Aldi to reopen 30 of 66 Bottom Dollar stores

Aldi announced last Friday that it will reopen 30 of the 66 Bottom Dollar stores it acquired from Delhaize. Aldi purchased the stores late last year for $15 million.

Here are the stores that will reopen under the Aldi banner:

New Jersey:

Bellmawr
Bordentown
Cherry Hill
East Windsor
Edgewater Park
Glassboro
Lumberton
Trenton
Woodbury

Pennsylvania:

Aliquippa
Allentown
Butler
Carnegie
Coatesville
Homestead
Lansdowne
Levittown
McKeesport
Nazareth
Philadelphia (5)
Pittsburgh (4)
Souderton
Willow Grove

Aldi will attempt to sell or sublease the 36 stores it does not plan to reopen.

Currently Aldi operates approximately 1400 stores nationwide, and the company has said its goal is to operate 2,000 stores by the end of 2018.

Giant Eagle to close Good Cents stores in PA, OH

Giant Eagle said last week that it plans to close all eight of its Good Cents discount grocery stores. The decision follows Food Lion's closure of all Bottom Dollar stores last year, which leaves Aldi and Save-A-Lot as the lone discount supermarket chains in the Western PA and Northeastern OH markets.

The company cited "numerous business and economic factors that made it difficult to continue to successfully deliver the shopping experience that customers have come to expect."

Supervalu experiencing growth, ready to take on Aldi

Last week Supervalu announced that all three business segments - wholesale, Save-A-Lot and traditional food retail - grew in the company's fiscal third quarter. Overall, the company had $4.2 billion in sales, a 4.8% increase over the same quarter last year. Net earnings were $79 million.

Supervalu's wholesale business plans for growth in the near future with new accounts, and the company expects to add 65 new Save-A-Lot stores in 2015.

Supervalu also made news last week when CEO Sam Duncan said his company competes very well with Aldi and "will gladly take them on any time, any place."

Regarding Aldi's acquisition of Bottom Dollar, Duncan pointed out that a lot of the Bottom Dollar stores are paying high rents. "We were looking at some of those locations before Bottom Dollar, and we established our rate that we would pay," said Duncan. "And then, they came in above us and paid some very high prices. So, we'll see how that all unfolds."

Aldi testing credit cards in select markets

Aldi announced last month that it is testing credit cards in several U.S. markets, including Minnesota and Syracuse, NY. The test includes the acceptance of Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

Aldi's parent company is already accepting credit cards in England, Scotland and Wales.

Analysts believe the change is an attempt by Aldi to increase its customer base, especially with middle-income shoppers. They also believe Aldi's prices won't be affected, as it is the company's goal to offset the extra cost to process credit cards with increased sales.

In recent years Aldi has been relaxing some of its cost controls in an effort to make the shopping experience more appealing to a broad audience. For instance, the company is running weekly ads, stocking 25% - 30% more items, and increasing labor costs to keep shelves restocked rather than using full pallets.

In the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets, Bottom Dollar customers (and landlords) are anxiously awaiting what Aldi plans to do with the 66 stores it recently purchased and closed.

Bottom Dollar stores to close by January 15

On Friday Bottom Dollar Food said it would close all 66 locations by January 15, and all 2,200 workers would lose their jobs. The company said the employees would receive severance pay, and some would receive job counseling services.

Bottom Dollar, a subsidiary of Belgian-based Delhaize Group, announced in November it would sell its locations to Aldi, which has yet to announce its plans for the stores.

Related posts:

Bottom Dollar to sell its 66 stores to Aldi

Aldi hiring manager trainees, but no word on Bottom Dollar plans 

Aldi hiring manager trainees, but no word on Bottom Dollar plans

It was widely reported earlier this month that Aldi, which bought the 66 stores in the Bottom Dollar chain last month, plans to hire 50 store manager trainees with starting salaries at $52,000 and the potential to earn $75,000 to $90,000 within one year. The company also said that staff working at least 20 hours a week will receive full health insurance, dental coverage and 401K benefits.

Other than the manager trainee hiring plans, Aldi has not announced its plans for the Bottom Dollar stores, nor has it said what the company plans to do with the more than 2,000 Bottom Dollar workers.

Bottom Dollar to sell its 66 stores to Aldi

Delhaize Group announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement to sell all 66 Bottom Dollar Food stores to Aldi for approximately $15 million. 46 of the stores are in the Philadelphia region.

Bottom Dollar will continue to operate its stores until the end of the year, at which time all the stores will close. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2015.

Aldi, which will assume all of Bottom Dollar's lease liabilities, has not yet announced its plans for the 66 stores.

Related story (8/19/2014): Delhaize may pull the plug on Bottom Dollar

Delhaize may pull the plug on Bottom Dollar

Food Trade News reported in its August issue that Bottom Dollar Foods, a division of Delhaize America, "has reportedly felt enough competitive heat and is exploring the sale of its 66 stores located in Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Northeast Ohio." 46 of the 66 stores are in the Greater Philadelphia market.

Reportedly several retailers received profile sheets in July and bids for the stores were due on August 13. In addition, Food Trade News learned that Wells Fargo is serving as Delhaize America's investment advisor.

Analysts believe that Delhaize is trying to sell all 66 stores rather than sell individual locations or groups of stores. Supervalu (Save-A-Lot) and Aldi are leading contenders.

According to information that Food Trade News obtained, all but 10 Bottom Dollar stores are leased. The stores typically have significant term remaining and rents of about $10-$12 per square foot, although they range from $1.76 (most likely a ground lease) to $26.23. Store sizes run from 16,848 to 30,352 square feet, with most closer to 20,000 square feet. Weekly sales volumes range from $103,000 to $296,800, with an average weekly volume of $156,802. 

Bottom Dollar entered the Greater Philadelphia Market in 2010, and many industry observers were skeptical. Discount operators like Aldi and Save-A-Lot were already in the market, not to mention PriceRite, dollar stores and Walmart Supercenters. 

Referencing Bottom Dollar locations, the Food Trade News story quoted a veteran merchant as saying "You get what you pay for... After seeing what their operating model was it was pretty clear that their questionable site selection would not be beneficial."

First PriceRite supermarket in New Jersey opens in Garfield

The first PriceRite supermarket not owned by Wakefern is also the first PriceRite in the state of New Jersey, according to a story on NewJersey.com last week.

The 41,000 square foot store is in Garfield and owned by a division of Inserra Supermarkets, which owns 22 ShopRites in New Jersey and New York. Wakefern operates 55 PriceRite stores in six other states.

PriceRite, founded by Wakefern in 1995, competes with limited assortment, budget chains like Aldi and Bottom Dollar. The stores carry a "narrower variety," according to Lawrence Inserra III.

Typical PriceRite stores do not have butcher or deli workers, but do sell pre-packaged meats, and operate on a no-frills model with closeout-style pricing. They also tend to be in more urban areas and where median household incomes are generally lower than in the suburbs.

Walmart, Kroger, Costco boast top sales volumes for U.S. food retailers

Last month Supermarket News released its annual ranking of the Top 75 Food Retailers and Wholesalers in the United States. The top 10 remained the same from last year, with the exception of Supervalu, which dropped from six to 16 as a result of the sale of 877 Albertsons stores in 2013.

The top 10 retailers are as follows (local banners are listed in parenthesis):

1 - Walmart
2 - Kroger
3 - Costco
4 - Target
5 - Safeway
6 - Loblaw
7 - Publix
8 - Ahold (Giant)
9 - 7-Eleven
10 - Albertsons

 Other companies of note include the following:

14 - Delhaize (Bottom Dollar, Food Lion)
16 - Supervalu (Save-A-Lot)
18 - Wakefern (ShopRite, PriceRite, Fresh Grocer)
19 - Whole Foods
20 - BJ's Wholesale Club
21 - Trader Joe's
26 - Aldi
30 - Wegmans
32 - A&P (Pathmark, Super Fresh)
46 - Weis Markets
59 - Saker ShopRite
65 - The Fresh Market
66 - Village Super Market (ShopRite)
68 - Grocery Outlet (Amelia's)
74 - Inserra Supermarkets (ShopRite)

Bottom Dollar has lowest prices in Philly region, according to study

According to a story on CBS Philly, researchers from the Delaware Valley Consumers' Checkbook visited supermarkets across the Philadelphia region to see which retailer had the lowest prices. The shoppers compared prices on 151 items, including fresh produce, fresh meat, national brand prepared foods and dairy products.

And the winner is... Bottom Dollar. The discount grocer's basket sold for $78, compared to the same basket at Whole Foods, which cost $134.

Walmart and Wegmans (yes, Wegmans) came in second and third place, respectively. According to Checkbook Executive Director Kevin Brasler, Bottom Dollar, Walmart and Wegmans offered significant grocery savings on a daily basis, as compared to other supermarkets that attract customers with sales.

"Big chains like Acme, Pathmark, Giant and ShopRite really pull customers in with sale prices," said Brasler, who also pointed out that prices on other items can be high and even vary from store to store.

The researchers determined that Giant, Food Lion, ShopRite, Redner's, Target and Weis all have prices that are lower than average. Pathmark and Super Fresh, both owned by A&P, had prices that were higher than average, and Whole Foods and Acme had the highest prices.

Aldi was mentioned as having "steep savings" but a limited selection.

Bottom Dollar, Giant opening stores; Weis to close a store

New Bottom Dollar stores opened today in Ambler, PA and in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. These stores represent the 42nd and 43rd stores in the Greater Philadelphia Market. Bottom Dollar now operates 62 stores in PA, NJ and OH. The discount grocery chain, a subsidiary of Delhaize, is still not profitable.

Giant Food is scheduled to open on November 6 in a former Genuardi's location in Edgemont Square Shopping Center, Newtown Square, PA. The store, which has been vacant since 2010, is 43,000 SF. Giant, a division of Ahold, has about 200 stores in PA, MD, VA and WV.

Weis Markets announced last week that it will close its Pottstown supermarket in the next couple weeks due to "continuing under-performance." The 45,228 square foot store opened in 1995 and is in the same shopping center as Walmart. A new Giant opened in the last couple years less than a mile away. Despite the closure, Weis seems to be opening and renovating several stores.

 

Bottom Dollar opens 40th store in Philly market

Bottom Dollar's new store in Levittown, PA, which opened last week, is the discount grocer's 40th store in the Philadelphia market. Overall, the company operates 59 stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Bottom Dollar is a division of Food Lion, which is owned by Delhaize.

Nonprofit supermarket set to open in Chester this weekend

Fare & Square, a nonprofit grocery store created by Philabundance, also a nonprofit organization, plans to open this Saturday in Chester, PA, a community declared as a food desert by the federal government. The government defines a food desert as a low-income area lacking ready access to healthy food.

The $7 million store is the brain child of Philabundance Executive Director Bill Clark, who said it's nearly impossible to buy a head of lettuce in any of Chester's 100 corner stores. Chester's population is approximately 33,000.

Financial help for the nonprofit store has been provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund, the City of Chester, and others.

Although anyone can shop in the 16,000 square foot store, shoppers with annual incomes equal to or less than twice the federal poverty level of $23,000 for a family of four can accrue store credits of seven percent of their purchase. The credits can be applied towards future purchases.

Chester, once a bustling shipbuilding town, has struggled in the years after World War II.  As of Saturday, the city will have the designation of being home to the only nonprofit supermarket in the country.

According to a Philly.com story, Bottom Dollar is planning to open a store in Chester in 2014.

Sales increase at Food Lion, Bottom Dollar still not profitable

Delhaize Group sales and earnings increased in the company's second quarter due in part to sales increases at Food Lion, according to a company statement issued last month. U.S. sales for Delhaize, which includes Food Lion, Hannaford and Bottom Dollar, improved 0.4% to $4.25 billion, as compared to the same period one year ago.

Margins improved from 3.7% to 3.8%, and profits in the U.S. were up by 4.9% to $162 million.

Although Bottom Dollar is still not profitable, Delhaize says the chain is making significant progress on cost and productivity initiatives and is continuing to gain new shoppers.

Bi-Lo to buy three banners from Delhaize

Bi-Lo Holding, which operates Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie supermarket chains in eight southern states, announced yesterday that it has agreed to acquire Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid's stores from Delhaize for $265 million. Delhaize owns Food Lion and Bottom Dollar Food, among others.

According to a Supermarket News report, there are 165 stores included in the transaction that generated revenues of about $1.8 billion last year. The same report claims that Sweetbay currently has 72 stores in Florida, Harveys has 72 stores in Georgia and Florida, and Reid's has 11 stores in California. (72+72+11=155.)

The sale is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approval.

Delhaize considering sale of Sweetbay and Harveys

According to multiple reports today, Delhaize Group, which owns Food Lion and Bottom Dollar Food, has hired an investment bank to assist in the possible sale of its Sweetbay and Harveys brands in the U.S. Sweetbay, which is in Delhaize's Hannaford division, operates 72 stores in Florida. Harveys is in the Food Lion division and operates 73 stores, mostly in Georgia.

Philly's fragmented market weeding out "losers"

A recent story in the Supermarket News says that Philadelphia's grocery landscape is "largely being written by its losers." And by losers Supermarket News means Genuardi's, Acme and A&P (Pathmark, SuperFresh).

Genuardi's is down to one store, and the exit of the once mighty brand set the stage for Giant to compete with ShopRite as the market's leading grocer. No one is sure yet what will happen to Acme, which is now part of the investor group led by Cerberus, and A&P continues to struggle.

Bob Gorland of Matthew P. Casey & Associates claims that no other metro area in the entire U.S. has as many chain and strong independent operators as Philadelphia, noting that every major club store and drug chain is here, not to mention "numerous price operators of all shapes and sizes."

The result is a fragmented market, with "losers" giving way to gainers like Giant, ShopRite, Wegmans, Walmart and Bottom Dollar. And the biggest opportunities ahead, according to Gorland, are for the stronger competitors to take over the weaker ones.

Below are the market share leaders for the 11-county Philadelphia market, according to Metro Market Studies, a firm based in Tuscon, AZ.

Note that this is a faulty list, as ShopRite is listed by operator, not as one brand. Last June's Food Trade News market study listed ShopRite as the clear market leader of the 15-county Delaware Valley.

Giant - 15.1%
Acme - 14.9%
Walmart - 5.9%
Pathmark - 5.6%
BJ's - 4.9%
Costco - 4.7%
Wawa - 4.6%
Wegmans - 4.0%
Brown's ShopRite - 3.6%
Zallie ShopRite - 3.1%

Delhaize reports lower losses at Bottom Dollar

Delhaize Group announced first quarter earnings earlier this week and said the company's performance in the U.S. was boosted in part by "lower losses at Bottom Dollar Food." U.S. operating profit for Delhaize increased to $197 million for the quarter, a 14.1% increase compared to the same time period a year ago. Operating margins improved to 4.2% of sales as compared to 3.7% in the first quarter of last year.

The company is in "phase four" of its repositioning effort for Food Lion, and has begun a "fresh round of price investments" at Hannaford Bros.

As for Bottom Dollar, Delhaize has not opened a new store in the past nine months, but future openings are planned for the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets.

Delhaize America to cut 500 jobs

Delhaize America, the parent company of Food Lion, Bottom Dollar and others, announced yesterday that it will eliminate 500 jobs as part of a corporate reorganization. The jobs lost will be "above the store manager level" and will include 350 current employees as well as 150 open positions.

Yesterday's announcement follows last month's news that 33 Sweetbay stores, eight Food Lions and three Bottom Dollar locations would close. The Bottom Dollar stores are all in Pennsylvania (North Wales, Chalfont and Reading).

1/18/2013 story: Three Bottom Dollar stores to close in PA