Wegmans | Malvern, PA

 

50 Foundry Way

Welcome to the Malvern Wegmans!

Malvern is home to the headquarters of Acme Markets, but, interestingly, they don't operate any stores in town. Wegmans, however, does, and we'll be seeing their store today. It opened on July 18, 2010 as a co-anchor to the new Uptown Worthington shopping center along with a Target. It's quite similar to Concordville, which we saw in January. They're both 140,000 square feet and have a very similar layout, but Malvern felt slightly larger to me. Let's head inside!

We immediately discover delicious as we see the produce department, located on the left side of the grand aisle.

The Buzz, the Wegmans coffee shop that I didn't get a picture of in Concordville, and old fashioned subs are to your right on the front wall. The market cafe follows through that archway.

The bakery is across from old fashioned subs as the grand aisle continues. I guess Wegmans doesn't play when it comes to fresh bread.

Sushi is on the right wall and other pre-packaged foods are in the middle of the grand aisle. Anyone on r/wegmans will know how hated Wegmans's pre-made pizza slices are.

The delicatessen neighbors the bakery, while the meat and seafood counters are across from it.

A look at the packaged meats as we head through this archway into the center store.

The cheese cave is behind produce.

This Wegmans had a flower section in this spot that we did not see in Concordville. The Acme in Paoli that we'll be touring next week also had a very large floral department. I guess the people of Malvern and Paoli love their horticulture (as a Village ShopRite would say).

The iconic dairy train was blowing off some steam above the dairy department.

Chips and salty snacks can be found in aisle 8b.

This store's beer department is in the next aisles over. Concordville had this section near the Market Cafe.

There's no such thing as getting dehydrated in the last aisle of the store.

A blurry look at the front end of the store.

Malvern's pharmacy department is much more accessible from the front of the store than Concordville's. And that concludes this tour!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018

Not much of a change in the last six years.

Nearby competition

1.8 miles away: GIANT of Frazer

Last week, we took a look around the Frazer GIANT just down the road, which retains the Clemens decor it's had for the past two decades.

3.3 miles away: Acme of Paoli

And next week, we're headed to Paoli to see their Acme. The company has been in Paoli since 1954, but this particular store opened on February 11, 1999, one day before its twin, the Folsom store.

And that's all for this tour! Like Concordville, I found that this was a nice store but difficult to get pictures of. Most Wegmans are very busy and the layout is not great for taking photos, but I would imagine nobody's designing stores with that in mind. I'll see you next week at the Paoli Acme, which has a layout very familiar to me! See you then! The Retail Connection: Every day you get our best.

GIANT | Frazer, PA

 

225 Lancaster Ave

Welcome to the Frazer GIANT!

The store we're seeing today has quite a lot of history, and some of it can be seen right inside! Fiore's Thriftway first opened here in 1980, lasting 20 years before selling their store to Clemens Markets, another family-owned chain, in May 2000. Their Frazer location was one of 13 to be acquired by GIANT and took on that name in 2006. After their New Britain store was remodeled last year, this is now the only remaining GIANT that retains the decor from Clemens, and a remodel is surely soon. Let's head inside!

This store has only one set of entrance doors and no vestibule, so specialty cheese and meal ideas confront us as we head inside, with the fresh delicatessen behind it as the island continues. I'm not very familiar with Clemens decor, but I would imagine this was installed in 2000 when Clemens moved in, or soon after. Obviously there's only a six year window for it to have been installed.

A purple bakery is across from the deli. A lot of GIANT stores have fresh pretzel braids from the Philly Pretzel Factory in the bakery, and I've made it a tradition to always get one when I stop at a GIANT, but sadly this store didn't have them. Maybe they'll add it in the remodel.

Mother Nature's Garden, sans that signage, is in the back right corner of the store.

Across from produce and behind the deli island are three aisles of health and beauty. The aisle markers in this store are from GIANT and newer than the rest of the decor, but even they are quite old and are probably from 2006.

Packaged meats are on the back wall, with the seafood and meat counter following it.

A look down aisle 7, with the normal aisle markers from GIANT's Fun House decor.

Frozen foods are in aisle 10. The flooring is definitely the worst part of this store. I'm not sure what's worse: the condition of it or the colors. And those cases definitely date back to Clemens... if not Thriftway. The category stickers on the freezer doors are very new.

Dairy is in the last aisle, and thankfully the milk isn't as old as those category markers are.

Verizon used to operate inside the store, but they have moved to their own store elsewhere in the shopping center. I don't know what GIANT plans on doing with this space, but they do have a permit for beer and wine sales taped to the window.

And the very dated front end as we head out of the store.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

Comparing this to my photo of the exterior in the beginning of the post, GIANT has definitely made improvements to the facade.

2015

Not looking as bad here. At least at this time it was still a GIANT and not a G ANT.

Nearby competition

1.8 miles away: Wegmans of Malvern

Next week, we'll be seeing the Malvern Wegmans, located just about two miles down Lancaster Avenue.

3.6 miles away: Acme of Paoli

The Paoli Acme is virtually identical to Folsom, which opened only one day after this store did. They've also always had the same decor, starting with Chalkboard Market, then moving on to PF&H 1.0, and now with Quality Built.

Thanks for taking this tour with me! I'm glad that I was able to take these photos before the store was remodeled, but it is definitely needed and I'm sure it will look much better with the new decor. Next week, we're headed to a nearby Wegmans. Have a great Memorial Day weekend! The Retail Connection: For today's table.

Jewel-Osco | Bolingbrook, IL

 

1200 W. Boughton Road

Welcome to the Bolingbrook Jewel-Osco!

In December, to much fanfare, McDonald's opened its very first CosMc's restaurant in Bolingbrook, Illinois in a major shopping area with other stores like Lowe's, Best Buy, Meijer, and, of course, Jewel-Osco. We'll be seeing that store today. It opened sometime between 1994 and 1996, likely on the earlier end of that time frame since the Marshalls in the center held its grand opening on October 13, 1994. While the store received a light update to the Jewel Heritage decor, it also retains parts of the PF&H 1.0 decor that preceded it. Without further adieu, let's see what's in store at the Bolingbrook Jewel-Osco!

We're entering on the right side to the grand aisle.

Produce and deli (or Chef's Kitchen, as it was known at Jewel for many years) are on the right wall, with the bake shop across from that on the other side of the grand aisle. The butcher block is in the back corner, behind where the second photo was taken.

International foods are in aisle 4, which is still branded as Shop the World and seems to have a sign that matches the new decor. I thought that name hadn't been used since SuperValu.

Moving onto the last aisle of the store. This store takes a page from Wegmans having paper products and the like in the final aisle. The pharmacy is in view at the end of the aisle (side note: this store has a drive-thru pharmacy).

Beer, wine & spirits are on the left side in the last few aisles. This picture is still completely fresh and healthy.

Here, we're looking from the pharmacy towards the front end.

Floral is freestanding just past the left entrance. Frozen foods are visible in the background of the second photo.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2022

I'm writing this post on February 28, and certainly hoping the weather is this nice when this goes up!

2015

If we could go inside, we would see all Premium Fresh & Healthy decor. The red apples in the windows signify that.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this tour of a Jewel-Osco! I certainly thought it seemed like a nice store. And thanks to our Illinois tour guide Calypso for bringing it to us. By the way, the CosMc's reference at the beginning obviously had nothing to do with this store itself, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway since it's a cool fact. Thank you for reading. See you next week! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.