So far this year, at least nine grocery chains have come under new ownership. Could your store be the tenth? Kroger’s announcement last week that it’s buying Harris Teeter represents the biggest, and latest, deal in the grocery merger and acquisition game (read: “Sold! Kroger Buys Harris Teeter”). About six weeks earlier, Bi-Lo scooped up Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s (read:[Read More…]
You can add another activity to the list of things you shouldn’t do in a thunderstorm. Don’t take a shower. Don’t use the phone. And now, apparently, don’t go grocery shopping. A Louisiana woman learned that the hard way yesterday, when she was struck by lightning – inside a grocery store, while checking out. Thankfully, she’s okay. “I felt, like,[Read More…]
Harris Teeter fans have had a week now to digest the news that their favorite regional grocery store will soon be swallowed up by supermarket giant Kroger (read: “Sold! Kroger Buys Harris Teeter”). The initial cries of horror have turned into quieter grumbles of discontent, but the bottom line remains that the vast majority of Harris Teeter shoppers are not[Read More…]
Why wait til Monday when you can get a Twinkie today? Despite a huge marketing push heralding July 15th as the official return of the Twinkie, some stores are jumping the gun and selling them already. Might as well put them on the shelves now, than have desperate fans trying to break down the back door to get at the[Read More…]
Loyalty cards are out, but competitors’ coupons are in at Shaw’s. Meantime, the grocery chain is finding out the hard way that it still needs to stick price tags on everything. In all but a half dozen stores, that is, because they’re shutting down. Got all that? Three unrelated developments could change the way New Englanders do their shopping at[Read More…]
The country’s largest supermarket chain just got larger. Kroger announced today that it’s buying North Carolina-based Harris Teeter. The $2.4 billion deal will bring 212 new stores into the Kroger fold (for a total of 2,631 stores), and give the company a much bigger profile in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. But what will it mean for Harris Teeter shoppers? Kroger[Read More…]
In honor of today’s 237th birthday of our nation, officials in the Cradle of Liberty are celebrating with concerts, fireworks – and by comparison pricing your groceries for you. Who needs the Walmart Challenge, when the government is hard at work determining which supermarket has the best prices for your Fourth of July picnic items? In a survey designed to[Read More…]
You can’t beat this deal – in exchange for scanning and bagging all of your own groceries, you get to take everything home for free! Pity the poor person in line behind you who gets stuck with your bill, though. That’s what was apparently happening to many shoppers, before a southern California grocery chain and a local TV news investigation[Read More…]
If you live in an area where you have your choice of supermarkets, be thankful. In many smaller towns, there’s often just one actual grocery store, and customers are forced to stick with it, through thick or thin. But shoppers in dozens of Southern communities are finding that their patience is wearing thin. Every few years it seems new owners[Read More…]
Whatever happened to customer service? It seems more retailers are asking you to serve yourself – and claiming it’s a convenience. The customer is always right, it’s said, but exactly how many customers are clamoring to scan, bag, price match and otherwise do all the work themselves? While supermarkets and other retailers are eager to show how hip and high-tech[Read More…]
