I visited the downtown Fry's for the first time today. I'm glad to have a downtown grocery for occasional needs, even though I do most of my regular shopping at Trader Joe's and Sprouts. A few curmudgeonly observations:
-- The self-checkout terminals don't accept Apple Pay (and its Android equivalents). I was astonished since the equipment is all new. Doing a little reading, I've discovered that parent company Kroger is a stubborn holdout when it comes to contactltess payments. Apparently, they have their
own system based on QR codes. That strategy hasn't worked out for most other merchants. Target and CVS recently gave in and have started allowing Apple Pay instead of insisting on their own clumsy systems.
-- The layout is a little weird. After using the self-checkout, I thought I'd then be able to exit the store immediately. Instead, I found myself back in the main area of the market and had to retrace my steps to the main entrance.
-- A Phoenix police officer was providing security at the store entrance. I hope they haven't had a lot of shoplifting and vagrancy problems already.
-- On newly reopened First Street, the entire curb on the east side from Jefferson to Washington is assigned to rideshare pickup/dropoff and curbside grocery pickup. It's a shame those functions weren't somehow integrated into the garage. Had they been, there would be enough room for bike lanes on that block of First Street.
-- I heard complaints that the store opened without bike racks, but they've since been added. There were plenty in the honeycomb style used by Downtown Phoenix Inc, near the store entrance.