QFC welcoming Capitol Hill shoppers with new plexiglass grocery maze, its latest Broadway retail innovation

QFC, an innovator in unleashing new fresh hells of modern grocery shopping experiences on its Capitol Hill customers, has added yet another indignity to its Broadway retail experience.

CHS reader Tammy posted pictures of new plexiglass barriers installed inside across the front entrance area of the Broadway Market store that show a new maze-like structure for shoppers to channel through when entering or leaving the store. Unlike the installation of plexiglass around many counters during the pandemic to help protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19, the new QFC barriers appear to be a security upgrade at the store.

The company has not said publicly what the new barriers are intended to accomplish. Retail theft remains a hot button issue in Seattle and reports of shoplifting at both Broadway QFCs is a multiple times a day occurrence.

The poster’s comments about reporting the situation to the Seattle Fire Department caught the attention of QFC’s parent company’s social media team:

CHS is checking with Seattle Fire to ask more about any inspection.

We’ve also asked Kroger for more information on the installation.

The new grocery maze at the 400 block Broadway E store follows QFC’s decision to lock down its ice cream earlier this year, requiring customers to call for an employee to access the frozen treats. Local representatives from Ohio-based QFC parent Kroger never responded to CHS about how the need to lock down $5 to $7 frozen treats came about but they did say another security change this year on north Broadway was a mistake blaming a “new store leader” for the daytime deployment of security rollups added to cover the grocery’s glass windows. “He wasn’t aware of the protocol,” a spokesperson told CHS adding that the “shutters were installed at a couple Seattle locations to be used during closed store hours.”

In 2019, Kroger installed a new camera and screen system in both Broadway stores that seemed designed to make it very clear you are being watched. This May, QFC also added new security cameras — focused on the Broadway sidewalk outside the store.

The ongoing fortifications including shuttering entrances along the Harvard Ave side of the groceries in 2018 add up to a simple question for neighborhood shoppers who depend on the stores — what possibly could be next?

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