Southside update #1: The New Tom Thumb

Where else but Flower Mound Road would you find a review of a grocery store?

As I've mentioned before on these pages, I've been fiercely loyal to the Tom Thumb on 2499 and 3040 ever since it opened almost a decade ago. I've had my gripes with service there on occasion, but I've always found it to be a better place to shop than the Albertson's across the street.

This weekend, Tom Thumb South (as I call it) will have a Grand Re-Opening ceremony to celebrate their months-long store reconstruction project. It looks gorgeous inside, with all new signage, colors and design features, and with a new lighting scheme that's quite a bit dimmer than the pre-construction lights, but one that adds warmth to the store.



They did a terrific job on the look, and they've added several nice touches all around. But there are several changes I do not like.

• There seems to be fewer products and less selection in the new store. This has actually been a trend at Tom Thumb ever since Safety assumed control of the chain a few years ago. Fewer choices among different brands, and less of a product selection, as the store seems to focus more on those items that would sell faster. This is my impression only, not backed up by any facts, but I've shopped there hundreds of times in the past 10 years, so I think my guess is good.
  
• Perhaps this is a short-term construction issue, but there have been more and more "sold-out" situations at the store lately. Maybe they've been keeping inventory low to allow extra room for construction and for the relocation of several product categories to new homes on different aisles. But it's been frustrating of late to be looking for some of the advertised sales and find them out of stock.
  
• You now have to unload your cart on every checkout lane. Used to be, only the express lanes had this requirement. In the other lanes, your checkout clerk would unload your basket while he/she scanned each item. It's not a big deal for me to help with the process, but I used to watch each item cross the scanner to check for pricing errors (and those occur with some regularity). You can't do that now if you're unloading your cart.
  

I wish Tom Thumb South the best. The renovations will help the store compete better when the new Kroger Signature store opens in a few months.