If your favorite grocery store hasn’t been targeted by Walmart’s price comparison ads yet, just wait. The retail giant is seeking out a slew of new contenders, to take its “Walmart Challenge.” The “Market Basket Challenge” ads, introduced around this time last year, expanded into 25 cities by year’s end. Now Walmart is doubling that number. CEO Bill Simon says[Read More…]
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. A grocery chain that launched one of the most vigorous public responses to Walmart’s series of price-comparison ads is now waving the white flag and quietly making plans to lower its own prices. Roundy’s, the parent company of Milwaukee-based Pick ‘n Save, says the chain is testing a more everyday low pricing approach[Read More…]
Sequestration has arrived – so be prepared to find rotten meat in your grocery store, if you can find any meat at all. Low-income shoppers will starve, supermarket employees will be fired and military grocery stores will padlock their doors. And that’s in addition to prisoners running free, bad guys streaming across the borders and planes falling out of the[Read More…]
Gone are the days when grocery shoppers in Austin, Texas were asked if they want paper or plastic. Beginning today, they don’t get either. A number of communities across the country have banned plastic grocery bags (read: “Paper, Plastic or Please Butt Out?”). But Austin has become the first city in the country to ban both paper and plastic disposable[Read More…]
If its legions of devoted fans aren’t enough to convince you, two separate surveys put one grocery store at the top of their lists when it comes to customer satisfaction. But Publix is used to that kind of thing. “Publix reigns when it comes to customer satisfaction,” reports the American Customer Satisfaction Index. With a score of 86 out of[Read More…]
While some have been debating the merits of the rewards programs offered by Office Depot and OfficeMax, and which elements will survive the companies’ merger, Staples has decided to shake up its own rewards program. Starting March 15th, members of Staples Rewards will get 5% back on everything, plus free shipping at Staples.com. But there are some catches. “Our brand[Read More…]
If you’re not too concerned about “gently expired” or slightly damaged packages of food, you can save a lot by shopping at “scratch and dent” stores. But is it right to peddle such products to those who may have no other options? Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, is working to open a nonprofit store in Boston that[Read More…]
Everyone thinks their baby is the cutest. But when prizes are at stake – suddenly, things can get ugly. And it may get even uglier before it’s over. That’s what the Iowa-based Hy-Vee grocery chain discovered, after it innocently launched a “Cutest Baby and Toddler Contest” on its Facebook page earlier this month. More than 2000 people entered, but critics[Read More…]
Coupons are going digital. Prices are becoming personalized. So one-size-fits-all sale prices printed on paper could become a relic of the past. In other words – say goodbye to your weekly supermarket sales circular. At least that’s what Safeway is saying. Touting the success of its apps, digital coupons and “Just For U” loyalty program, the California-based chain says it’s[Read More…]
Combine the nation’s second-biggest and third-biggest office supply stores, and what do you get? The nation’s second-biggest office supply store. When you look at it that way, the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, announced today, doesn’t sound quite so revolutionary. Staples is still bigger than both, and they all face competition from other office-product suppliers like Amazon and Walmart.[Read More…]
