I understood the delay in this project was the need to fix, replace, upgrade or do something with the roof, but in your picture it doesn't look like the roof has been touched.
I understood the delay in this project was the need to fix, replace, upgrade or do something with the roof, but in your picture it doesn't look like the roof has been touched.
From post 487...
Today, OKCTalk spoke to Brian Haaraoja, Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for Homeland who explained the renovation will still go forward as planned, but has been delayed due to previously unforeseen issues.
According to Haaraoja, once the building permit was issued and work was set to start, it was determined the entire roof and heating and air conditioning system would need to be replaced.
So, apparently the roof is ok.
Bottom line...it's good to see Homeland step up and fix this store!
If it matters, during one of the cold stretches a month or two back, I was in there and said something about how cold it was and the cashier said they didn't have heat at the moment, so maybe the work was getting done around that time....
This store needs more than just physical upgrades. Lets hope it translates into better products and service.
FYI Homeland now has delivery via Instacart (third party application that also does Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Sprouts, CVS...). It is zip code specific. After plugging in my zip, I scrolled through options and seems like a solid representation of what I know is carried at the 18th and Classen Homeland when using that zip. You can pay a delivery charge for each delivery, but you can also do an annual charge that gets you unlimited deliveries at no additional charge. During most times they represent that deliveries only take an hour. This seems like an excellent option for downtown dwellers. I'm going to sign up and see how well it works.
https://www.instacart.com/locations/oklahoma-city
Regarding this, they brought in a new manager in anticipation of the upgrade. He is currently reworking the product selection and trying to strike a balance in properly serving the customers in the area. Meaning they want to keep prices down as this is area is still home to many low income individuals. All of which I think is laudable. But they are also wanting to bring in a much better selection of products that they know are important to the many upscale customers in the area plus younger and more affluent customers who are moving into the area currently, which they know they have been missing. I think they are aware of their position as the defacto downtown supermarket, at least for now.
I've talked to him several times at length. He is VERY responsive to customer product requests. Every time I have asked him to bring something in, he has done so. Every time. If he didn't have the brand I requested he at least brought in a competing brand of the same type. I'd advise anyone who shops there to do the same. They are looking for these types of requests and customer feedback. As far as I'm concerned this qualifies as pretty excellent customer service, and I've never really had a complaint with the friendliness of availability of checkout staff.
Additional info regarding product selection: since the store has limited square footage the manager has told me that the strategy will be to move out a bunch of things that people now buy at places like Walgreens, Target, even Amazon, and replace with fresh food items, organics, upgraded produce, etc.. As an example he pointed out a huge portion of an aisle that was all feminine hygiene products. He said that numbers tell them they have way too much selection, and that if someone is looking for something very specific they will probably go to Walgreens or CVS anyway. So why bother carrying literally everything on the market? They will want to have a good solid selection so that there is never NOT an option, but stocking everything is a waste of floor space and inventory dollars. The same holds true for many health and beauty items, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc.. So the new strategy is to carry the basics there and truly expand the food options.
Actually comparing the pics from August and February do reflect a pretty dramatic change on the roof HVAC wise.
homeland-august17vsfeb18.jpg
^^^ This. It kind of feels like they’re stuck in the TG&Y way of business model. When I worked at large (large for the era) Homeland in the mid 90’s it was astonishing how much crap they had, an entire isle of pet food and supplies, toys, a full working pharmacy with full lines of health, beauty, and hygiene products, staitionary and office supplies, kitchen wares, there might have even been a little display of tools & hardware, and “the managers counter” where one could cash checks, pay utilities, wire money, buy money orders, long distance phone cards & beyond.
They need to be thinking more every mans Whole Foods or Sprouts, I don’t go to any of those places looking for razor blades or 50lb sacks of dog food.
Sides have been painted gray. Vestibule in front is gone. Inside there's some new shelving in the process of going in (didn't photograph), they moved the freezers to the west side of the store, and the tile is being pulled up. In some areas you can see that they are just polishing the bare concrete once the tile is up.
IMG_20180323_184017401.jpg
IMG_20180323_185857660_HDR.jpg
Stopped in this weekend. I'm happy to see they have started making progress, but the construction work has (understandably) shuffled a lot of the aisles around. There is no rhyme or reason to the order, the signage does not match that aisle's contents, and there was no attempt from signage or staff to point customers in the right direction. Wish they had used more customer service in their approach through this process.
Man this is one of those things where I just say “oh well” if that’s what it took to finally get this moving and finished relatively quickly. If the disorganization is so bad that I can’t shop there, I’ll just go down the street to Walmart, sprouts, or Whole Foods until it’s done.
The good news is they really want to get this over with as quickly as possible.
I was in tonight, yep, it's a mess, but people where dealing with it. I think we're just so glad it's happening, it makes it a little easier. It should look really nice when finished.
^^^^^^^^
The inside is currently cut down to maybe 2/3 of the regular footprint as they work on everything behind that new entrance (where the blue sheathing is), and the register lanes and front areas have yet to be touched, but it is ALREADY a better shopping experience despite the noise, dust and some disorder. You can clearly see the direction it is headed, both from a finish standpoint AND a product standpoint. Polished concrete floors, more upscale black gondolas and display racks, all new refrigeration units. The racks are actually set closer together, but I will bet that the type of cart used will be more of the smaller Whole Foods type variety so it won't really be a problem. It will definitely allow for more product selection.
As for product, it looks to me that the selection is already dramatically better thanks to weeding out a bunch of crap and non-essential non-grocery items. I think they also are stocking fewer of each item, so that instead of having multiple facings of one thing they might only have one or two, which allows for greater selection. Of course this also means they will have to stay more on top of stocking, so hopefully they are committed to this. Super anxious to see the finished product inside. I'm really encouraged.
I second that. Even with all the chaos and construction mess right now, it is already 100 times better even at 2/3s the size of a full store. It’s amazing what even a minimal transformation has already done to improve the store. This is going to be such a major improvement for core when finished.
I am so glad to hear good things about the upgrade. I hope it really does become a store that is shopped at my many.
Here are some more photos of the renovation at NW 18th & Classen.
The last one is of the far east end (behind that under-construction new facade) which will be where the biggest changes will be seen, including a new deli and produce section.
Just having that manky old deli out of there makes a big difference.
Not sure where to put this.
http://m.newsok.com/article/5593245
As usual, the Oklahoman's source is here. It's been discussed in This thread
There really making progress on this. One of the employees today said the renovation would be complete and the store fully operational by July 1.
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