I have been going to the Burlington Fred Meyer for almost 20 years now. It has been a wonderful store and a close location for me to visit. Had I filled this profile out 10 years ago, I would have given this a 5-star rating, however in the past 10 years it has slowly but surely failed miserably. One bad decision after another has taken this store from the high-quality service experience to the bottom of the local options list. There are still a few good people working here who I recognize the few times I still visit but even they do not appear happy about working at Fred Meyer anymore. I would attribute the decline to management. Ultimately it's those who are leading who take the store in a poor direction. When I started visiting Fred Meyer, the produce manager was the kind of person who was always offering a greeting, the produce selection was always fresh and RIPE, ready to eat and high quality. If something wasn't quite ripe, the manager would not accept the food at delivery or advise waiting a certain amount of time to allow ripening. The fruit trays were always fresh and sweet, never an unripe morsel in the tray. Then they started outsourcing the fruit preparation to a different company, now the fruit in the trays looks good but 3 out of 4 bites are not ripe. Seldom do people complain about this as fruit trays are mostly purchased to take to parties and set out for people to pick through. If something isn't ripe, only the person trying it realizes and they shrug it off. Now the selection is higher but a significant portion of the fruit and vegetables are not ripe or good. The fruit and vegetables are not sampled before receiving the shipment. I asked about this, the rep said, "People want the item in selection when it isn't in season, so we keep a large selection of fruits and vegetables that are not in season available." What?! If something isn't in season, ripe, or good to eat they SHOULD NOT SELL IT. I found this a minor inconvenience at first as Fred Meyer offers a wonderful satisfaction guarantee on all fruits and vegetables. I would buy the fruit tray and return the fruit that wasn't ripe and get another one free. After a couple of times, they said to not bring back the unused portion but to only tell them when it wasn't good to eat, that they would have to dispose of the unused food product anyway. So I stopped returning the unripe portion of the fruit trays. Instead of fixing the problem, they would just give me a replacement fruit tray every time I came in because EVERY fruit tray had unripened fruit in it! After a while, the reps started talking about me BEHIND MY BACK to other reps, suggesting that I was a "freeloader" because I kept asking for another fruit tray even though I took my time to explain the problem. I was eventually confronted by the produce manager (a guy with light-colored hair and serious people issues "Kyle"?) and he said that if I want a replacement, I have to bring in the unused portion of the fruit tray, otherwise they will not know if it's actually not ripe. So, I started bringing it back. They complained about this also, every time giving me bad looks. Making me feel HORRIBLE. I'm a disabled war veteran and I have confrontation issues so I try to be nice to EVERYONE. Finally the produce manager said, "If it isn't good, then don't buy it!" What?! If it isn't good, don't SELL IT! There are some friendly people still there and even working in the produce department, including a veteran who has been very kind and supportive but their hands are tied and they are just doing their jobs. They need new management. Someone who can bring back the small-town values that Fred Meyer once held so dear. The store has made several new physical changes to allow for wider isles but you can easily find yourself trapped in the liquor department or wandering around looking for it for quite some time. For someone who finds it difficult getting around, this is a horrible design. The explanation I have heard was, "They took the design from another store." So, now there are two stores with a horrible design in place. Smart move! I hear the employees complaining about the changes. It's difficult to find anything anymore. The health food has been placed with the unhealthy food now so a person who once knew right where to go for specific items has to travel all over the store. I have all but stopped going to Fred Meyer aside from using it as a "convenience store" now and to get gas. I wonder if it can stay open competing with 7-11. I do most of my shopping at Costco aside from a few items I can find at Haggen. I take my hat off to Rick from the produce department who passed suddenly and to his mentor and friend, Ritchie who held onto the small-town ideals and inspired me to eat better. If you're wanting a good place to shop, try Haggen. Fred Meyer will need a few years to fix this mess. Be sure to read the reviews that are not recommended if you want the truth! read more