More About Bloom
As a FredNet reader recently posted, some of the area Food Lions were converted into Blooms. Here is some of what you can expect in these new grocery stores.
Bloom stores feature layouts that group products together in “families,” so customers don’t have to travel through other aisles to find the product they’re seeking. Each store will have about six information kiosks, where customers can search for products, select gourmet menus, learn information about wines and check product prices.
They also may print out grocery lists at the kiosks, after setting up a user name and password at www.shopbloom.com. Some stores will offer personal handheld scanners that customers may use to scan items as they move through the store.
The stores have U-shaped counters with two associates each, helping move customers through check-out much faster. In the front of every Bloom store will be a “Tabletop” section, where customers may pick up prepared meals from pizzas and sandwiches to salads and sushi. Shoppers also may head to the “guest services” area to rent and buy DVDs, make copies and pay their utility bills.
“Bloom offers a very novel unique shopping experience that is focused on customer convenience, quality, customer service and offering a wide variety of products,” Ms. Peterson said.
The stores will have wider organic, meat and seafood departments, she said.
Anyone been to the new Bloom stores in Frederick? Are they as nice as what is being reported above?
It sounds interesting. Man, I wish we could get wine in the grocery store in Maryland. That would make my day.
Are we getting a Bloom in our area? Maybe the more “upscale” FL like the one in New Market?
There is a Bloom on Rosemont Avenue but I haven’t been yet. Not sure where else there is a bloom.
The one on Crestwood has turned into a Bottom Dollar. Been once. Didn’t like the idea you must pack your own stuff and ontop of that if you don’t have bags to pack your food in….they are 15 cents a piece.
Does anyone know if you can still use your Food Lion discount card at either Bloom or Bottom Dollar?
Bloom did away with discount cards. Now, everyone just gets the sale price… No card needed. I wish more stores would do this. I hate having to carry 50 discount cards in my wallet!
I just went to Bottom Dollar and you do have to get one of their discount cards. They didn’t have any though (they were on order), so they just scanned the store card for me.
I’m not sure I’ll go back for any major purchases. The pickings are slim, especially in the produce, bakery and dairy departmants. I may go back for beverages, frozen and canned stuff on ocassion but I doubt I’ll go back regularly.
There is another Bloom store where the Food Lion used to be off of Route 194 going into Walkersville right next to Discovery. Just a little FYI for all of you!!
I’ve been to the Bloom off of Rosemont. It is pretty nice, but not *that* different. There is no card needed, which is nice. Whoever thought of that idea needs to be thrown in a sea of those annoying little cards. I hate them.
Frankly, I do all of my shopping at the Common Market or the Farmers Market. Buy Local, support Frederick Country.
http://www.EatLocalChallenge.com/Frederick
WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Yes. I LOVE the Common Market. They really made a huge leap w/ the new building. It’s so much bigger. It’s very nice though–a lot more room. I wish there was one on my side of town. (near Walkersville).
The Rosemont Avenue Bloom isn’t that much different from other stores, I get the feeling its a bit pricier but so far have no hard evidence from what I bought. I have to mention the staff is very friendly and committed, which is a nice change from stores like Weis…
Living out towards Yellow Springs, the Rosemont Food Lion has been our “last minute” supermarket for years. In other words, when we are missing an ingredient or running out of eggs, milk, bread, this is where we stop. So needless to say, we were pretty excited to see the store get an upscale facelift. While they have not yet added all of the services promised on the website (e.g., DVD rentals), the improvements are significant compared to the old Food Lion. In addition to phasing in some upscale brands (including higher quality store brands under the Bloom label), they have added a full service fish counter and a nice prepared (e.g., ready-to-eat) foods section. The produce section has also been expanded and stocked with more selections.
While customer service always had that “neighborhood” feel, overall it is greatly improved (e.g., better training), including an impressive policy of refunding double your purchase price on a fresh item that turns out to be, well, not so fresh (e.g., fish). While potentially subject to abuse, it does consider the inconvenience and other costs of buying a “bad” product from your local grocer.
While the square footage of Bloom will likely prevent it from becoming our primary supermarket, we are definitely more inclined to stop there when planning a meal!
We’ve been to Bloom several times since it opened and have been very pleased. Because of our work schedules we usually do our grocery shopping after midnight and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the shelves were fully stocked, and we didn’t have to trip over boxes to get to things (like other 24 hour stores I’ve been to). Also, the ready-made food was fully stocked and looked FRESH. Something that is a rare find if you visit a grocery store late at night. We bought a large chef salad to share and it was crisp and green all the way to the bottom. Prices are pretty good. Sale prices are better than my usual store (I did compare the sales flyers).
My only complaint is that the night shift staff seem a tad unfriendly, but that could be due to the fact that they’re sleepy. Overall, a really good experience for us. I’ll be shopping there again!
I really like Bloom but will have to see how the prices compare. The first time I went it was a bit more expensive but I am buying smarter and checking the sales and, all in all, have been very satisfied. I really like that you can see exactly what you are spending item-by-item on checkout and also the automated checkout aisle.
There is not going to be a Bloom in New Market. That FL will remain under the FL name.