The first clue that I was not at a regular King Soopers grocery store was the furniture display just inside the door.
Nestled next to the shopping carts, the King Soopers outlet at West 80th Avenue and Wads worth Boulevard in Arvada has staged a living room set complete with couch, love seat, coffee table, curio shelf and decorative accessories.
On Friday, worker bees were buzzing in the furniture, home decor, bedding, Christmas, kitchen, baby and Fred Meyer jewelry departments readying the place for today’s reveal.
The Arvada store — called King Soopers Marketplace — is the first of its kind in the metro area. Other Marketplaces have opened in Greeley and Fort Collins. An additional metro-area Marketplace concept also will open this year in Commerce City’s Reunion development.
Richard Zwisler, a district manager and 42-year King Soopers employee, reminisced Friday on what the Arvada location looked like when he was the store manager in 1986.
“I never thought I’d see this,” he said, surveying the furniture area. “It’s a really nice setup.”
It’s also a welcome sight to area residents who have dealt with the 18-month remodel while the store kept running.
“We kept it open during the remodel per Arvada’s request,” King Soopers spokeswoman Kelli McGannon said.
The remodel entailed expanding the store’s footprint from 73,320 to 120,000 square feet, and adding up to 75 employees.
So why, I asked McGannon, would a 65-year- old grocer venture into soft-goods merchandising previously dominated by retail giants Target and Walmart?
“Customers are looking for convenience and one-stop shopping,” she said. And King Soopers offers loyalty card points that translate into gas stations discounts not available at the other super-store chains.
“We want to offer all the things they love about King Soopers without going somewhere else for items like towels, pillows, baby products and furniture,” McGannon said.
Sweet and savory matrimony.
Sure, Denver’s Four Seasons Hotel and The Ritz-Carlton are huge rivals for the luxury-travel customer, but when it comes to matters of the heart, love is blind to competition.
While they may be kitchen competitors, Carly Brown, a pastry chef at the Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton executive chef Justin Fields will rise above their employers’ friendly rivalry when they marry Jan. 21 in Miami.
The culinary couple met and started dating while working together to open The Ritz. Brown switched to the Four Seasons when that hotel opened a year ago.
Post nuptials, Brown, who bakes cookies for a living, will become Mrs. Fields like the famous cookie queen.
Counting on ca-ching.
I wrote last week that FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield is the only metro-area shopping center where all of the tenants will open at midnight Nov. 24 along with big chain stores that are pushing Black Friday shopping earlier than ever this year.
FlatIron’s Midnight Madness will include door-buster deals, music, hourly prize drawings beginning at 3 a.m. and a pajama breakfast at 6 a.m.
FlatIron spokeswoman Heather Drake said the mall is taking a cue from a National Retail Federation 2010 Black Friday survey that said “the number of people who began their shopping at midnight tripled from 3.3 percent in 2009 to 9.5 percent in 2010.”
New eats.
Cima, a contemporary Latin restaurant by chef Richard Sandoval (Tamayo, Zengo, La Sandia), will open this month inside The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain.
EAVESDROPPING
Two women talking about Occupy Denver at Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble on the 16th Street Mall:
“So we elected the dog to talk to the mayor, but the mayor didn’t want to talk to the dog.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
