None of the nine or 10 new stores opening this year will be in malls, its president says
Fred Meyer Jewelers is focusing its new store openings on shopping centers owned by parent company Kroger rather than malls, president Peter Engel tells JCK.
All the nine or 10 stores it is opening this year are in shopping centers, Engel says.
“Right now we have a stronger emphasis on the grocery marketplace,” he explains. “Part of that is what’s going on. There are less malls being built and less centers that are A-plus or A-rated centers. So there are fewer malls that we want to go in.
“There are just more opportunities with [shopping centers]. Kroger is building them all over the country, and there is a tremendous amount of synergy for us.”
Still, he stresses that Fred Meyer Jewelers is “not moving out of the mall.”
“We are maintaining stores in malls,” he says. “If the right opportunity comes up in a new mall, then we would take a look at it. It’s just that the mall opportunities aren’t the same as what they were.”
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
