Robust non-food side of stores gives company edge in marketplace

Cope, manager of marketing and customer communications at Fred Meyer, started working for the company in high school. He continued doing so in his first year of college. The company offered him a good career path and he took it.

Cope attributes his staying power at the Portland, Oregon-based company, in part, to having had good mentors over the years.

“Most of them aren’t around anymore; I’ve been around for such a long time,” he said with a chuckle. “There were and are today some great mentors that are willing to show you the way.

“One of the biggest lessons that I follow would be – to be able to listen, be humble and really just capitalize [on opportunities].”

Learning how to manage people is key, according to Cope.

Despite opportunities to move within the company to other parts of the country, Cope has stayed primarily in the Pacific Northwest. The married father of three and grandfather of two – all of whom live in Oregon or Washington – cited family as a factor in that decision.

“I have had the opportunity to live in many new communities within Fred Meyer while opening new stores and operating in different districts, etc. I moved my family around quite a bit,” he said.

“In marketing we wear a lot of hats – from analyzing customer trends to producing signs for the stores,” he said. “We develop many projects with our team. A good example was a rewards card transition we did in 2019. We had to develop a campaign, have POS behind it and all of the other aspects to support the campaign.

“I work closely with our PR department to help get media developed. We don’t do the actual ads any longer. Those are done in Cincinnati for all of our divisions, but we do all of the proofing and the price adjusting, etc.”

Cope’s versatility and experience make him ideally suited for the marketing role.

“The interesting thing about retail is that if you stick around long enough [you can do] so many different things,” he said. “I’ve been in the operations part of our business. I have been a merchandiser, field specialist and store manager.”

When asked, he stated: “Out of all of the divisions in Kroger, we have a robust GM side, which is more of a department store.”

Cope has worked for years with Fred Meyer President Dennis Gibson, who has been a mentor and grew up in the same business of non-food.

Like many of his colleagues, Brad Cope had not planned on a career in the grocery industry. “Not at all,” he said.

Cope added that his older son works for Fred Meyer as the grocery manager of the store in Wenatchee, Washington.

“There’s very few presidents that we have had – even when we were not a Kroger division – that came from the non-food side of the business, that really understand that business intricately. And he definitely does,” Cope said.

Returning to his specific duties, Cope appreciates the

From page 44 variety.

“A typical week is hard to explain. I do have some routines, for sure. But on the other hand…marketing is a little bit different. What I plan to do today often is replaced with another priority, because there there’s so many different points that come into this job.”

1922•2022

In his spare time, Cope enjoys mountain climbing and playing music with his sons. He has even climbed Mount Ranier.

And no interview would be complete these days without asking the requisite question about how the company weathered the COVID-19 pandemic. In his marketing role, Cope cited the need to make signage, memos and help the stores navigate it.

“Marketing has been a joy to work in,” he said. “As stated before, it touches so many ends of our business. It has allowed me to be a large part of how our business faces our customers and associates”

1922•2022

From page 21

During the late 1950s, Portland dairy and bakery plants were established to bring fresh goods to the Northwest. By 1968, the company operated in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana.

Fred Meyer entered the Seattle market in the 1960s through the purchase of Marketime Drugs. In 1984, Fred Meyer purchased stores from Grand Central in Salt Lake City, as well as Smith’s in 1997.

Also in 1997, Fred Meyer bought Ralph’s of California and QFC of Seattle. That same year, Fortune Magazine ranked the company as one of the top 48 in the U.S.

Though independent since its beginnings, Fred Meyer was purchased by KKR in 1981 after the death of Mr. Meyer. The company merged with Kroger in October 1998.

Evolution, innovation

Fred Meyer opened its first nutrition center in 1971, offering only 100 percent natural foods and supplements.

Expanding on the one-stop shopping concept in 1973, Fred Meyer hired a professional jeweler to start two catalog showrooms. The rooms evolved into Fred Meyer Jewelers, which are located within most stores.

The company opened stores in Alaska during 1975 via the acquisition of ValueMart locations. Now with a store count of 11, Fred Meyer has established itself as one of the few food (and nonfood) retailers to deliver goods from the lower 48 in a timely manner.

Goods shipped to Alaska travel via barges and can be on the water for four days. As the company notes, it delivers fresh products to Alaska. This includes bananas that are ripe yet in perfect shape and crisp lettuce ready for a salad. It also points out that Alaska is farther from the company’s warehouse than Chicago.

In addition, Fred Meyer is the top Kroger division in sales, consistently ranking high for sales in grocery, produce, drug GM and pharmacy.

Mr. Meyer himself

On the company’s website, the late Fred G. Meyer is described first and foremost as “a retailer with a great idea – one-stop shopping.” But he was more than that. He was also a philosopher, semanticist and teacher The Wall Street Journal once described as “the last of the great American entrepreneurs.”

Meyer, originally Frederick Grubmeyer, came to Portland at age 22 in 1908. Drawing on his experience working for his family’s grocery business, he began selling coffee from a horse-drawn cart to workers at farms and lumber camps. As he watched and listened to them, he began planning a new type of store.

In 1922, he opened the first Fred Meyer at the corner of SW 5th and Yamhill in Portland. His vision was to give customers more reasons to shop in his store than any competitors. Prior to his store, customers went to separate shops for meat, produce, cheese and other goods.

Meyer placed these all under one roof and put an expert in charge of each area, setting the stage for the Fred Meyer stores known today. His ideas still resonate because the company’s service, selection, quality and prices continue to save people time and money.

With food, health and beauty care, clothes, home products and electronics under one roof, people can get more shopping done in one stop than at any other store.

Defining Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer is unique – its executives are quick to note that no other store is quite like it.

According to the company, its locations are not big box stores, hypermarkets or supercenters, nor are they warehouse stores, discounters or department stores. Instead, each is a collection of several specialty stores under one roof.

Fred Meyer is a:

• Great food store, with fresh produce, meat and seafood, deli, bakery, wine, cheese, health and beauty, cosmetics, pharmacy and Natural Choices.

• Complete apparel store for women, men, kids, juniors and young men, plus shoes and accessories.

• Store for any home – inside and out - featuring home décor, housewares, bed and bath, furniture, hardware and paint, garden and outdoor living, electronics, sports and auto and toys.

The stores are further differentiated from many competitors by their strong lineup of famous brands. These include: Apple, Ashley, Bose, Calphalon, Carhartt, Champion, Columbia Sportswear, Dickeys, Cuisinart, Hanes, Dyson, Jockey, Keurig, KitchenAid, Krups, Levi’s, New Balance, Samsung, Skechers, Sony and Carters.

1922•2022