Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

The stores are respectively in Desoto, Ft Worth, FlowerMound, and Coppell. If I'm seeing the map correctly, the only Albertsons stores left in the Dallas side are in Dallas proper.

The closing Tom Thumbs are relatively close to one another geographically. After they close, the majority of Tom Thumbs will be in Dallas proper, though there are still a few north of G Bush.

I happened to be in the one on South Carrier in GP recently and it is undergoing a major upgrade so that one must be doing well.

Walmart is considering a re-imagining of some of its stores, and the big parking lots that spread out in front of them, into 'town centers'. The concept may include various amenities, such as outdoor areas, spots for food trucks, workout/fitness, and "entertainment". There are 2 locations here that are part of the possible repurposing:
* Garland, I-30/Broadway-Belt Line
* Lewisville, Bus.TX 121/Round Grove

A link in the DMN article leads to a special Walmart website (https://www.walmartreimagined.com/) introducing the concept, but the DMN didn't say the site needs a password first.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... -two-texas

Reminds me of when Apple tried to start calling their stores "town squares". FFS, it's just an expansion of their leasable square footage dressed up to look more urban, which is fine, but people in Garland and Lewisville still want ample and convenient parking.

Lidl, a German grocery chain (similar to Aldi, a competitor, but has larger stores) that has spread from Europe to the U.S. east coast, has long been rumored to be buying lots in north TX for future stores. Now, the announcement of a new retail/restaurant center in north Fort Worth at N. Blue Mound/Basswood, includes word that the center's grocery anchor will be a Lidl store. No disclosure was given as to when the store would open.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/busi ... 52915.html
http://segoviaretailgroup.com/listings/ ... -worth-tx/
https://www.lidl.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl

Construction fence has gone up around the old Sam's Club on Shady Brook/Park Lane/Greenville Ave... Costco on the way.

Don’t get too excited - word on the street is the store will be a “Costco Business Center” which means no gas, booze, free samples, electronics, etc.

ArtVandelay wrote:Don’t get too excited - word on the street is the store will be a “Costco Business Center” which means no gas, booze, free samples, electronics, etc.

Lame. I thought this Costco would at least help reinvigorate this blighted area's attractiveness to new residential development, but it's going to be a glorified distribution warehouse for small businesses.

When are we getting an H-E-B? The answer’s complicated

H-E-B owns 24 sites in Fort Worth alone, but no word on when any of them might have something located in those spots besides weeds and dirt. A new location is opening soon in Hudson Oaks, and possibly one next year in Mansfield.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/busi ... 93945.html

The DMN and Wall Street Journal both are reporting that Amazon has plans to go ahead with more brick/mortar grocery store locations. "Dozens" was the figure given in the article. Sounds like it will be a combo of building new stores and the possibility of buying out existing chains that have a regional footprint. A few cities are mentioned as possible target markets; Dallas, though, wasn't listed specifically. Also no word on whether they will have a traditional grocery store arrangement with checkstands, or if any of them will be like the tested "Amazon Go" style where customers pick out what they want and just leave. The growth trajectory of Whole Foods wasn't mentioned specifically in the article, either. Stocks of several publicly-traded grocery companies were initially affected by the news, including Walmart, Target, and Kroger.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... ery-stores

Walmart is about to give up on its Red Bird location. Walmart is planning a “secret” abrupt store closure in April. Unfortunately, crime happens all too often in this area. Until crime goes down, I really don’t see how the Red Bird Mall redevelopment can be successful. There are numerous vacant storefronts surrounding Red Bird Mall. I guess the Walmart on Wheatland (across from Charlton Methodist) will be another.


I guess this story was a nail in the coffin for this location.

Body found in SUV in Red Bird Walmart's parking lot may have been there for weeks, police say

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/red-bir ... police-say

Speaking of Red Bird, I understand construction will begin on a much larger scale on Tuesday.

dallaz wrote:Walmart is about to give up on its Red Bird location. Walmart is planning a “secret” abrupt store closure in April. Unfortunately, crime happens all too often in this area. Until crime goes down, I really don’t see how the Red Bird Mall redevelopment can be successful. There are numerous vacant storefronts surrounding Red Bird Mall. I guess the Walmart on Wheatland (across from Charlton Methodist) will be another.


I guess this story was a nail in the coffin for this location.

Body found in SUV in Red Bird Walmart's parking lot may have been there for weeks, police say

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/red-bir ... police-say

It’s official. I was told that the store is closing due to a high level of shrink (theft from customers and associates). I was also told that the health department had to close the store’s deli because there was an infestation of roaches.

Walmart is closing a Dallas store that's become unprofitable

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... profitable

I realized today was the day that the Tom Thumb on Field north of Cedar Springs at the Union complex would be opening, so on the way home from work, I thought I'd go at least stick my head in the door. Wow, there were lots of folks there. There were 2 tables of employees signing people up for Reward cards, and giving away donuts and *very long*-stemmed roses. Many store/company execs were there, as well as the old Tom Thumb mascot with the pencil on his ear. Seemingly every 2nd or 3rd aisle there was a sample of something. Breads, cheeses, chips/guacamole, Prosecco, Community coffee, bottled water, and on and on. In the front area where the store processes ready-to-pick-up items, store employees were handing out reusable shopping bags full of natural/organic items (big freebie), and before I left that area, the same 2 people told me about a special coupon for 4 free items (a dozen eggs, a pack of bacon, a bag of shredded cheese, and a bottle of orange juice). Found all those and got those, and the checkstand lady told me about 2 more free goodies, a 2-liter Dr Pepper or Diet Dr Pepper and medium-size bags of chips. So I ended up with quite the haul for not spending any money.


It's not easy to tell from the street, but the store really is a full-size store--not like that little Turtle Creek location they have that used to be The Fresh Market. One thing for those wanting to use Wi-Fi or 4G phones...an exec told me, that they're having to have special IT people come out and work on/add to the signal capability there (I don't know if it was the whole complex or just the Tom Thumb)--several people had complained that they couldn't get a signal at all there. But, other than that hiccup, it is a very nice store.

Here's the layout:


The Field St. side is along the right of the map. Ashland is along the bottom. There were *many* meal-replacement type of items, prepackaged and ready for lunching or grabbing on the way home from work. The lady at the checkstand asked while I was checking out if I needed my parking validated. I told her no (since I'm in between cars right now) but it's nice to know that the front cashiers are trained to offer that. Sorry I didn't get more pix but it was busy and it's tough to be walking, wielding a phone, a cart, plus the connection/signal issues. But IMO, the store should do well. I did talk on the way out the door with an HR guy with TT and he said it should be sometime next year when the City Lights TT opens.

Also forgot: I checked the website, the store will be open daily, 6am-midnight. Groceries close to downtown till midnight. Amazing.

https://local.tomthumb.com/tx/dallas/2380-field-st.html

Nice report, thanks!

Wow 12 am. That's amazing

Great report, thanks for sharing!

I went to the The Union Tom Thumb today and also had a pleasant experience. The store has so many things you wouldn't find in a normal grocery around here. I must have spent double my usual grocery shopping time in here just browsing all the new stuff. If that was their goal, they succeeded. Take advantage of all the free samples during the opening!

Matt777 wrote:I went to the The Union Tom Thumb today and also had a pleasant experience. The store has so many things you wouldn't find in a normal grocery around here. I must have spent double my usual grocery shopping time in here just browsing all the new stuff. If that was their goal, they succeeded. Take advantage of all the free samples during the opening!

Agreed. A beautiful store, I think it will be a game changer for that area. Hopefully it does well.

I popped in to the store today and was very impressed. Unfortunately I was with a friend, so I didn't really get to geek out and truly explore the store. There were plenty of employees in the parking garage and the store itself, and everyone was extremely helpful and friendly.

Random, but I also noticed they had a 'fan shop' section which was selling a bunch of Cowboys merchandise. Perhaps it is because of the proximity to the AAC and they want to appear as an extension of the Victory Park area? If so, I'm all for that, as this part of town really needs some more cohesion.

I’ve been twice and it’s bumpin. I’m a Kroger man myself but the fact Tom Thumb has made a commitment to near-downtown may have won me over. I bet they brass is thinking why did we wait so long to do this!

Went Sunday afternoon and it surprised me how big it was as big as any suburban store and also very nice. Parking was a breeze and ease of shopping and checking out was great. Very busy lots of people buying their groceries. When they put up some more towers nearby this entire Union complex is going to become the heart of lower uptown.

DPatel304 wrote:Random, but I also noticed they had a 'fan shop' section which was selling a bunch of Cowboys merchandise. Perhaps it is because of the proximity to the AAC and they want to appear as an extension of the Victory Park area? If so, I'm all for that, as this part of town really needs some more cohesion.

The fan shop thing is pretty standard in Tom Thumbs, even out in the burbs. I haven't seen the one at The Union, but the ones by where I live (Richardson) are little alcoves within the store that have mostly Cowboys gear, but sometimes other Dallas pro team gear.

exelone31 wrote:The fan shop thing is pretty standard in Tom Thumbs, even out in the burbs. I haven't seen the one at The Union, but the ones by where I live (Richardson) are little alcoves within the store that have mostly Cowboys gear, but sometimes other Dallas pro team gear.

Ah ok, thanks for sharing. Yeah, I kinda figured if they were trying to create cohesiveness with the AAC, they would go for Mavs/Stars gear instead.

Doesn't really matter one way or another, just a minor observation while I was there.

Previously, Albertsons was the official grocery store of the Cowboys. Since the Albertsons-Safeway deal a while back, I guess TT has been included in Cowboys gear/merchandising.

Don’t you get a discount I’d you wear Cowboy logo on Sunday or something?

LongonBigD wrote:Don’t you get a discount I’d you wear Cowboy logo on Sunday or something?

The discount is on game days.

Redblock wrote:

LongonBigD wrote:Don’t you get a discount I’d you wear Cowboy logo on Sunday or something?

The discount is on game days.

Now THAT'S choice.

The DMN has an in-depth look at the Tom Thumb store at the Union complex. Apparently the chain was able to snag the former general manager of the ex-Albertsons in Uptown for the new store, so they have at least 1 person in-house that knows the neighborhood, traffic patterns, etc. The escalator that connects the store to the parking garage has a shopping cart escalator, similar to the setup at the Walmart/Sam's combo at NW Highway/Skillman. The article describes recent business at the store as "brisk". Most of the rest of the article goes into aspects of the store already brought up by myself and others here on the forum (the prepared/pre-packaged items, bar area, specialty services, size and selection of that store compared to others, etc.).

The DMN article also describes what makes up the Union complex. A rep from the Union's development firm was interviewed, and he says traffic so far is coming from all 3 surrounding areas--DTD, Uptown, and Victory.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... n-dwellers

Glad they've been successful so far. That development has been a magnet.

We've been to each of the Henry, Taco Lingo and the Tom Thumb a handful of times already. It's an easy walk from downtown at night up Akard.

What's the parking situation? I assume they have some kind of free parking for the store.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:What's the parking situation? I assume they have some kind of free parking for the store.

Underground parking is validated for the first 90 minutes.

The gates for the parking are reversible too so they can easily switch gears from mostly inbound traffic to ex-bound traffic to handle loading and unloading during events for example. The one thing I struggled with is a friend and I went to Taco Lingo and for the life of both of us, we could not find an elevator from level B2 to go straight up to the restaurant level. We saw elevators labeled for the office building and Tom Thumb so we went up inside Tom Thumb had to walk around the outside to get to Taco Lingo. Once we finished dinner we tried some double doors we thought may take us down to the parking but they were locked. Just seemed like they needed some signage tweaks.

Apparently the DMN is just now realizing what we've known since February, about the angle of the upcoming Costco off of Park Lane.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... -park-lane

Also, you can tell things are happening on the former Albertsons in the West Village. Orange flags marking utilities. Looks like they are getting closer and closer to moving forward with at least the tear down of the old store.

Dallas' upscale Royal Blue Grocery puts Oak Cliff on its shopping list

"Upscale boutique grocer Royal Blue Grocery has targeted another inner-city hipster neighborhood for its newest store: Oak Cliff.

The Austin-born supermarket chain has applied for a permit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for a store to open at 634 W. Davis St., in the space previously occupied by Bolsa Mercado, which closed in August 2017.

Royal Blue owner Zac Porter says it's still early in the process and that there are hurdles to be crossed with the city, but that he's always been a big fan of Oak Cliff."

http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/resta ... oak-cliff/

According to this Facebook post, the Costco business center store (the ex- Sam's near Park/Greenville) is due to open August 9. From the looks of the construction site lately, this would be quite a quick turnaround.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3929611 ... 2805412938

Costco's page:
https://www.costcobusinessdelivery.com/dallas.html

The Costco business center store opening has been delayed till September 5. They are blaming a June storm for the delay.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... ng-delayed

Any news/updates on the proposed Kroger on Hall Street? It feel like it's been at least a year or more since they announced the project would include apartments. I wonder if it's been abandoned since Tom Thumb beat them to market.

I have always thought it was too close to the CityPlace location to start with.

New grocery store market share numbers are in for 2019. Walmart is now up over 28%, Kroger is still 2nd with 15%. Walmart now has 151 stores in the metro, while Kroger has 101. The article also tries to convey that $$$ to build new stores may have gone instead towards aiming at the online and pickup shopper. If that is the case, it could possibly be why we haven't yet seen the Kroger off 75-Central/Hall, or the changing-of-mind for the Market Street store in Las Colinas.



https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... y-spending

Hmm, interesting to see Tom Thumb drop so much. Guess that's why they are opening two urban stores.

Ugh, have to admit to abandoning TT and Whole Foods for Costco and Cox Farms Market.

Yuck, Walmart is always a terrible shopping experience. It makes me wonder why they have such a big share. I guess some people shop by cost above all else. I hadn't been to Walmart in years, and made the mistake of shopping at the Uptown Walmart neighborhood market. I quickly realized why I don't like Walmart..... that store is janky and I'm pretty sure I witnessed some "deals" going on in the parking lot.

My wife uses the pickup option and Walmart and loves it. Having kids, the ability to shop for everything online then go pick it up quickly at the store (for free, without having to get out of the car) is a massive convenience.

Yeah, I agree I still price-aware but never Walmart again. I went to the Northwest Hwy/75 location thinking since it's near Northpark it would be a nicer experience but the store was still a mess with screaming children and lacking any selection worth visiting again. Product all over the floors and the usual Walmart blah. Reminds me just how separated I am from some parts of the mainstream I guess. My parents out in Garland shifted to a Sprouts location when one opened near the Walmart out there in Rowlett. My mom just prefers the produce quality of Sprouts. She still shops at Walmart when she has to but doesn't really use TT anymore and would never go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes if it was even close to her. Aldi is also no go.

Royal Blue Grocery coming to the old Bolsa Mercado space
Royal Blue Grocery is coming to West Davis. The grocer will open in the former Bolsa Mercado space on West Davis.

Confirmation came via Facebook post from Royal Blue manager Liz Lowe, who is hiring for the store.

https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2019/0 ... ado-space/

Apparently they believe this is coming to Oak Cliff based on a Facebook post that was looking to hire someone, however, that Facebook post has since been removed.

DPatel304 wrote:

Royal Blue Grocery coming to the old Bolsa Mercado space
Royal Blue Grocery is coming to West Davis. The grocer will open in the former Bolsa Mercado space on West Davis.

Confirmation came via Facebook post from Royal Blue manager Liz Lowe, who is hiring for the store.

https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2019/0 ... ado-space/

Apparently they believe this is coming to Oak Cliff based on a Facebook post that was looking to hire someone, however, that Facebook post has since been removed.

I thought I had seen this somewhere in the forum before as well. I wonder how well this format of store will do in the area, especially considering Bolsa Mercado was similar and did not make it a terribly long time.