Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer, Inc.

File:FredmeyerLOGO1.PNG
Company type	Grocery/Department store
Industry	Retail
Founded	1922 (Portland, Oregon)
Headquarters	Portland, Oregon
Key people	Micheal Ellis, president
Products	Food, clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys, lumber, garden supplies and housewares.
Parent	Kroger
Website	www.fredmeyer.com

An unrelated hypermarket chain is Meijer.

Fred Meyer, Inc is a company founded in 1922 in downtown Portland, Oregon by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of the retail supercenter or hypermarket format of store, and has locations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Prior to the company's merger with Kroger it traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FMY. Although the company is now a division of The Kroger Company, Fred Meyer and the western region of Kroger are still headquartered in Portland. Fred Meyer is sometimes known as “Freddy’s”, a nickname the company has used in its advertising.[1][2]

History

A typical Fred Meyer store

Packaged food aisles of Fred Meyer in Portland at Interstate and Lombard

In 1928, Mr. Meyer opened the first self-service drug store. In 1931, he opened his first suburban one-stop shopping center in the Hollywood District of Portland. Innovations included a grocery store alongside a drug store plus general merchandise, off street parking, gasoline station, and—eventually—apparel. In 1973, after several decades of growth in the Portland area, Fred Meyer purchased the Pacific Northwest-based Valu Mart chain of stores and converted them to Fred Meyer stores. In 1975, Fred Meyer opened their first stores in Alaska.

On September 21978, Mr. Meyer died at the age of 92. Mr. Meyer played a huge role in the day to day operation of his company until his death.

In 1982, the company was purchased by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in what was one of KKR's first major leveraged buyouts.

Acqusions

In 1985 Fred Meyer acquired Grand Central of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Grand Central stores in Utah and Idaho were converted to Fred Meyer stores, although most did not receive full supermarket departments until the mid 1990s. Also in the mid-1980s Fred Meyer acquired B & B headquarted in Kalispell, Montana.

In 1997, Fred Meyer Inc. acquired Smith's Food and Drug of Salt Lake City, though both companies maintained separate operations. In 1998, Fred Meyer acquired Ralphs Grocery Company of Los Angeles, California, and QFC of Seattle, Washington. Both acquisitions also maintained separate operations with Fred Meyer, Inc. as the holding company. In that fast string of mergers, Fred Meyer quickly became the nation's fifth largest food and drug store operator with leading market shares in most western markets.

Merge with Kroger

In May of 1999 Fred Meyer, Inc. merged with Kroger of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2000, the Arizona Fred Meyer stores, all of which were formerly Smitty's stores that Fred Meyer acquired in the Smith's merger, were rebranded as Fry's Marketplace. In 2004, Smith's Food and Drug assumed the operations of the Utah Fred Meyer stores, which were rebranded as Smith's Marketplace.

Locations

Fred Meyer currently operates 128 stores divided into seven merchandising zones as well as an online special order site for their postal prescription service, online photo ordering, online music/movie/video game sales through partner The Store 24/7, and an Alaska bush fullfillment center allowing those in remote areas of the state to shop Fred Meyer. Stores are identified by a store name which reflects the city or region of its locale, a five-digit (albeit, often only the last three are used) store number, and, except in the most recently opened stores, a two-letter initial code.

ZONE ONE: West Portland Store Name Initials Store Number Beaverton BT 00035 Burlingame BU 00040 Canby AX 00651 Clackamas CK 00063 Cornelius CN 00060 Hillsboro HL 00143 Johnson Creek JC 00153 Newberg NG 00220 North Coast NC 00218 Oak Grove OG 00240 Oregon City OR 00242 Raleigh Hills RH 00285 Scappoose SP 00462 Stadium ST 00360 Sunset 00661 Tigard TI 00375 Tillamook TK 00377 Tualatin TU 00393 Walker Road WR 00482 Total Zone 1: 19 stores

ZONE FOUR: North Puget Sound Store Name Initials Store Number Aurora AU 00013 Ballard UN 00608 Bellevue BE 00023 Bellingham BH 00025 Bothell MH 00457 Burien BN 00028 Burlington BG 00024 Everett ET 00095 Greenwood GD 00122 Issaquah PM 00658 Kitsap KS 00171 Lake City LK 00179 Lynnwood LN 00180 Marysville MV 00209 Mill Creek ML 00458 Monroe MR 00210 North Bellingham 00667 Port Orchard GX 00655 Redmond, WA 00664 Totem Lake TT 00391 Total Zone 2: 20 stores

ZONE TWO: SW Washington/East Portland Store Name Initials Store Number Battle Ground CG 00614 Division DN 00075 Fisher’s Landing EV 00093 Fourth Plain FP 00115 Gateway GY 00128 Glisan GL 00125 Gresham GR 00127 Hawthorne HA 00135 Hazel Dell HD 00140 Hollywood West HY 00600 Interstate IL 00150 Longview LV 00185 Mill Plain MP 00208 Orchards OH 00236 Peninsula PN 00255 Salmon Creek MQ 00460 Sandy 00663 Southeast SE 00330 The Dalles TD 00372 Wood Village 00660 Total Zone 2: 20 stores

ZONE FIVE: South Puget Sound Store Name Initials Store Number Auburn AU 00013 Benson Plaza BP 00031 Bethel Station RK 00604 Bonney Lake BX 00041 Covington CQ 00053 Federal Way FE 00111 Gig Harbor QY 00601 James Center GE 00605 Kent KT 00172 Lacey LW 00186 Midway (Temp. Closed) MY 00217 Puyallup PW 00265 Renton RN 00459 Shelton RG 00603 South Hill WS 00424 Sumner 00665 Tacoma Pacific TP 00385 Tacoma Stevens TS 00390 Tumwater 00659 University Place AG 00615 Total Zone 5: 20 stores

ZONE THREE: Southern Oregon Store Name Initials Store Number Albany AB 00005 Bend BD 00021 Brookings BR 00030 Coos Bay CB 00050 Corvallis CV 00070 East Salem ES 00090 Florence MT 00464 Grants Pass GP 00126 Klamath Falls KF 00165 Medford ME 00195 Medford South MF 00196 Newport NT 00227 North Salem NS 00225 Redmond, OR AV 00650 Roseburg RF 00281 Santa Clara SC 00325 South Salem SS 00355 Springfield SD 00328 West Eugene WE 00417 Total Zone 3: 19 stores

ZONE SIX: Idaho/Eastern Washington Store Name Initials Store Number Boise-Franklin 00662 Coeur d’Alene CI 00049 East Bench CE 00613 East Wenatchee BZ 00654 Ellensburg CU 00652 Idaho Boise IB 00439 Idaho Falls II 00156 Idaho Glenwood IG 00449 Kennewick KE 00163 Meridian MI 00198 Nampa NI 00226 Pocatello PO 00260 Richland RI 00286 Spokane Francis SF 00332 Spokane Sullivan SQ 00351 Thor Street BA 00657 Twin Falls TN 00383 Wandermere ND 00214 Yakima YK 00486 Total Zone 6: 19 stores

ZONE SEVEN: Alaska Store Name Initials Store Number Anchorage AN 00011 Anchorage East AE 00018 Chugiak-Eagle River 00668 Dimond DA 00071 East Fairbanks 00224 Juneau JN 00158 Palmer 00671 Soldotna AS 00017 Southeast Anchorage JO 00656 Wasilla BK 00653 West Fairbanks WF 00485 Total Zone 7: 11 stores

Store design

Fred Meyer stores are well known for their huge floor space. To compete, other supermarket chains operating in Oregon (like Safeway) often build stores that are much larger than their standard store format.

A typical store is divided into four major departments:

• An apparel (ALE) and leisure division with full service shoe, women's and men's ready-to-wear, intimates, cosmetics and accessories, and teens department called Elements.
• A grocery (FOD) which includes a Nutrition Center as well as full-service meat, seafood, deli, produce, and bakery areas.
• A home division (HOM) featuring toy, stationary, sports and auto, home improvement, garden, furniture, and bed & bath areas and a special area for seasonal merchandise.
• Additionally, all Fred Meyer stores possess a central checkout (abbreviated CCK), or Operations department which is responsible for a large amount of the checkstands; the front end of the store; the customer information center where services such as Western Union, game licenses, bus passes, tobacco sales, and merchandise returns are offered; and the parking lot. Included in the Operations department is Playland, a child-care center for shoppers.

Smaller departments support the major ones. Home electronics (PEM) departments offers a high tech selection including computers, televisions, etc. as well as a photo station and a music market for CDs, movies, and video games. Some home electronics departments also feature a full service cellular phone sales kiosk. Most stores also include a version of Kroger's mall jewelery chain, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and a pharmacy.

In a some stores' parking lots an FM Fuel Center is added.

Each department is run by a manager, an assistant manager, and oftentimes a third or a fourth manager, depending upon the size of the department. In addition to the management staff, persons-in-charge (PIC) have responsibility in a given department. The store is managed by a store director and one or two assistant directors.

Most Fred Meyer stores lease peripheral retail space to other businesses. For example, an average store in Oregon and Washington would have a Hollywood Video store and a Washington Mutual Bank branch, and a locksmith in the store's parking lot. Many stores also house a Starbucks Coffee outlet, some of which are operated by Fred Meyer under contract.

Alternate store formats

Not all Fred Meyer stores conform to the conventional hypermarket format that the majority of stores do. While still department-style stores, Fred Meyer has two additional formats for stores too small to fit the vast space requirements or those in more eclectic neighborhoods.

Fred Meyer Marketplace

File:Fredmey.gif

Fred Meyer Marketplace is a comparatively compact Fred Meyer, centered on a full service grocery section, with many of the other departments missing or considerably smaller than a full size Fred Meyer store. These are usually older locations in more central locations in Portland, with limited, often unique parking arrangements (like the Burlingame location's multistory parking garage, or the rooftop parking at the Hawthorne location). Most Marketplace stores in the Seattle area were once standard supermarkets that have been acquired from other grocers.

Some marketplace locations are early examples of Fred Meyer in its typical mall format, being the anchor store in a small Fred Meyer shopping center. Locations from this early era are typified by having the lawn and garden department in a different building immediately across the street or parking lot.

Fred Meyer Northwest Best

Fred Meyer Northwest Best is the company's "new concept" store in upscale Northwest Portland near PGE Park. It was converted from the Fred Meyer Stadium Marketplace in 2004 to compete against newly arrived retailers such as the Pearl District Whole Foods Market and Northwest Portland Trader Joe's. Fred Meyer also has Northwest Best stores in Gig Harbor, Washington and Redmond, Washington.

Private label brands

Fred Meyer employs Kroger's manufacturing by adding its own private label brands alongside national brand products. Aside from products labeled Kroger or Fred Meyer, one might also find the following brands at a Fred Meyer store: Kivu, Everyday Living (and the more upscale eL²), F°M°V ("For Maximum Value"), Moto Tech, Private Selection, HD Designs, Splash Spa, and Naturally Preferred. Former brands associated with Fred Meyer were My-T-Fine, Presidents Choice, F. G. Meyer First Choice, Personal Choice, and Perfect Choice.

See also

• Fred Meyer Jewelers
• The Kroger Co.

External link

• Fred Meyer Stores