Green Frog Market renovations mark company's 75th anniversary
| Thursday, Nov 05 2009 06:38 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Nov 05 2009 06:42 PM
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Felix Adamo / The Californian Scott Hair, owner of Green Frog Market, with the famous Green Frog sign at the Columbus store.
Felix Adamo / The Californian Scott Hair stands in front of Green Frog Market's legendary meat counter. This one is at the Columbus store.
Felix Adamo / The Californian The new asphalt parking lot gets packed down at the Green Frog market.
Felix Adamo / The Californian Plastic seperates the remodel activity from the grocery area at the Green Frog Market which remains open during construction.
Felix Adamo / The Californian Once you navigate a small maze of plastic walls, you'll find that Alta Vista Drugs is still open for business during the Green Frog Market remodel. Pharmacy clerk Christie Ruiz stands ready to serve.
Locally owned Green Frog Market has begun a $1 million renovation of its Bernard Street store in east Bakersfield, and plans to put another $2 million into upgrading its Columbus Street store in the northeast next year.
The timing coincides with the home-grown company's 75th anniversary, and is a little ironic, in some ways, President Scott Hair said.
"Green Frog first opened in 1934 and became Bakersfield's first supermarket," he said. "We represented to mom and pop stores what Wal-Mart is today."
As big box retailers moved into the grocery space, however, Green Frog and other independent grocers sometimes found they were last in line with vendors, so Hair says his strategy for the smaller of the company's two grocery stores is to reposition it as more of a neighborhood market.
Green Frog will continue to carry the locally grown meat and produce that has garnered loyalty from area residents for decades, but it plans to do so from an enhanced building with new perks such as a self-serve gourmet coffee kiosk and a community room for meetings.
Construction at the store at 258 Bernard St. began two weeks ago and it is open during remodeling, but shoppers have to negotiate extensive renovation activity to get at what they want.
This project is more than a coat of paint to spruce up an old structure.
"We opened this store in 1946 and the last major upgrade here was in 1952, so we have a lot of obsolete things to modernize," Hair said.
When the first phase of construction is completed -- the goal is to finish up in time for holiday shopping -- Green Frog will very nearly have a whole new building and grounds.
The parking lot is being repaved. Walls have been partially knocked out to make way for new storefront windows across the length of the north side of the building, which will have views of outdoor seating and substantial new landscaping.
Inside, a new community room will be available for free use by youth groups and other nonprofit organizations.
An additional 3,000 square feet of retail space will go into the area leased by Rufener's Alta Vista Drug for gifts, greeting cards and the like.
The iconic Green Frog neon sign will come down from its perch atop the building to stake "Monument Park," a small park area with plants and a bench.
The facade's faded beige and salmon striping will be gone in favor of a soft olive green accented by red awning.
The second phase of remodeling, which will include replacing aged refrigeration cases, is scheduled to begin early next year and be complete before renovation work starts at Green Frog's other store at 3711 Columbus St. in May.
Hair declined to disclose specifics on what's in store for the Columbus Street location.
"We don't have signed contracts yet so I don't want to go into too much detail, but I will tell you what we're doing at the Bernard Street store is the junior high school version of the college program we've got in mind for Columbus," he said.
The 18,500-square-foot Bernard Street store has 20 employees. The 34,000-square-foot Columbus Street store has 45 employees.
This level of investment in supermarkets is unusual given the economic environment, said John Handley, government relations director of the California Independent Grocers Association.
"We're seeing a little of this across the country. Safeway is doing renovations of a lot of its older stores, for instance. But there's not so much of that going on here," Handley said. "In fact, some of the chains that had been looking at coming into California are holding off."
There's no question the economy is weak, Hair said, but he insisted that if you're offering quality and value, customers will remain loyal even in a downturn.
Hair added that he hopes his investment in the Bernard Street store will spur others in the neighborhood to join a revitalization initiative. Toward that end, Hair will be part of a Neighborhoods of Alta Vista group that is forming with the goal of breathing new life into a business district that presently has more than its share of dilapidated buildings.
"We know that grocery stores anchor neighborhoods, so we see this as the beginning of that revitalization effort," Hair said.
Fellow merchants already are praising the renovation.
"It's going to be good for the neighborhood," said Manny Mendez, owner of the La Cresta Village shopping center and Tam O'Shanter restaurant, as well as Tam O'Shanter Wine & Spirits.
"It's great what they're doing over there," he said.
Mendez is remodeling his place, too. It will soon have two new tenants, a beauty shop and a Mexican restaurant.
Longtime Green Frog customer Eg Berchtold, 87, said he's shopped at the grocery store for years and welcomes the upgrade.
"It needed it really badly," he said. "Seems to be coming together."
In the meantime, Berchtold said, he won't let construction dust deter him.
"This isn't too bad," he said emerging from a chorus of hammering and construction tools. "I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's done."
