of a picture featured a bit earlier in the post.

Here we have two looks down the left-side wall of the store, headed toward the front. This area is primarily home to health and beauty aids, especially as you get closer to the pharmacy, but also features greeting cards and other items, as you can see.

The pharmacy occupies the front left corner of the store, and is viewed here with the store's checkouts in the foreground. The pharmacy was the busiest part of the store at the time of my visit, so I wasn't able to get a closer photo of it.

This shot is pretty similar to the last one, except that it was taken from higher up, it seems: yep, you guessed it, we're in the raised-up grocery section now! Below is a similar look "from above" across the rest of the salesfloor.

I can't get over this view down the grocery ramp, haha! It's probably second nature to those who shop here regularly, but I've always found it quirky and unique. I have no clue why this section is like this, or what purpose it might have served originally. Rest assured that most other Fred's stores probably have smooth elevations across their salesfloors :P

A close-up of the grocery signage before we exit the store. The only other major sign I recall seeing in here was the home décor sign in the back right corner, although as I also showed you previously, the pharmacy and pet departments were clearly marked. Underneath the grocery sign here are some coolers; to my right from this vantage point are dry pantry goods, and to my left, cleaning supplies.

Headed back outside now, here's a look at the pharmacy drive-thru window. It's weird to see one of these on the front wall of the store like this! Almost certainly this was a later addition to the store. In the background is the rear lot of the next-door shopping center, home to a very old car wash that is somewhat visible here.

Last but not least, a close-up of the Fred's (Super Dollar) signage above the storefront. You can also see the separate entrance and exit doors here. Note the older logo on the stickers on said doors. I believe this store has had every iteration of Fred's logo there has been thus far!

Google Street View capture of the store with its old logo back in September 2007. Per Hernando building codes, the tall road sign was replaced with a low-rise (monument) one when the store was remodeled. Next door on the left is a Post Office, and on the right, a former Big Star grocery store-turned-Minor Bros. Hardware-turned-Complete Home Center.

I don't think I did the best job of showing the product mix here, but it's your typical stuff, such as groceries, clothing, home décor, pet supplies, health and beauty aids (all of which you did see: guess I did a better job than I thought, lol), toys, cleaning supplies, party supplies, baby items, office/school supplies, etc. - just general merchandise, plus the pharmacy. So that's more or less what you out-of-area folks can expect to find inside a Fred's store if one winds up opening near you, and for those of you who do live in the Mid-South, hope you enjoyed my tour around this neat old Fred's store, which should hopefully have been at least a little different than what you normally see when shopping Fred's!

Until next time, have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!

Retail Retell