subject: Fred Meyer - red diode laser module 690nm Manufacturer - red diode laser module 635nm Manufacturer [print this page] Fred Meyer - red diode laser module 690nm Manufacturer - red diode laser module 635nm Manufacturer
History A Fred Meyer store of the 1990s Beginnings Fred G. Meyer, originally of New York City, opened his first public market at the corner of Fifth and Yamhill in downtown Portland in 1922. In 1928, Mr. Meyer opened the first self-service drug store.[citation needed] The first suburban one-stop shopping center opened in 1931 in the Hollywood District of Portland, a neighborhood he deliberately chose through a shrewd and prescient application of market research: he would pay customers' overtime parking tickets that they incurred while shopping at his downtown store, just to obtain their home addresses.[citation needed] The store's innovations included a grocery store alongside a drugstore plus home products, off-street parking, gas station, andventuallylothing. In the 1960s, Fred Meyer entered the Seattle market by acquiring Seattle-based Marketime Drugs. Fred Meyer also acquired a Spokane-based grocery wholesaler, The Roundup Company. Roundup owned no stores in Spokane but owned Kalispell, Montana based B&B stores in Northwest Montana and Consumer Warehouse Foods in Soap Lake, WA. In about 1968, the first full fledged Fred Meyer in the Seattle area opened in Lynnwood, Washington. It was also the largest Fred Meyer for about a decade.[citation needed] Valu-Mart acquisition, death of Fred Meyer Previous Fred Meyer logos In 1975, after several decades of growth in the Portland area, Fred Meyer purchased the Pacific Northwest-based Valu-Mart. Valu-Mart had been renamed Leslies about a year before. In 1975, Fred Meyer opened its first stores in Alaska as a result of acquiring Leslies/Valu-Mart, and changed the Leslies/Valu Mart stores to the Fred Meyer banner. As Fred Meyer became better known in the Seattle area, the Marketime Drug chain became known as Fred Meyer-Marketime. In 1977, Marketime was renamed Fred Meyer. In the mid 1980s, the Northwest Montana B&B stores also took on the Fred Meyer name. On September 2, 1978, Mr. Meyer died at the age of 92. Until his death, Mr. Meyer had continued to play an active role in the day-to-day operation of his company. In 1982, the company was purchased by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in what was one of KKR's first major leveraged buyouts. California Expansion and Retreat In the 1990's Fred Meyer expanded into California by opening a store in Chico. Plans had been made to expand into Sacramento with several sites having been acquired. Eventually the Chico location was closed and sold and the Sacramento sites sold. Acquisitions of Grand Central and Smith's Packaged food aisles of Fred Meyer in Portland at Interstate and Lombard 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. 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. 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. In 1997, Fred Meyer converted its Columbia Falls and Kalispell stores into Smith's Food & Drug Stores, and closed its Polson location. In 2001 the Kalispell store was demolished and replaced with a newer Smiths location adjacent to the older, obsolete store. The Columbia Falls store retained the Fred Meyer decor (with Smith's logos over the old Fred Meyer logos) but only contained a grocery department, with none of the other departments or product offerings. Merger with Kroger In May 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 re-branded as Fry's Marketplace. In 2004, Smith's Food and Drug assumed the operations of the Utah Fred Meyer stores, which were re-branded as Smith's Marketplace. Also, since the acquisition of the Fred Meyer Company, Kroger has been unifying standards across the company, adopting many of the Fred Meyer store standards, and implementing their own standards to the Fred Meyer stores. Kroger and Fred Meyer stores are slowly becoming more similar in management and merchandising. Additionally, one Fred Meyer in Seattle in the Capitol Hill district merged its operations with QFC which had a grocery store across the street from the Broadway Market. This particular Fred Meyer, probably the smallest one in the chain, had only drugs, general merchandise and no food or apparel. This store is now a QFC Marketplace, the only one of its kind but it is not signed as such. Locations The company currently operates 129 Fred Meyer stores. state number stores Alaska 11 Idaho 10 Oregon 50 Washington 58 Store design A Fred Meyer with a Starbucks location inside in Marysville, Washington Fred Meyer stores are well known for their huge floor space. Some stores cover as much as 240,000 square feet and are more than a quarter mile across corner to corner. To compete, other supermarket chains operating in the northwest (like Safeway) often build stores that are much larger than their standard store format. A typical store is divided into four major departments: Food Department (FOD): includes groceries as well as full-service meat, seafood (SFC), deli (MSD), produce (PRO), bakery (BYK), health & beauty care, and pet care areas. Most stores include a "Natural Choices" (NCR) area: natural and organic foods, supplements, bulk foods, beauty care, and home cleaning supplies. Most stores also include a coffee shop, such as Starbucks, Tully's, or Peet's near their food entry doors to offer more of a one-stop shop experience. Apparel Department (ALE): includes clothes for men, women and children, as well as shoes, accessories and cosmetics. Home department (HOM): features home decor, housewares, furniture, bed & bath, home improvement, garden and seasonal merchandise (like holiday decorations). This area also includes toys, home office/school supplies, sporting goods and automotive care. Fuel centers (SPG) are part of the HOM department and managers are required to drive and record, twice daily, the prices of fuel stations within a five-mile radius, report such prices to Fuel Center HQ and await specific instructions on raising or lowering prices based on logged information. Many locations have checkstands in the HOM department; these checkstands belong to a section known as HG2 (an abbreviation of "Home & Garden"), some locations provide a HOM U-Scan as well. Electronics department (PEM): features TVs, home entertainment systems and accessories; computers, software and accessories; video game systems, games and accessories; MP3 players and accessories; cameras, camcorders and accessories; videos and music. Additionally, Fred Meyer stores have a Customer Service Desk, where services such as Western Union, Fish & Game licenses, bus passes, tobacco sales, and merchandise returns/exchanges are offered. Many stores also include the following: a full-service pharmacy; expanded wine selections staffed by expert Wine Stewards; expanded cheese kiosks staffed by expert Cheese Stewards; Fred Meyer Fuel Stops; Fred Meyer Jewelers; U-Scan checkstands - a self-service checkout option for Customers); Playland, a free-of-charge one hour child-care center; and free Wi-Fi for Customers. Many Fred Meyer stores also lease retail space to other businesses, increasing the one-stop options for Customers. For example, a Fred Meyer location may include additional stores and services within the store or parking lot like a bank, video rental store, coffee shop and locksmith. In Alaska, all Fred Meyer locations contain Alaska USA Federal Credit Union branches, except the Palmer and Soldotna locations. Alaska locations also offer Fred Meyer Liquor stores. Department structure The store is managed by a store director (and one or two assistant directors if they are a management training store). Each department is run by a manager, an assistant manager, and often a third or a fourth manager, depending upon the size of the department. In addition to the management staff, persons-in-charge (PIC) are non-management supervisors who assume management duties and responsibilities for the duration of a shift, but are otherwise level with co-workers. In the major divisions (ALE, HOM, FOD) Sectionheads or Department managers are responsible for a given section of the department. Employees A single Fred Meyer store employs anywhere from 50 to 300 employees at any given time. During mid-day, usually you will find around 100 employees working at one time within an average Fred Meyer location. Employee benefits vary, depending on the position an individual holds, how many hours per month/week that employee works, and whether or not that store/department of a store belongs to a union. All employees receive Employee Rewards cards that double as Employee Discount cards. Discounts are from 0% to 20% depending on which department goods are purchased from. Additionally, employees receive a 10% discount on private label grocery department items. A typical Fred Meyer store is always hiring, depending on employees retiring, getting promoted, quitting, or being terminated. Many job opportunities also become available when a store becomes busier, because of nearby businesses or the addition of new departments or fuel stations. Additionally, there is seasonal hiring for temporary positions such as additional positions in garden centers in the spring time and additional help over the winter holidays. Recently, the Fred Meyer store chain switched to an online employment system, powered by Unicru, which can be found at fredmeyer.com. 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 of those in more eclectic neighborhoods. Fred Meyer Marketplace 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. 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, Country Oven, Everyday Living (and the more upscale eL), FMV ("For Maximum Value"), Moto Tech, Private Selection, HD Designs, Michael Morgan, Great Northwest, GNW, Curfew, Kidz Korner, Splash Spa, and Naturally Preferred. Former brands associated with Fred Meyer were My-Te-Fine, President's Choice, F. G. Meyer First Choice, Personal Choice, and Perfect Choice. Rewards program On May 4, 2004, Fred Meyer introduced Fred Meyer Rewards, a program that rewards (pays) customers for shopping in their stores. To participate, a customer completes a registration form and receives 3 purple cards (a credit card-sized card and two keytags). When the program was introduced, participating customers received one point for every $5 they spent in a single transaction (transactions with totals under $5 did not receive a point). If a customer earned 100 points (by spending at least $500) during a 13-week rewards cycle, they would receive about $5 in rebate vouchers. The rewards mailer also typically included percentage discount coupons on specific items. On April 29, 2007, the company revised the program somewhat, simultaneously with the launch of their Fred Meyer Rewards MasterCard. Effective on that date (which was the beginning of a 13-week cycle), customers receive a point for each dollar spent, but the value of each point decreased proportionally, and a customer must earn 500 points in a 13-week rewards cycle to receive a rebate voucher. Customers who use the MasterCard version of Rewards earn double points (2 points per dollar spent). Using Fred Meyer Rewards does not provide discounts in the store (and sale prices are not contingent upon using Rewards). Fred Meyer Rewards Card holders earning 100 or more points per month receive a 10 per gallon discount on all FM Fuel Center fuel purchases. Rewards MasterCard holders receive a 15 per gallon discount on a single, 20-gallon-or-less fill-up after earning 100 points. Each time a customer accumulates $100 in eligible purchases, they receive a 10 per gallon discount (up to 20 gallons discounted) on their next fuel purchase. Alaska stores allow for customers to redeem up to 1000 points in a single fillup, allowing 10 off for every 100 points accumulated. Rewards MasterCard holders receive 5 per gallon off more, for a maximum of $1.05 off per gallon. There is a limit of 35 gallons per fillup with the discount. See also Fred Meyer Jewelers The Kroger Co. References ^ Official site ^ "Fred Meyer Rolls Out New Rewards Card"; allbusiness.com; May 5, 2004 ^ Fred Meyer Rewards at fredmeyeralaska.com External links Media related to Fred Meyer at Wikimedia Commons Fred Meyer Stores Fred Meyer Alaska Bush WebStore Companies portal vde The Kroger Company Corporate Directors: David B. Dillon Robert D. Beyer John T. LaMacchia Edward M. Liddy Katherine D. Ortega Bobby S. Shackouls John L. Clendenin David B. Lewis Susan M. Phillips Reuben V. Anderson Don W. McGeorge W. Rodney McMullen Clyde R. Moore Steven R. Rogel James A. Runde Chains owned by: Baker's Cala Foods Dillons Food 4 Less, Foods Co. Fred Meyer Fred Meyer Jewelers Fry's Food and Drug Gerbes Hilander JayC King Soopers & City Market Kroger Food and Drug Loaf 'N Jug Owen's Market Pay Less Food Markets Quality Food Centers Ralphs Smith's Food and Drug Scott's Food & Pharmacy Net revenue: $76.00 billion USD ($1.249 billion USD FY 2008) Employees: 323,000 Stock Symbol: NYSE:KR Website: www.thekrogerco.com Categories: Companies based in Portland, Oregon | Kroger | Companies established in 1922 | Hypermarkets of the United States | Supermarkets of the United States | Private equity portfolio companiesHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from March 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from May 2009 | Articles lacking in-text citations from March 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations | Portal:Companies/Total http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/fred-meyer-red-diode-laser-module-690nm-manufacturer-red-diode-laser-module-635nm-manufacturer-4533760.html
