Remember when Webvan was going to revolutionize the supermarket industry? Ordering your groceries online and having them delivered to your doorstep was going to be the way we all shopped in the future. But Webvan went bust a dozen years ago. So is it the future yet? In an era when music stores have been supplanted by music downloads, and[Read More…]
Poor Fresh & Easy – apparently routinely and illegally overcharging its customers wasn’t even enough to keep it afloat. Now, the troubled chain will have to pay fines it can’t afford, and agree to a pricing program that may well outlive it. San Diego’s District Attorney announced today that Fresh & Easy has been ordered to pay $833,136 in penalties[Read More…]
Judging by the vocal reaction from military families late last year, any proposal that would affect their commissary benefit is not a popular one. But a new survey suggests that many military families are actually fine with the idea. Really. That word comes from First Command Financial Services, a financial planning company that serves members of the U.S. military. Its[Read More…]
Kevin the Meatbay Butcher is not amused. The personable, punny public face of the Florida-based Sweetbay grocery chain’s Facebook page fell silent today, so his platform could be taken over for a more pressing matter. The Sweetbay Facebook page became an impromptu counseling session, to help customers and employees take in the news that a third of the chain’s stores[Read More…]
First, there was relief – several troubled supermarket chains would get deep-pocketed new owners. Then came uncertainty – who are these new owners, and what do they really want with these stores? Then came the realization – they’ve likely rescued the stores from an owner that was running them into the ground, just for the value of the ground they’re[Read More…]
(1/11 update – read: “Bigger, Better, or Goners? What’s in Store For Your Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s and Star Market”) The troubled supermarket operator Supervalu has now confirmed what’s long been rumored – it’s selling off several of its chains. Chicago-based Jewel-Osco, Philadelphia-based Acme, Boston-based Shaw’s and Star Market, and Albertsons stores in California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington[Read More…]
A grocery store can have all the modern bells and whistles – loyalty programs, digital coupons, online ordering. But what’s really important to you? A recent study says if supermarkets don’t get two key things right, customers are likely to leave and never come back. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report “Experience Radar 2013: Lessons from the U.S. Grocery Industry”, price is[Read More…]
Target’s holiday-season price match policy is now its permanent policy. But while its announcement this morning emphasizes the price-match of online retailers, it also continues an intriguing part of its policy that could change the way that some savvy shoppers do their regular shopping at Target – the store is offering to price-match itself. In a news release today, Target[Read More…]
If you thought Walmart would back down after several competitors challenged its price-comparison ads – think again. Walmart is defending its commercials, and its methods. As reported last week, Best Buy, Toys “R” Us and a number of unnamed supermarket chains have filed formal complaints with several state attorneys general (read: “Legal Challenges to the ‘Walmart Challenge’”). Documents obtained by[Read More…]
If selling cheap-chic isn’t working so well anymore, how about glamming up groceries? That’s looking to be Target’s new approach in the new year. Target is unveiling a new ad campaign that emphasizes its food offerings. In one commercial, a model clad in white holds a whisk and crushes an egg in her hand, as plumes of colorful smoke explode[Read More…]
