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While many retailers struggle with lagging GM/HBC sales, a new study shows the way to successful programs. A lot has been said recently about the challenge posed to supermarkets by [...]

Delchamps is quickly turning around under the management of CEO and Chmn David Morrow, who succeeded Randy Delchamps in April 1995. The company saw its profits increase 381% to $808,000 in the 1st qtr FY 1996 ended Dec 30 after reporting net losses of $25.7 million in FY 1995 as a whole. The chain's goals include annual sales increases of about 10%, a store prototype of about 42,000 sq ft, and improved customer service., A new, nonfamily management team has the chain's stores -- and financial health -- in upgraded condition MOBILE, Ala. -- The turnaround at Delchamps here continues to pick up speed. [...]

Supermarkets with foodservice operations should realize that pizza is one of the country's favorite foods. In addition to being a substantial money earner, a good pizza program can help bring in more customers into the store. Retailers planning on offering pizza can choose between franchising a turn-key operation, leasing a department or creating their own. Several tips on how to establish and manage a pizza program are provided., The ever-increasing popularity of pizza presents supermarket operators with another meal-solutions opportunity. But the variety of programs may be even greater than the variety of pizzas. Despite its origins in [...]

Larry's Markets has always been a trend-setter when it comes to food marketing. The company's newest outlet at the Seattle Center in Seattle, WA, is in line with this tradition. The 50,000-sq.-ft. Seattle outlet boasts authentic Italian, Japanese and Mexican cuisine in addition to traditional foodservice components such as a salad bar, rotisserie chicken, prepared foods and a cheese section., The newest Larry's at Seattle Center is further evidence that the foodservice trend-setter is tailor-made for ist stylish home town. One of the world's great water views is Puget Sound [...]

It's ironic that supermarket retailing has, through sheer size and product proliferation, evolved into one of the least consumer-focused of distribution businesses--one in which the burden of day-to-day 'mass' management [...]

Video rental services are growing more popular in St. Louis, MO, among chain supermarkets. Schnuck Markets, Shop 'N Save Warehouse Foods, Dierbergs Markets and National all include an extensive collection of videos to rent. Supermarkets represent over 50% of the market, while Blockbuster Entertainment makes up the bulk of the remaining market. Hollywood Entertainment has also entered the market with one store and plans for five more in the area., ST. LOUIS - Supermarkets have transformed video rental into a destination in this market. The grocery channel has become a dominant force in vide by dedicating space and positioning departments [...]

Six Schnuck Markets executives who are members of the Schnuck family discuss the management strategies that continue to make the private company a success. The 91-store chain with annual sales of about $1.8 billion has been built up largely through a management spirit that is not afraid to embrace the new. Schnuck's acquisition of 57 National Tea stores from Loblaw Cos and the subsequent divestment of 18 National units and 6 Schnuck units was atypical because the chain persuaded the Federal Trade Commission for the first time to consider supercenters as direct competitors before giving approval., ST. LOUIS -- Schnuck Markets here is grabbing the attention of the supermarket industry by embracing the unfamiliar. The family-run company, which began as a small confectionery store almost 60 [...]

Food courts and other take-out counters are becoming standard in supermarkets as retailers respond to consumers' demand for quick, quality prepared meals. For some, an established, branded foodservice operation serves [...]

Inner cities remain underserved, and a national citizen's group is urging the supermarket industry to do a better job in urban centers, as the government takes new interest in the [...]

As the new century approaches, some companies are in the throes of revolution, fighting new and emerging competition and taking big steps to position themselves for long-term survival and success. [...]

To some, it is the 'Inland Empire' of Southern California. To others, it is Southern California's Heartland. To Jack Brown, it's home. And his newest Stater Bros. store taps into [...]

Many supermarkets are selling phone cards at customer service counters, but other stores sell them at the checkout register, and stores with sufficient space may use vending machines. Phone card sales have mushroomed since 1990, and analysts predict the total may reach $2 billion by year-end 1996. The profit margin runs between 10% and 30%, and supermarket customers appreciate the convenience. Phone cards are also given away as promotional items for purchasers of designated products., Shrinkage concerns are leading retailers to take extra precaution in choosing phone card merchandising programs. Many are offering the credit-card-size product, which some food chains reportedly have sold in denominations [...]

A pantry of international ingredients in Sarasota's specialty markets. Sarasota's supermarkets just keep getting bigger and brighter, and its true that it's wonderfully convenient to cruise those vast aisles with [...]

Transformation. That one word best describes what is happening today to supermarket pharmacies specifically and to the pharmacy profession in general. 'In the past 300 years, pharmacists went from apothecaries, [...]

Supermarkets in the Philadelphia, PA, region are concerned about the looming competitive threat to their bakery operations with the impending invasion by Giant Food of Landover, MD, and Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, PA, based on their plans for setting up stores in the area. Supermarket retailers are taking several steps to confront the situation including upgrading their bakeries with changes in product variety and new fixtures, relocating their bakery departments to the front of the store, and accelerating the remodeling of their stores., Philadelphia - Here in the City of Brotherly Love, supermarket chains are fighting to hold on to their bakery customers as two Giants loom on the horizon. The Giants - [...]

As a new century approaches, supermarkets are challenging competition from every angle. A McKinsey and Co. report presented at FMI's Midwinter Conference gave supermarket executives an earful of solutions for [...]

Our industry's loss of market share to restaurants is something that concerns us, but it's hard to believe that we're transforming into a nation that never cooks.' So Paul Bernish, [...]

Price look-up codes are gaining acceptance by produce retailers and shippers with approximately 10,000 supermarkets using the technique by 1995's end. Uncertainty exists over the type and amount of information that should be included on such labels with their four-digit code. Still, the technique is predicted to improve the sharing of marketing information between supplier and retailer., In the marriage of produce and technology, standardized price look-up codes have been playing the part of the unruly teen-age stepchild -- unfamiliar, awkward and sometimes only grudgingly accepted. [ILLUSTRATION [...]

Supermarkets are benefitting from the use of computer systems that focus on category management. Executives report that such technology is helping them project product movement item-by-item, which helps management predict gross margins. Sutton Place Gourmet VP Ray Hamilton says that his firm uses the category management tools to focus on sales, margin and potential within individual categories., There's the pitch. And he's... out! A buyer's response to a product representative's hard sell can be that fast, sound and definitive, thanks to growing use of decision-support tools for [...]

The most important issue affecting U.K. food retailers in the recent past has been the subject of competitive pricing. The major multiples have responded to the entry to the U.K.market of European discounters by cutting prices and introducing cheaper, budget ranges. However, the discounters' rapid expansion did not materialize, while retailers have found it difficult to abandon their pricing policies. An analysis of key issues facing food retailers is presented.

The meal replacement business continues to grow dramatically, prompting supermarket operators to re-examine the place of prepared foods in their delis, as well as the direction the delis themselves will take in the future. According to Supermarket Business' 14th Annual Deli Operations Review, 1995 sales rose by 6.5% from 1994 figures to $19.99 billion. Experts believe that, in response to this trend, operators will have to improve their service delis to make them more responsive to consumer needs and to fit the identity the retailer wishes to project., The headlong growth of the meal replacement market is enhancing the pivotal role of prepared foods in supermarket delis and impelling operators to start developing strategies for how they will [...]

Wild by Nature supermarket has succeeded in building itself up as the store of choice for health-conscious consumers favoring natural foods. Wild by Nature, which started out with funds provided by King Kullen Grocery Company Inc., offers mainly perishables-intensive and made-from-scratch goods in line with its 'Foods for Living Principles.' All its offerings do not contain artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and additives and are based on recipes developed by natural food gurus., King Kullen, the company that helped invent the supermarket, has taken an unconventional turn in bankrolling Wild by Nature. The result? A scratch-made work of art. If $3.5 million, 18,000-square-foot [...]

Keep it fresh. Keep it friendly. Keep it simple. For Gary Stephens, owner of the newest Supervalu 'Fresh Focus' concept store, those three sentences are more than a mantra. They [...]

Tesco gained support for its Clubcard, Sainsbury surfed the Internet, N&P discarded Cargo Club, and the Association of Convenience Stores was born. As our week-by-week review, it has been quite [...]

Spartan Stores Inc. CEO Pat Quinn attributes his company's success to a total corporate re-engineering program called Business Automation Support Environment. The program, which involved the implementation of new systems and employee training programs, enabled Spartan to reduce warehouse inventory while maintaining high quality service., Although immersed in a multimillion-dollar remake from wholesaler to the distribution logistics specialist of tomorrow, Spartan Stores is right on top of business in today's polarized trading environment. Page six [...]

Supermarkets can keep their turnover rates from increasing by implementing effective recruiting, training and management programs. Employers can keep their workers and lower the number of employee resignations by increasing their involvement in store operations. They should also devise programs that will enable employees to work more effectively and efficiently in shorter time. They should also give workers incentives to encourage them to work harder and better., The blame for triple-digit turnover rates may belong to the system rather than to abstractions like the 'labor pool' or 'kids today.' Try searching for the real reasons workers decide [...]

Edina, MN-based Byerly's Inc. developed the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points to improve food handling and sanitation in the supermarket industry. The program, which provides techniques on improving foodservice, focuses on preventing operations from having problems. A large portion of the program is focused on employee education and training to help workers develop a strong sense of responsibility for the quality of products., The retailer's sanitation program, which is supported by classroom training and employee manuals, is designed to head off problems before they can occur. A student's respect for his ex-college professor [...]

Alfalfa's Market's new 16,000-square-foot store in Seattle, WA, features an extensive natural food selection as well as packaged and fresh specialty and gourmet foods. The store also boasts of well-trained employees who are dedicated to giving quality service to customers. It is considered by Alfalfa's Market officials as a potential source of huge profits since there is no other store of considerable size in the area which could offer competition., In branching out to Seattle from its Rocky Mountain base, Alfalfo's has taken on the challenge of promoting itself to a new market--and prepared foods are a big selling point. [...]

Supermarket owners can maximize sales during holiday seasons by implementing sound merchandising and scheduling strategies that will enable them to meet the temporary surge in demand. These strategies should be based on interdepartmental cooperation and should be tailored to meet the needs of the consumers. Among the supermarkets which have gained considerable profits by adopting such strategies during holiday seasons are West Point Market and Genuardi's Supermarkets., With more than a little planning, retailers can have holiday visions in their heads of something more lucrative than loss-leading, frozen turkey. The same consumer need driving sales of take-out [...]

Rick Smith works 12-hour days at the helm of Golub Corp.'s produce operation in Schenectady, N.Y. , and it's clear from a recent visit that he thrives on the frenetic [...]

`Once a year I write a letter that goes into a locked file,' says Ron Pearson, chairman of Hy-Vee Food Stores, Des Moines, Iowa. 'It spells out who I feel [...]

In the supermarket industry, competition is often the mother of invention. That scenario is being played out in the Hampton Roads section of Southeast Virginia, where Farm Fresh, the 57-store [...]

Shaw's Supermarkets Inc's new 65,249 sq ft store in Fairhaven, MA, is using freshness of product as a major theme of its operation. The store's departments are named to evoke images of quality, freshness and service. The store is also using offering trendy items, such as value-added meat entrees and rotisserie chicken. Shaw's flagship store, through departments such as the World Deli, will also evoke an international merchandising theme,, FAIRHAVEN, Mass. -- Shaw's Supermarkets' new flagship store in this seaside town is making no secret of its commitment to freshness, variety and convenience. Covering 65,249 square feet, an atypically [...]

Supermarket industry leaders face difficult challenges with ever tougher competition, downsizing, consolidation and the never' ending need for store differentiation. It takes strong, smart and focused leadership to succeed. The [...]

Central kitchens for the food preparation of supermarkets offer a number of advantages, such as product consistency, economies of scale, streamlined operations and potentially higher income. While costly and time-consuming, a central commissary is often the most practical approach in handling increased business. Memphis, TN-based Seessels' has been preparing foods off-site since the 1980s, allowing it to mass-produce food for the restaurants and delis at its 10 stores. VG's Food Center in Fenton, MI, is also considering a central kitchen to attain greater product consistency., Moving food preparation from store-level into a single commissary can pay off big for a growing chain--if it's done for the right reasons. The question of whether a supermarket operator [...]

How effective is category management from a shopper's perspective? That's one of the questions that led Robert Cottrell, president of Clayton/Curtis/Cottrell, based in Boulder, Colo., to conduct a syndicated market [...]

Foodland Super Market Ltd and other supermarkets in Hawaii have had to make adjustments after the late arrival of discounters, warehouse clubs and other food retail formats. Foodland has fought back by remodeling older stores, realigning merchandise, focusing on promotions, offering big-pack food sizes, improving logistics and distribution. The discounters and clubs have already taken a billion dollar chunk from the total retail market., HONOLULU - The state of Hawaii, true to its image, has been a paradise for local supermarkets. But the long honeymoon between grocers and the local populace has been rudely [...]

Supermarket industry executives are not alarmed about the emergence of the new 'supercenter' format. They believe that previous alternative formats have come and gone without making a permanent impact on the industry. However, some analysts are warning against complacency, saying that a number of factors make it highly likely that the new supercenters will be more successful than their predecessors., The battle for the grocery consumer will rage anew with the rapid development of the SUPERCENTER. But will the supercenter bring dramatic change, or simply go the way of the [...]

Supermarkets should consider spending for research, labor and equipment to achieve business success with prepared food products. Supermarkets should give freshly prepared foods the quality of restaurant food to survive in the future. However, retailers should be prepared to pay for labor costs that are higher than that being paid for other store departments. Customer research is also necessary to ensure that consumers will like the products being sold., Tomorrow's Meal-Shoppers Won't Meet You Halfway Supermarkets may need to make serious investments in research, labor and equipment if they want their prepared foods to be more than a quick-fix [...]

New replenishment methods are being developed to improve traditional distribution operations in the supermarket industry. Technological advances such as CRP, EDI and category management have improved supply chain distribution. However, the industry will benefit more if cross-dock and flow-through are considered as techniques for minimizing handling and hastening product flow. The industry should realize that different products have different flow paths and that all products can be shifted to a quicker flow process., Fast-flow logistics have been downplayed and misunderstood in the supermarket industry, but in the very near future they may be the key to distributors' survival. A great deal of confusion [...]

Vons' sweeping price-reduction program, the closing of underperforming facilities and improvements in customer service represent dramatic company-wide changes that are beginning to bear fruit for the chain (see sidebar). But [...]

Participants in a supermarket-video roundtable discussion agreed that minimum advertising pricing (MAP), though well intentioned, is ineffective. MAP sets a minimum price at which retailers may advertise and continue to get co-op reimbursements. ETD Entertainment Merchandising Pres Ron Eisenberg said that MAP can act as a ceiling price instead of a floor price. Other video pricing issues are also discussed., Minimum advertising pricing, or MAP, is a well-intentioned policy designed to provide some price stability in the sell-through market, but it really isn't doing much good, according to participants at [...]

It's hard to imagine a more unassuming, and quite frankly hard to find, main entrance to the primary headquarters of the largest retailer in the U.K. Oh sure, J. Sainsbury [...]

The 'food bar' concept has grown immensely since its humble beginnings in the late 1970s and today, the venerable salad bar has been joined by juice bars, coffee bars and a vast array of others. Many food stores have eagerly adopted the concept as they continue to strive to give consumers one-stop total shopping. Many have enjoyed success with their food bars but experts also caution that not all such bars will be appropriate for any given retailer., In the late Seventies on the West Coast, they began appearing like mushroom patches, in Burger Kings, Ponderosas and Sizzler Steak Houses. Salad bars were on the crest of the [...]

A growing number of supermarkets are beginning to view health and beauty care (HBC) departments as an increasingly important aspect of their operations. However, although supermarket HBC departments are becoming more profitable, they are steadily losing market share to mass merchandisers. Many industry experts believe that the only way to reverse the decline in market share is by establishing an in-store pharmacy to complement the HBC section., The numbers may not be as god as those of mass merchandisers, but supermarkets continue to generate greater sales volume from their health and beauty care operations. According to Supermarket [...]

A growing number of retailers are establishing their own foodservice operations in an effort to increase their share of the consumer food-away-from-home business. This trend is not one-sided and it has caused the traditional delineation between retailer and foodservice to become blurred. Today, it is not unusual to see a retailer acting like a restaurateur or a foodservice firm marketing retail product lines., The race is on and the pace keeps quickening. Retail goes foodservice and foodservice goes retail in a frenzied attempt to grab a bigger share of the consumer's food-away-from-home dollar. [...]

Balls Super Food Stores Inc.'s newest Hen House outlet in Prairie Village, KS, is relatively small at 18,000 sq. ft. However, the Prairie Village outlet can claim to have one of the most extensive and impressive fresh foods departments in the country. In addition, the store also has several food court stations offering everything from fresh bagels to gourmet sandwiches., Balls Food Stores' seventh and smallest Hen House, which opened February 11 in Prairie Village, Kan., has a tiny footprint. How tiny? The whole thing could fit in the space [...]

A recent survey conducted at the New York Restaurant and Foodservice show in Manhattan revealed that the overwhelming majority of restaurant patrons eat out simply because they do not have the time to cook for themselves. In addition, a substantial number of restaurant patrons would prefer to stay and eat at home if they had a choice. Food stores can tap into this potentially huge market by offering consumers nutritious prepared foods., Today, for many time-pressed consumers, eating out isn't necessarily fun - it's a necessary evil So if supermarkets can make nutritious prepared foods accessible to consumers more quickly and easily, [...]

W. Edwards Deming's total quality management concept revolutionized the Japanese automotive industry and made it a world leader. The supermarket industry can also learn from Deming's system of management and emphasis on quality for value. However, supermarket managers should also realize that adopting Deming's system is no simple task and that it requires a radical top-to-bottom transformation of the whole company. Several tips on how to apply quality management to supermarket operations are presented., Raising the productivity of knowledge and service work must...be an economic priority for developed countries. Whichever country first succeeds in satisfying [that goal] will economically dominate the 21st century.' - [...]