Jump to content

CONSTRUCTION THREAD: Verdae


g-man430

Recommended Posts

^^^Let's just say it's not the easiest thing in the world to take a picture of something when driving 30 mph on a very curvy road. :ph34r:

Hmmmm, hey G-man- You want to start letting us know when and where you'll be takin' pictures ahead of time so we can avoid the area? :silly:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

One of the Bonnaventure buildings at Verdae (Not Greenville First's) now has signage on it at the top. I want to say it said Verdae something, but I could not tell from Laurens with traffic. Nice to see the buildings look like they have tenants from the outside. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

they have changed the logo to a green, scrpty "Super" and changed the dash to a leaf...i assume the building sign is being changed to reflect this since it is a new store, i do know the road signs will be changed this week.

A green scripty "Super?" Why not just use a big red target instead of a leaf? :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ That's quick. :thumbsup: Didn't look that far along this past weekend.

Nice to see they have relandscaped the whole shopping center, and while they didn't repave, they did spray a new black top coating and re-line the parking spots. Looks like a new center.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Verdae Super BI-LO is opening this Wednesday. :thumbsup:

Checked it out last night. Very nice store. Very large, modern, clean. Overall though, I still prefer Bloom. Didn't seem like Bi-Lo went far enough with technology and also didn't seem like they had added that many unique items or brands. Just felt like more of everything. A much bigger, nicer grocery store, but still a mid market grocery store. IMO, Bloom still blows them out of the water.

Bi-Lo has some intense competition here with Publix, Ingles, Bloom and then the high end specialty grocers, Whole Foods, Earth Fare, Fresh Market. Bi-Lo needs to step it up. Nothing really "wowed" me. It still felt better than an Ingles, on par with a Publix, and less than a Bloom or one of the specialty grocers. Pretty much the same opinion I've always had of Bi-Lo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Checked it out last night. Very nice store. Very large, modern, clean. Overall though, I still prefer Bloom. Didn't seem like Bi-Lo went far enough with technology and also didn't seem like they had added that many unique items or brands. Just felt like more of everything. A much bigger, nicer grocery store, but still a mid market grocery store. IMO, Bloom still blows them out of the water.

Bi-Lo has some intense competition here with Publix, Ingles, Bloom and then the high end specialty grocers, Whole Foods, Earth Fare, Fresh Market. Bi-Lo needs to step it up. Nothing really "wowed" me. It still felt better than an Ingles, on par with a Publix, and less than a Bloom or one of the specialty grocers. Pretty much the same opinion I've always had of Bi-Lo.

We hope to check it out this weekend. For us, its all about the produce and meat departments and we can forgoe the wow factor as long as we can fit our cart down the aisle and get home with fresh quality food at competitive prices. Was Walter there? :yahoo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went into office depot tuesday and bought some more drafting tools. The parking lot was full so they must have been doing something even though the store had not opened yet.

I can speak from first-hand experience in participating in many "Grand Openings" of Supermarkets of this size. I'm not sure when the exact grand opening date will be, but there's usually a gala event where employees from many stores are invited to tour the store first-hand ... not to mention all of the training that goes on before the store opens. You'd be surprised at how many people can be involved in staffing a supermarket as large as this at grand-opening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...You'd be surprised at how many people can be involved in staffing a supermarket as large as this at grand-opening.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised, since I have been to several of the recent BI-LO supermarkets (among others) prior to and during Grand Opening. This was during the Ahold days though. There are more people involved in the preparation than you will typically ever see on a single visit to the store.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK...first, I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm a supermarket snob. In my early 20's, while in college, I worked as a manager for a chain of grocery stores in Orlando that at one time was far superior to even our nearest competitor (Publix). If you combine Whole Foods with Publx with Fresh Market, you'd come somewhat close to what Gooding's was when I worked there. Unfortunately, aside from a faltering catering business and three very over-priced stores located in tourst-centric areas (I-Drive, Lake Buena Vista, and Downtown Celebration), there's very little left of what was once a very nice chain of top-of-the-line, full-service supermarkets with gourmet perishable departments.

So...that being said, I went into Super Bi-Lo at Verdae this evening. I was underwhelmed. I saw nothing super about it. The very bright store and harsh lighting reminded me of Albertson's. The layout reminded me of Albertson's married with Winn Dixie. The "to go" section reminded me of what Bloom is doing. I didn't see much that was original or outstanding at all. There were televisions scattered throughout the store that were very loud and annoying...all touting how great Super Bi-Lo is....heck, I'm in the store, you don't need to sell me on the store...spend your time on something more useful to the consumer...definitely not what I want to see/hear while shopping...it was a page out of Wal-Mart's book. My daughter at least got a kick out of the ceiling over the produce department being painted to look like the sky....oh, that and the small freezer on the pet isle with the Frosty Paws. :rolleyes: I suppose that made it worth the trip.

Edited by RestedTraveler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a novel idea; everyday low prices! I rarely buy anything at Bi-Lo that isn't "Buy One, Get One Free". I buy most of my groceries at Target. I really don't care if the store cost eleventy million dollars to renovate. All I need is food. :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a novel idea; everyday low prices! I rarely buy anything at Bi-Lo that isn't "Buy One, Get One Free". I buy most of my groceries at Target. I really don't care if the store cost eleventy million dollars to renovate. All I need is food. :blink:

What interests me, is the last time I noticed, the Target's that are in Greenville aren't labeled under the Target Greatland branding, which they are up here (Woburn, Danvers, Salem) and they sell limited amounts of groceries as does the one on Woodruff Rd. I wonder if there was a reason behind that. As for that whole super BiLo thing, from what RT described, its a Market Basket on steroids, which honestly just turns me off completely. Off topic here, but is the Eight O' Clock Superette still open on Cleveland St? That was by far my favorite grocer in Greenville.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off topic here, but is the Eight O' Clock Superette still open on Cleveland St? That was by far my favorite grocer in Greenville.

Absolutely, they're still there.

I have yet to experience the Super Bilo for myself. I think they'll do quite well given the location and lack of immediate competition, not to mention the imminent growth of the area. I hope our hometown grocer does well, but it sounds like they may need to step up their game. :dontknow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.