ShopRite, Giant continue to lead food retailers in the Greater Philly market

The annual Market Study issue of the Food Trade News is out, and Publisher Jeff Metzger has over 150 pages of facts and figures about the supermarket landscape from Connecticut to Delaware.

Jeff's Taking Stock column points out that many food retailers found the landscape "extremely challenging and difficult over the last 12 months." He cites overstoring, varied retail styles and formats, and a reduction in food stamp benefits as major factors. However, despite these challenges, ShopRite, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Aldi and Trader Joe's were companies he listed as "ahead of the curve."

In the Delaware Valley market - which consists of five PA counties, nine NJ counties and one DE county - ShopRite increased its lead over Giant in market share and sales for supermarkets. Acme, for many years the dominant store in the market, remained in third after a relatively solid year. Here are the top five:

1. ShopRite / PriceRite (31.89% market share; $3.5 billion in sales from 75 stores)
2. Giant / Carlisle (21.78%; $2.4 billion, 65 stores)
3. Acme Markets (19.70%; $2.1 billion, 91 stores)
4. A&P / Pathmark / Super Fresh (8.22%; $888 million, 46 stores)
5. Wegmans (5.14%; $555 million, 9 stores)

Whole Foods, Thriftway/Shop 'n Bag, Save-A-Lot, Redner's Markets and Bottom Dollar round out the top 10.

In the Philadelphia market - defined as Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Philadelphia Counties in PA, and Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties in NJ - Giant still holds the lead, but ShopRite is gaining. The remaining brands in the top five are the same as above, and numbers 6-10 are the same stores as in the Delaware Valley, although not in the same order. It should be noted that Wegmans leads the pack in sales per store at $61.9 million, followed by ShopRite ($43.2M), Giant ($36.2M), Whole Foods ($33.2M) and Acme ($24M).

When including all retailers that sell food in the eight-county Philadelphia market and ranking them by counting 100% of all store sales for supermarkets, convenience stores and drug chains, and counting comparable supermarket categories for club stores, Kmart, Target and Walmart, the list changes a bit after Giant and ShopRite.

1. Giant / Carlisle ($2.4 billion)
2. ShopRite / PriceRite ($2.1 billion)
3. Wawa ($1.6 billion)
4. Acme Markets ($1.5 billion)
5. Walmart ($1 billion)
6. CVS ($905 million)
7. Rite Aid ($843 million)
8. A&P / Pathmark / Super Fresh ($691 million)
9. Target ($523 million)
10. Wegmans ($495 million)

In Lehigh and Northampton Counties, which many would consider part of the Philadelphia market, Giant is the dominant supermarket, with Weis Markets, Wegmans, Redner's Markets and Walmart as the other major players.

If you get the chance, visit Best-Met.com and marvel at the detail with which Jeff and his team prepared the annual Market Study issue. There are stats on each food retailer, breakdowns of the leaders by individual county, and analysis of the New York and Philadelphia markets. It's food retail overload, and quite frankly, it's making me hungry.

ShopRite, Giant dominate Delaware Valley and Philadelphia market share

The annual Market Study issue, published by Jeff Metzger and friends at Food Trade News, came out last week and reported that ShopRite remained the supermarket leader in the 15-county Delaware Valley market, while Giant took over as the leader in the eight-county Philadelphia market.

"Other merchants may have opened more stores, made acretive acquisitions or achieved higher identical store sales gains," said the authors of the study in describing ShopRite's success, "but on the whole, nobody continued to protect market share, open new stores and have significant same store increases like the member/owners of Wakefern/ShopRite once again did."

Here is the list of Delaware Valley supermarket leaders*, as ranked by market share.

1. ShopRite/PriceRite - 30.08% market share
2. Giant/Carlisle - 21.74%
3. Acme Markets - 19.77%
4. A&P (Pathmark, Super Fresh, Food Basics) - 9.22%
5. Wegmans - 4.72%
6. Save-A-Lot - 3.43%
7. Whole Foods - 3.23%
8. Thriftway/Shop 'n Bag - 2.62%
9. Redner's Markets - 2.57%
10. Bottom Dollar Food (Food Lion) - 2.08%

It's interesting to note that Wegmans earned it's 4.72% share with only 8 stores, and Whole Foods earned its 3.23% share with 10 stores. In comparison, ShopRite/PriceRite has 69 stores in the market, Giant has 62, Acme has 91 and A&P has 48.

The Philadelphia market share leaders* are as follows (the market consists of Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia Counties in PA, and Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties in NJ):

1. Giant/Carlisle - 27.88% market share
2. ShopRite/PriceRite - 23.52%
3. Acme Markets - 18.25%
4. A&P (Pathmark, Super Fresh, Food Basics) - 9.31%
5. Wegmans - 5.31%
6. Whole Foods - 3.65%
7. Save-A-Lot - 3.45%
8. Redner's Markets - 3.29%
9. Thriftway/Shop 'n Bag - 2.41%
10. Bottom Dollar Food - 2.27%

As for the retailers that have struggled over the past several years, the authors said "there was no relief in sight as the economy continued to be listless, competition remained fierce, shopper loyalty diminished and consumers in all economic strata maintained the mindset of thrift and caution."

* The lists above do not include supercenters (Walmart, Target), club stores (Costco, BJ's), drug stores, dollar stores or convenience stores. When including all retailers that sell groceries, Wawa's market share is higher than everyone else's except ShopRite and Giant in both the Delaware Valley and Philadelphia markets. Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid also fare well (top 10), and BJ's is the dominant club store in both markets.

For more detailed information, including sales numbers, lists by county and more, visit best-met.com.

Nonprofit grocery store to open in Chester, PA

Hunger relief organization Philabundance will open Fare & Square, a nonprofit grocery store, next spring in Chester, PA. The store will provide greater food access to local residents, who live in one of 35 food deserts in the Delaware Valley, according to the USDA.

According to the organization, Fare & Square will carry nutritious food staples, with a focus on fresh produce, meats, dairy, seafood and frozen foods. The 13,000 square foot store will be located at the site of the last supermarket within Chester's city limits, which closed 11 years ago.

Philabundance, which hopes to replicate the concept in other Delaware Valley communities, received support for the project from Sunoco, the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund, the Chester Economic Development Authority, the Nonprofit Finance Fund, the Reinvestment Fund, and TD Bank.

ShopRite expanding to Northern New York and Maryland

As Food Trade News declared in its annual Market Study issue, ShopRite has become the dominant grocery retailer in Northern New Jersey, the Delaware Valley and Greater Philadelphia. And as the Supermarket News reported last week, ShopRite is now competing in new markets.

In recent weeks the company opened its first store in the Albany, NY area. That's Price Chopper territory. In the 70s and 80s it was Price Chopper (where I stocked shelves) and Grand Union (where my best friend worked the register). Now it's Price Chopper and Hannaford (part of the Delhaize Group, which includes Food Lion and Bottom Dollar). The word on the street is that ShopRite is looking to open several stores in the area, including Clifton Park, NY, which is my hometown and home to two Price Choppers, a Walmart Supercenter, a Hannaford and an Aldi. My how the town has grown.

ShopRite is also expanding into Maryland, where it will compete with Giant and Safeway, among others. The bottom line is that it won't be easy for ShopRite in Northern New York or Maryland, but the members of the Wakefern Cooperative are strong operators with a proven recipe for success, and ultimately plenty of staying power. In the end it will be good for consumers, as ShopRite will force its competitors to remain on their game.

Giant ready to open first Philly store

Giant is seeing increases in sales and market share in the Delaware Valley, and now they are preparing for the opening of their first supermarket in Philadelphia. The 74,000 square foot store will open Wednesday at 2550 Grant Avenue in Northeast Philly, and will include on-site gas and a pharmacy. It will be open 24 hours a day.

According to Giant, the store will have 275 employees, both full- and part-time.

With the new store, Giant will have 48 stores in the five-county area that includes Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware and Chester counties. According to Food Trade News, these stores averaged approximately $32.5 million in sales in the last year.