Pushing the Shopping Cart in BOTH Directions

[joeekaitis]

Giant Eagle tried to fight ALDI with a short-lived chain of limited-selection grocery stores called Good Cents and had to throw in the towel, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Witness two grocery powerhouses catering to "I want it ALL!" supermarket lovers and "I'll bring my bags and bag my own" savings hounds.

SUPERVALU, Inc.
http://supervalu.com/
Owns full-service Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbachers, Shop 'N Save, And Shoppers
as well as limited-selection Save-A-Lot.

Wakefern
https://wakefern.shoprite.com/
Owns ShopRite supermarkets and limited-selection Price Rite. ALDI predates Price Rite by about 20 years. Note how Price Rite invokes patriotism ("An American company") but happily steals* from ALDI's marketing copy:

Price Rite home page: Impossibly, Incredibly, Inconceivably Low Prices Everyday
ALDI "Shopping at ALDI" page: At ALDI, we do everything possible from our carts to energy-saving stores to give you incredibly high quality at impossibly low prices.

Price Rite also touts a strategy similar to Grocery Outlet: Here today, gone tomorrow deeply discounted name brands.

Talk about covering ALL bases!

Don't know if Stater Bros., Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons are paying attention here in Sunny SoCal but it's going to be fun to watch.

*Steve Jobs quoting Pablo Picasso: "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

 

[vacerator]

It's all

been done before. Now they all fight for a piece of the pie.
Competition is very fierce.
Kroger owns Ralph's, and Vons now, so they have the capital to remodel any store, or build a new one near any competitor who does the same.
Their Labor costs are very low compared to 30 years ago also. Most of the elder employees have retired, and the new get few fringe benefits.
Shoppers have plenty of choice for price and selection.
Aldi, Trader Joes, as well as the other few and far between stores carry some items the big chains don't.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thank you for the info

Cub foods ran the food department of Richway Department Stores or Treasure Island in Atlanta from the late 60s until the 70s recession killed them and Treasure Island. That was 40 years ago and now the Saudis, Syrians and Iranians, among others, are running out of water and the low oil prices are forcing huge cuts to their economies. All I can say is, "We know all about that thanks to you. Glad we can claim responsibility for some of your suffering as payback." We would not have suffered nearly as much back then if it were not for corporations who refused to innovate and influenced the government to follow suit.

 

If the Shoppers that Supervalu owns are the stores here, they have had a bit of a rocky transition. They pulled a lot of products, like Dole frozen concentrated juices, but then brought them back. Same for other things. I guess the people they thought they had for customers were not as poor as they had originally calculated. They must have seen peoples' skin color and thought that they were poor, not realizing that many blacks and Latinos here are solidly middle class and professionals thanks in no small part to Uncle.