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…]
It can be a nice surprise when you go into your grocery store and discover some unadvertised specials. It’s not so nice, when nearly all of the weekly deals are unadvertised. One grocery chain has found out the hard way, that customers don’t like it when the sales are a secret, and they have to wander the store hoping to[Read More…]
Never let it be said that the grocery business is not fiercely competitive. While one New England supermarket chain is asking customers to turn in their store loyalty cards in exchange for a special deal, another is offering an even better deal if customers hand over their loyalty cards to the competition instead. Price Chopper wants your Shaw’s Rewards Card![Read More…]
What to do with that little plastic card, when your grocery chain gets rid of its loyalty program? Toss it, shred it, stick it in a drawer – or hand it over to the store for a chance to win fabulous prizes? Some conspiracy theorists are wondering – what exactly does the store want with our loyalty cards anyway? Three[Read More…]
(Be sure to read this update: “Sold! Kroger Buys Harris Teeter”). Cerberus is pretty busy these days shaking up the five grocery chains it acquired earlier this year. But not too busy to consider acquiring a sixth. It’s reportedly made a bid for North Carolina-based Harris Teeter. If you’re a Harris Teeter shopper – is that a good thing or[Read More…]
