By now you’ve certainly seen the “Walmart Challenge” commercials that have been running on TV for more than a year now. “Real Moms” stock up at a local grocery store, then are whisked off to Walmart to buy the very same items – invariably for much less. “Bring your last grocery receipt into Walmart and compare the prices,” the ads[Read More…]
(Be sure to read this update: “Sold! What Will Become of Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s?”). If you’re a fan of the Sweetbay supermarket chain in Florida – what’s left of it, that is – better do your shopping there while you still can. Its owners are offering a less-than-rosy outlook for the troubled grocery chain. Sweetbay’s Belgian owners, Delhaize, shut[Read More…]
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Jewel-Osco. What was meant to be a friendly customer service gesture, backfired in a big way for the Chicago-based grocery chain. Now, Jewel is backing off – or, to be more accurate, it’s clarifying what it was trying to accomplish all along. The controversial “cart-to-car” service is no longer compulsory. Jewel quietly[Read More…]
Most retailers will claim that they’re listening to customers and responding to our needs – right before introducing changes that customers clearly hate. JCPenney now has been reduced to begging customers to come back, after more than a year of not listening to them at all. And for a variety of reasons, grocery chains Kroger, Jewel-Osco and Farm Fresh are[Read More…]
Not all that long ago, the idea of interacting and chatting with your favorite grocery store online seemed improbable, if not pointless. With the advent of Facebook, though, it’s become the norm. And any store that’s not a part of the social network is seen as something of an online outcast. Now, one longtime Facebook holdout has jumped on the[Read More…]
Nearly five weeks after selling off several supermarket chains, a slimmed-down Supervalu is ready to reveal plans for its remaining stores. Those changes include lower prices, more fresh selection, and a system that allows each chain to make more of its own decisions about what its customers want. And one chain has decided that what its customers want, is to[Read More…]
(Be sure to read this update: “Controversial ‘Cart to Car’ Service Clarified: No Means No, After All”) “Welcome to Jewel-Osco, where prices are low and friendliness is mandatory. Really, let us carry those bags out to the car for you. No, we insist. Seriously. Hand over the bags. Do it, now. Security!!” Getting into an arm-wrestling match over your shopping[Read More…]
There are those who see grocery shopping as a chore, who head to the nearest supermarket, grab what they need and get out. Others watch the sales and clip coupons in order to get the best deals. Still others go to greater lengths. Have you ever prepared multiple shopping lists, organized multiple sets of coupons and shopped at multiple stores[Read More…]
Millions of grocery shoppers, from Missouri to Arizona, are going through the hassle of getting new credit and debit cards after their information was stolen in a store security breach. Some are so upset, they’ve sued. But what do they really have to gain, other than years of litigation and perhaps a coupon at the end? A month after the[Read More…]
Whole Foods has been quite successful doing what it does, but competitors always seem to pop up, promising to do even better. Winn-Dixie is remaking some of its stores to be “like Whole Foods but cheaper“. Fresh & Easy was touted as having “Whole Foods quality with Walmart pricing” (and look at how well that worked out for them). Now,[Read More…]
