Fred Meyer's Palmer opening nears

PALMER -- Grocery shoppers here will have a choice of stores beginning March 3 when Fred Meyer opens a supermarket just south of the post office.

Employees were busy assembling and stocking shelves last week as things began to take shape. Many retail areas appeared ready for business as of Thursday, including aisles devoted to pet care, health and beauty aids, and other specialty items in addition to food.

Fred Meyer spokesman Rob Boley said the store in Palmer will primarily be a supermarket, unlike the company's larger outlet in Wasilla that features large selections of home furnishing and clothing. However, the new store will also have an electronics department selling DVDs, boomboxes, televisions and providing one-hour photo processing. Also, there will be a limited supply of kitchen appliances such as crockpots, mixers and coffee makers.

The store will employ 106 part-time and full-time workers. Most of those are from the Mat-Su Valley, including some transfers from the Wasilla store, Boley said. More than 300 applicants survived initial screening to vie for the positions.

"We had a good pool to choose from," Boley said.

There is a pharmacy with drive-up window as well as service inside the store. A room just off the pharmacy will be used as a consultation area to provide customers with privacy when needed, Boley said.

While workers bustled around tending to chores on Thursday, nine regular checkout stands were ready for opening day. Nearby, five U-Scan checkout machines were covered by sheets of plastic.

Safety details were given last-minute attention, too. An electrician stood on a high-rise platform near the ceiling to install fire sprinkler equipment.

Down on floor level, store manager John Mayer talked about day-to-day operations.

"It's my responsibility to make sure we have what the customer comes in to buy," he said. "We make that a huge focus."

Mayer has risen quickly up the company ranks. He started his career with Fred Meyer as a courtesy clerk at the Kirkland, Wash., branch in 1995. Now he's running his own store.

Mayer was on the phone a lot last week, answering last-minute questions and making sure details were taken care of. He said the store's bakery and delicatessen will be among the last components to be up and running.

The week before opening, Mayer said, departments that produce food on-site will have their test runs.

"We'll have luncheons each day that week," Mayer said. "We'll be putting on some weight."

Boley noted that Fred Meyer began Alaska operations in 1975 with a store on Northern Lights Boulevard in Anchorage. However, that store didn't sell food. The company waited four more years to begin food sales, starting with its Juneau store.

Boley emphasized the Portland-based firm's history of innovative steps in retail merchandising.

"In the '30s we pioneered a really unusual thing called off-street parking," he said.

With the new store's opening, shoppers in Palmer will have a local alternative to Carrs-Safeway for food. Boley said Fred Meyer officials have sales goals in mind for the first year of operation, but he declined to discuss them.

Meanwhile, calls from the Frontiersman to Carrs' district office in Anchorage seeking information about possible marketing strategies to offset the new competition were not returned.