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…]
January 7 update: read “Walmart Responds to Competitors’ Challenge”. It started with supermarkets, then drug stores, then toy and electronics stores, too. Now a number of retailers are crying foul, and asking authorities to investigate the “Walmart Challenge”. The nearly year-old TV, radio, print and online campaign is officially known within Walmart as the “Market Basket Challenge”. The ads are[Read More…]
You hear the comments and complaints every year, as holiday products seem to appear on store shelves earlier and earlier. Halloween candy before the kids are even back to school, Christmas goodies before anyone’s even trick-or-treated yet. Even before we rang in 2013, some stores began stocking Valentine’s Day candy and cards. But others are looking even further down the[Read More…]
(Update: The Audubon store is set to close on May 27, 2015, officially bringing down the curtain on Genuardi’s for good.) And then there was one. By next month, the nearly century-old story of the Genuardi’s supermarket chain will end just as it began – with a single store in southeastern Pennsylvania. If you’re not familiar with the store, you[Read More…]
The music is from a 155-year-old French operetta; the dance associated with it is even older. But to at least two generations of Northeastern grocery shoppers, the “can can” is that song from the ShopRite commercials that sticks in your head every January. ShopRite, which has about 250 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Connecticut, launches[Read More…]
