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…]
As late as Monday night, Harris Teeter and Kroger were still negotiating their deal that was announced early Tuesday morning (read: “Sold! Kroger Buys Harris Teeter”). Meanwhile, Kroger’s Central Division had, much earlier, decided to announce its new lower prices (and oh, by the way, no more double coupons) on Tuesday morning (read: “Kroger Keeps on Killing Doubles”). So for[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…]
(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…]
(Be sure to read this update: “Sold! What Will Become of Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s?”). Heads up, southeastern supermarket shoppers: the Belgian-based owners of Food Lion, Hannaford and Bottom Dollar Food are apparently looking to cut their losses with two smaller grocery chains. Delhaize has reportedly hired an investment bank to help unload the Sweetbay supermarket chain – and they’ll[Read More…]
Mention the name “Cerberus”, and some supermarket shoppers shudder. The private equity firm saddened thousands of shoppers and employees when it shut down or sold two-thirds of the roughly 600 Albertsons locations it acquired in 2006. And customers of several chains acquired by Cerberus earlier this year are wondering whether their stores will suffer the same fate. But could we[Read More…]
(Be sure to read this update: “Sold! Kroger Buys Harris Teeter”). The grocery business is a tough game, and Harris Teeter may be ready to call it quits. The grocery chain is reportedly considering its biggest sale ever – of Harris Teeter itself. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters both cite sources that the Charlotte, North Carolina-based grocer is “exploring[Read More…]
If your store only doubles coupons up to $.50 – or worse yet, doesn’t double at all – maybe a change of scenery would help. Pack your bags and head on over to the scenic Tidewater region of Virginia, where a full-fledged super double coupon war could be about to erupt. Market leader Food Lion doesn’t double at all. But[Read More…]
You can just hear the old timers: “In my day, we didn’t have scanners and bar codes – we read the price tags, punched the numbers into an old-timey cash register and we liked it!” But that was then, this is now. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Extreme Couponing, in which the register “locks up” and it takes[Read More…]
It’s not Walmart. It’s not even Aldi. The new grocery low-price leader is – would you believe – Dollar General? That’s not what Walmart would have you believe. The company trumpeted its price leadership at an investors conference last week, and the Wall Street Journal today headlined a Deutsche Bank price-comparison study that crowned Walmart the cheapest option. But while[Read More…]
