Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Moderator: Groceteria

Post Reply
StoreLiker2006
Veteran
Posts: 209
Joined: 20 Nov 2006 18:59
Location: Oak Grove, Oregon
Contact:

Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Hi,

Does anyone here remember all the old Fred Meyer stores whose Home Improvement and/or Garden Centers were in separate buildings? I am one of those people.

Of course, the placement of the main store and the HI&(or)GC would prove not to sit well with everybody.

A list of locations with HI&(or)GCs in separate buildings:
1. Southeast '66 - 5253 SE 82nd Ave. in Portland
HI&GC was at 5035 SE 82nd Ave. from 1979-?

2. Interstate - 7433 N Interstate Ave. in Portland
HI&GC was at 7404 N Interstate Ave. from 1965-2003

3. Gateway - 1111 NE 102nd Ave. in Portland
HIC was at 10000 NE Halsey St. from 1954-1989

4. Rockwood - 18535 SE Stark St. in Portland
GC was at 18330 SE Stark St. from 1957-?

5. Division (at 122nd) - 12100 SE Division St. in Portland (no HI&GC)
Nearest HI&GC was at 700 SE 122nd Ave. from 1973-1989; this building became unnecessary after the main store moved to SE Division & 148th in 1985, which had a self-contained HI&GC.

6. Raleigh Hills - 7700 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy. in Portland
Not all HI&GC goods were available initially; from 1975-1979 customers could drive to 4840 SW Western Ave.

7. Tigard - 11565 SW Pacific Hwy. (at 71st) in Tigard
HI&GC was in a separate building located in the 11400 block of SW Pacific Hwy. from 1967-2001.

8. Fourth Plain - 2201 Grand Blvd. in Vancouver, Washington
HI&GC was in a separate building at 2018 Grand Blvd. from 1968-1995.

9. Longview - 3184 Ocean Beach Hwy. in Longview, Washington
HI&GC originally part of main store from 1973-1989, moved to ex-Safeway building from 1989-2000, then put back into main store.

10. Clackamas - 16301 SE 82nd Dr. in Clackamas
HI&GC was in a separate building at 16440 SE 82nd Dr. from 1979-2000.

~Ben
Last edited by StoreLiker2006 on 14 Oct 2010 19:57, edited 1 time in total.
Super S
Veteran
Posts: 463
Joined: 07 Jan 2006 00:40

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by Super S »

To add to your list:
3184 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview, WA
Store opened in mid-70s. Major remodel in either 1989 or 1990 moved the Sporting goods, Automotive, Home Improvement, and Garden Center to a seperate building, immediately in front of the store, which, ironically, was an old Marina Safeway. In my opinion it was a big mistake to not put doors on the sides facing toward the existing store.

Major remodel in 2003, store expanded on east end, everything combined back into one building. Former Home & Garden building demolished and a Fred Meyer gas station was constructed on that site.

Fred Meyer once had "true" home improvement departments which had lumber, water heaters, bath fixtures, and many other related items. I think they decided to scale back around the time Home Depot first entered the Portland market.
User avatar
Brian Lutz
Veteran
Posts: 227
Joined: 08 Jul 2008 00:19
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by Brian Lutz »

As recently as the early part of last decade I can recall the Issaquah Fred Meyer store having a lumber department and an expanded hardware department compared to the usual Fred Meyer stores for at least the first couple of years in business (and this was one that was right next door to a Home Depot too.) Eventually the lumber went away thoughm since it probably didn't make much sense. There are actually several instances here of Home Depot and Fred Meyer stores being built simultaneously next door to each other (such as the ones in Issaquah and Redmond) which leads me to believe there was some sort of cooperation going on between the two companies. Does anyone know anything about this?
The Sledgehammer - Version 2.0 - Seattle Area Malls, Retail History, and other random things.
Super S
Veteran
Posts: 463
Joined: 07 Jan 2006 00:40

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by Super S »

Brian Lutz wrote:As recently as the early part of last decade I can recall the Issaquah Fred Meyer store having a lumber department and an expanded hardware department compared to the usual Fred Meyer stores for at least the first couple of years in business (and this was one that was right next door to a Home Depot too.) Eventually the lumber went away thoughm since it probably didn't make much sense. There are actually several instances here of Home Depot and Fred Meyer stores being built simultaneously next door to each other (such as the ones in Issaquah and Redmond) which leads me to believe there was some sort of cooperation going on between the two companies. Does anyone know anything about this?
The last "new" Fred Meyer stores I remember being built with a Home Improvement center (all in one building) were the ones in Vancouver at Orchards and Fishers Landing in the mid-90s. They had an "Information & Estimates" desk in that department. That department, as time went on, was scaled back considerably and when the stores received their first major remodel in the mid-2000s the lumber and the info desk went away.

It was several years after these stores were built when Home Depot built its first Vancouver store.

I do not know of any partnership between Fred Meyer and Home Depot, but there is one store, at Wood Village east of Portland, that has a Lowe's nearby. However, this was all built long after Fred Meyer scaled the Home Improvement departments back.
StoreLiker2006
Veteran
Posts: 209
Joined: 20 Nov 2006 18:59
Location: Oak Grove, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Super S wrote:To add to your list:
3184 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview, WA
Store opened in mid-70s. Major remodel in either 1989 or 1990 moved the Sporting goods, Automotive, Home Improvement, and Garden Center to a seperate building, immediately in front of the store, which, ironically, was an old Marina Safeway. In my opinion it was a big mistake to not put doors on the sides facing toward the existing store.

Major remodel in 2003, store expanded on east end, everything combined back into one building. Former Home & Garden building demolished and a Fred Meyer gas station was constructed on that site.

Fred Meyer once had "true" home improvement departments which had lumber, water heaters, bath fixtures, and many other related items. I think they decided to scale back around the time Home Depot first entered the Portland market.
Both the Longview and Fourth Plain stores were initially remodeled in 1981.

~Ben
Super S
Veteran
Posts: 463
Joined: 07 Jan 2006 00:40

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by Super S »

StoreLiker2006 wrote:
Super S wrote:To add to your list:
3184 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview, WA
Store opened in mid-70s. Major remodel in either 1989 or 1990 moved the Sporting goods, Automotive, Home Improvement, and Garden Center to a seperate building, immediately in front of the store, which, ironically, was an old Marina Safeway. In my opinion it was a big mistake to not put doors on the sides facing toward the existing store.

Major remodel in 2003, store expanded on east end, everything combined back into one building. Former Home & Garden building demolished and a Fred Meyer gas station was constructed on that site.

Fred Meyer once had "true" home improvement departments which had lumber, water heaters, bath fixtures, and many other related items. I think they decided to scale back around the time Home Depot first entered the Portland market.
Both the Longview and Fourth Plain stores were initially remodeled in 1981.

~Ben
I was not aware that the Longview store was remodeled in 1981. That was before I moved to this area. I was surprised, however, that this store retained mechanical cash registers until the remodel I mentioned, and when the seperate home improvement building first opened, it also used the mechanical registers for about the first month or two, until the rest of the remodel was finished and they installed new IBM registers with scanners throughout both buildings.
VibeGuy
Contributor
Posts: 41
Joined: 02 Feb 2007 03:30

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by VibeGuy »

The three Salem-area stores all had separate HI/GC to my memory, circa 1991.

2855 Broadway St NE / Keizer's was to the north edge of the parcel, where Dollar Tree is now.

3740 Market St NE / Lancaster, again, to my blurry memory, was also on the N side, but I can't recall if it's the NW or NE corner.

3450 Commercial St SE / South Salem was the most unusual. Not only were HI/GC separate, they were across Madrona Street. I believe HI/GC are what is now "Furniture Row" and the current Ace Hardware is the parcel, if not the building, that was the Fred Meyer Music Market (Home Electronics + CDs/TicketMaster/etc)
marshd1000
Veteran
Posts: 179
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 13:49
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by marshd1000 »

There was also a Fred Meyer in Seattle that had a separate HI&GC. It was the one on Lake City Way. This store was originally a Marketime Drug outlet. While I don't know that origin of the Marketime chain by the 60's they were like the older Fred Meyer store but without food. However the Lake City store HI&GC was opened many years after Fred Meyer acquired Marketime. In fact, the HI&GC was across a public street from the main store. I think it was in a existing building that was remodeled for that purpose...but I am not sure. But in the 1990's, Fred Meyer got the City of Seattle to relocate a street and Fred Meyer built a new two story store in Lake City.
StoreLiker2013
Contributor
Posts: 20
Joined: 06 Feb 2013 22:25
Location: Oak Grove, OR
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by StoreLiker2013 »

I dug up some more information on these stores through the help of The Historical Oregonian 1861-1987, and here's the best info I could come up with:

The Tigard Home Improvement and Garden Centers opened simultaneously in 1971 in a separate building; this location was deemed to be the first in the Portland area to do so (prior to this, they had just Garden Centers and the few Home Improvement goods they sold were in the Variety sections). They were moved into the main building in 2001.

The Fourth Plain Garden Center opened separately around 1972 inside the main building, but was moved to the separate building in 1974 where the new Home Improvement Center was as well.

The Southeast Garden Center opened separately around 1972 inside the main building, but moved to the separate building in 1979 where the new Home Improvement Center was as well; both were moved to the main building around 2005.

The Interstate Home Improvement and Garden Centers opened simultaneously in 1974, both in a separate building.

The Hazel Dell Home Improvement and Garden Centers opened simultaneously in 1978, both in a separate building.

The Rockwood Home Improvement and Garden Centers opened simultaneously in 1987, where G.I. Joe's used to stand.

Originally, the Clackamas Fred Meyer did house both the Home Improvement and Garden Centers in the main building when it first opened in 1979, but when work on the remodel began in late 1987, these departments were moved to a different building that was across the street and the area inside the main store where said departments once had been was used to expand the food section. These two departments were moved back to the main building with the 2000 remodel.

~Ben
StoreLiker2013
Contributor
Posts: 20
Joined: 06 Feb 2013 22:25
Location: Oak Grove, OR
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by StoreLiker2013 »

marshd1000 wrote:There was also a Fred Meyer in Seattle that had a separate HI&GC. It was the one on Lake City Way. This store was originally a Marketime Drug outlet. While I don't know that origin of the Marketime chain by the 60's they were like the older Fred Meyer store but without food. However the Lake City store HI&GC was opened many years after Fred Meyer acquired Marketime. In fact, the HI&GC was across a public street from the main store. I think it was in a existing building that was remodeled for that purpose...but I am not sure. But in the 1990's, Fred Meyer got the City of Seattle to relocate a street and Fred Meyer built a new two story store in Lake City.
Fred Meyer had a presence in the Lake City area as far back as 1946, the year the first store there was built. Then they moved to a different location in 1959 (might be the one you describe), and finally replaced that with the current location at 1300 Lake City Way NE in 1995.

~Ben
StoreLiker2013
Contributor
Posts: 20
Joined: 06 Feb 2013 22:25
Location: Oak Grove, OR
Contact:

Re: Old Fred Meyer Stores w/ Separate HI&GCs

Post by StoreLiker2013 »

VibeGuy wrote:The three Salem-area stores all had separate HI/GC to my memory, circa 1991.

2855 Broadway St NE / Keizer's was to the north edge of the parcel, where Dollar Tree is now.

3740 Market St NE / Lancaster, again, to my blurry memory, was also on the N side, but I can't recall if it's the NW or NE corner.

3450 Commercial St SE / South Salem was the most unusual. Not only were HI/GC separate, they were across Madrona Street. I believe HI/GC are what is now "Furniture Row" and the current Ace Hardware is the parcel, if not the building, that was the Fred Meyer Music Market (Home Electronics + CDs/TicketMaster/etc)
I'd hazard a guess that the East Salem store's original HI&GC was where the Mor Furniture is now (4040 Market St. NE).

~Ben
Post Reply