Saladworks to expand presence at Brown's Wakefern supermarkets

Saladworks opened its first-ever location in a supermarket about a year ago, in a Philadelphia ShopRite owned by Jeff Brown. And now, after deeming the pilot a success, it plans to expand its presence at Brown-owned Wakefern Food Corp. locations in Greater Philadelphia.

So far, Saladworks restaurants are planned for Brown's ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in Philadelphia and Wyncote, PA, respectively. Another three or four Saladworks locations could follow at Brown's supermarkets within the next year, according to Saladworks CEO Patrick Sugrue.

"We're finding that salad bars are falling out of favor, they're not profitable for grocery stores, they have a lot of waste and they take up a lot of space," explained Sugrue. "In the same space or less than a money-losing salad buffet, we can place a full Saladworks restaurant and deliver our core menu to consumers - made exactly the way they want."

Price Rite debuts new store designs and expanded offerings

Wakefern's Price Rite Marketplace held grand re-openings earlier this month for stores in Bethlehem, Allentown and Secane, PA where it's piloting new store designs, expanded fresh and private-label offerings, and enhanced price savings.

The grocer also said it is now offering a larger selection of Wholesome Pantry products, which include organic and gluten-free options.

The store designs include new decor, a market-style produce department, LED lighting, improved signage and new self-service checkouts.

PriceRite operates 66 supermarkets in nine states. It is part of the Wakefern cooperative that also includes more than 340 ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer and Dearborn Market stores.

Wakefern introduces Price Rite Marketplace

The Wakefern Food Corp cooperative launched a rebranding of the Price Rite banner and unveiled its first fully rebranded store under the new Price Rite Marketplace name in Secane, PA last month. According to a story in Supermarket News, the store is brighter and includes new signage, a whitewashed wood backdrop, and various new offerings.

Wakefern said it plans to roll out the look to all 65 of its Price Rite locations in the next year.

The new offerings at Price Rite Marketplace include a "Sweet Spot Dessert" case, expanded private label offerings, a "Meals to Go" section, and the addition of Certified Angus Beef and Perdue's No Antibiotics Ever Chicken.

"Price Rite has become the strongest traditionally sized extreme-value retailer in the Eastern U.S.," according to Burt Flickinger, managing partner at Strategic Resource Group. "In relatively small amounts of space, they have some of the highest sales per square foot and sales per store of any of the extreme-value stores."

Price Rite stores typically have from 22,500 - 35,000 square feet of selling space, according to Flickinger. 

Fresh Grocer, UPenn in litigation over Acme deal in University City

The Philadelphia Business Journal reported last week that Acme signed a lease with the University of Pennsylvania for a 34,500 square foot store on Walnut Street in University City. However, Fresh Grocer currently operates a store there and doesn't plan to leave, even though Penn notified them that their lease expired on March 31.

Penn's claim that Fresh Grocer missed the deadline to renew its lease is disputed by Wakefern, the cooperative that Fresh Grocer is a member of. Attorneys are now heavily involved...

Walmart, Kroger and Costco top list of 75 food sellers in US and Canada

Supermarket News released its annual list of the Top 75 Retailers and Wholesalers. The list ranks the largest sellers of food (by revenue) to be consumed at home in the United States and Canada.

Here are some bulleted highlights that I have copied word-for-word from Supermarket News. I would suggest visiting their website for the complete study.

• Natural and organic foods are still growing, but the retail beneficiaries aren't necessarily who they used to be;
• Formats serving low-income shoppers - while still some of the industry's fastest growers due to unit growth - have seen their sales in disarray as their shoppers deal with reductions to federal food benefit programs and rising costs for housing and health care, while a slowly improving economy may be lifting some of their shoppers out of the channel; and
• While Internet retailing remained a relatively small share of the pie, it became the subject of outsized ambitions by some of the industry's leading players, and a serious threat from digital natives like Amazon, which at year-end announced plans for a leap into the physical food retailing world. Initiatives to add click-and-collect shopping capabilities speak to a trend among food retailers to improve the convenience of their offerings to shoppers, and drive more sales from existing units, sources said.
• All this occurred while a nearly unprecedented stretch of deflating prices triggered chaos throughout the supply chain - an event analysts say could dampen sales at least through the first half of 2017.

Here are the top 10 retailers and wholesalers, plus other notable companies on the list.

1.  Walmart

2.  Kroger

3.  Costco

4.  Albertsons

5.  Ahold Delhaize

6.  Loblaw Cos.

7.  Publix

8.  Target

9.  C&S Wholesale Grocers

10. Walgreens

Also:

12. CVS

15. Dollar General

16. Supervalu

16. Wakefern

19. 7-Eleven

20. Trader Joe's

21. Aldi

22. Dollar Tree

26. BJ's Wholesale Club

30. Rite Aid

30. Wegmans

44. Weis Markets

54. Grocery Outlet

56. The Fresh Market

61. Amazon

Three Wakefern members were listed as separate entities on the list, including Saker ShopRite (56), Village Super Market (61), and Inserra Supermarkets (69).

Fresh Grocer opens in Grays Ferry

Fresh Grocer opened its newest store this past Friday in the former Pathmark space in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia. The 57,000 square foot store is the sixth Fresh Grocer location in the city.

In addition to its full-service supermarket operation, the company said the store will offer 300 varieties of wine and beer.

Fresh Grocer, part of the Wakefern Cooperative, now has nine stores in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

ShopRite opens new stores in Philly and Brookhaven, PA

Earlier this month ShopRite opened a 60,000 square foot store in South Philadelphia's Whitman Plaza, replacing an older ShopRite about a mile away. The new store is in a former Pathmark location that Wakefern acquired during A&P's bankruptcy auction last year.

The renovated supermarket includes the standard grocery departments plus an in-store cafe, on-site dietition, and meal planning services for customers. It also offers ShopRite from Home internet shopping with home delivery and store pick-up options.

In August, ShopRite opened in Brookhaven, PA, also in a former Pathmark location. At 63,000 square feet, the store is open 24 hours a day and offers a beer garden as well as grocery delivery services. A Giant supermarket is under construction across the street.

ShopRite, Weis, Grocery Outlet add stores

It was announced last month that Village Super Market, a Wakefern member that operates 29 ShopRite supermarkets, signed a lease for a 90,000 square foot store that will anchor a new mixed-use development in Old Bridge, NJ. The store is slated to open next summer. Plans for the development include 2,000 residential units and more than 500,000 square feet of retail space.

Weis announced last month that it plans to purchase five Mars stores in Baltimore County, Maryland. When the purchase is complete (in late July, according to the announcement), Weis will have nine stores in the county. Mars currently operates 13 stores, including the five stores to be closed. The company closed four stores earlier this year.

Grocery Outlet, the California-based chain that purchased Amelia's in 2012, celebrated its 50th Pennsylvania store with its opening last month in Quakertown's Trainer's Corner Shopping Center. Sears Hardware had previously occupied the building. A Grocery Outlet employee said the company plans more stores, with an expansion goal of 80 throughout New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
  

ShopRite and Samsung to allow customers to order groceries from their refrigerators

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, Samsung showed off its new Family Hub refrigerator that will allow owners to order groceries from ShopRite through the appliance's built-in screen. ShopRite plans to integrate its online grocery service with the Groceries by MasterCard app that comes with the refrigerator.

According to published reports, ShopRite customers will be able to use the appliance's integrated tablet to order groceries and schedule in-store pickups or at-home delivery.

"By partnering with Groceries by MasterCard, we can make life even more convenient for our customers with this latest innovation in on-demand grocery shopping," said Wakefern Food Corp. President and CEO Joe Sheridan. "This new technology incorporated into the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator allows families immediate access to our ShopRite stores the moment they run out of food or need immediate ingredients for a recipe or planned meal."

"This new product is really cool, although it gives humans another reason not to leave the house and talk to other humans," said at least a few people who read this blog post.

ShopRite subject to antitrust claim in fight to squeeze Wegmans

Wegmans' bid to open a store in Hanover, NJ took an interesting twist recently, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision reversing a previous ruling, and holding that Village Supermarkets, a ShopRite operator and Wakefern member, may be subject to an antitrust claim related to its efforts to thwart Wegmans' plans.

In other words, Wegmans is claiming that Village Supermarkets tried to stop them from coming to Hanover, and now Village Supermarkets may be in lots of trouble. Here's a link to the legal summary: When Land Use And Antitrust Collide: The Curious Case of Wegmans V. ShopRite

A&P has sold 167 of 296 stores; all remaining supermarkets to go dark by Thanksgiving

To quote the Food Trade News, "The wind down of the once iconic Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company goes on and the results continue to be underwhelming."

The publications November issue reports that 167 of the 296 stores have been sold, with another 20 awaiting sales approval from the bankruptcy court. All the stores are slated to shut their doors by November 25.

The 167 stores have sold for a total of $615.7 million, and the 20 additional stores to be sold will bring in another $81 million, pending approval.  A&P has also sold inventories and pharmacy records (about $100 million between the two), and has received a $1.75 million offer from Key Foods to acquire the Food Emporium name.

Once all the stores are closed and A&P is no longer under bankruptcy protection, landlords stuck with vacant stores and no rental income will be free to market their properties (with some exceptions, as per the ongoing bankruptcy process).

So far, 71 stores have been sold to Acme, most of which have already re-opened. Stop & Shop and Key Food Stores acquired 25 and 24 units, respectively. Wakefern (13) and Best Yet (10) also bought multiple stores.

Reference: Food Trade News

Wegmans to anchor Brooklyn Navy Yard development

Wegmans has been selected as an anchor tenant for a $140 million development at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The store will be Wegmans' first in New York City.

According to reports, demolition of existing buildings will begin later this year, and the 74,000 square foot store is expected to open in 2018.

Five years ago the Navy Yard selected a Wakefern Food Corp. member to build a 55,000 square foot ShopRite at the same site, but the deal died when the developer was indicted on bribery charges (which were eventually dismissed).

In addition to the supermarket, the project will include 78,000 square feet of retail space, 126,000 square feet of light industrial space, and 7,000 square feet of community space. The project will be developed by Steiner NYC, which operates film studios at the same site.

Wakefern members on list of Top 50 Small Chains

Supermarket News released its annual list of the Top 50 Small Chains and Independent Supermarkets. Listed at number two on the list (but actually tied for the top spot) was Inserra Supermarkets, a New Jersey-based Wakefern member that operates 22 stores under the ShopRite banner. Inserra has annual sales of $1.2 billion, according to the story that accompanied the list.

Also on the list:

#10 - Redner's Warehouse Markets
#35 - Brown's Super Stores (Wakefern/ShopRite - PA and NJ)
#37 - Perlmart (Wakefern/ShopRite - NJ)

Wakefern's fiscal 2014 sales rise 4%

Wakefern Food Corp. reported last week that retail sales improved by 4% to $14.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended on September 27, 2014. During the fiscal year store openings included six ShopRite, five PriceRite and six Fresh Grocer stores. In addition, the company expanded its ShopRite from Home services to 214 stores.

Kings and Balducci's leaving White Rose for Wakefern

Angelo Gordon Supermarkets, which operates the Kings Food Markets and Balducci's banners in the Northeast, has begun the process of switching from White Rose to Wakefern, according to published reports. Associated Wholesalers, Inc. (AWI), White Rose's parent company, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy last month and is expected to be sold at auction to C&S Wholesale Grocers.

Grocery dominates Top 100 Retailers list

The National Retail Federation released its Top 100 U.S. Retailers list, with Walmart on top with $334 billion in sales, about three-and-a-half times the sales of runner-up Kroger.

As a merchandise segment, grocery continues to prove that it's a driving force. According to the study, eight of the nation's 10 largest retailers drive a significant portion of store traffic with groceries. In total, 37 of the Top 100 retailers include groceries in their merchandise mix, and more than 20 can be classified as supermarkets.

Here are the top 10:

Walmart - $334 billion
Kroger - $94 billion
Costco - $75 billion
Target - $71 billion
The Home Depot - $70 billion
Walgreens - $68 billion
CVS Caremark - $66 billion
Lowe's - $52 billion
Amazon.com - $44 billion
Safeway - $38 billion

Other food retailers on the list include the following:

13: Publix - $29 billion
17: Ahold USA - $26 billion
21: Albertsons - $19 billion
23: Delhaize America - $19 billion
25: Dollar General - $17.5 billion
28: Wakefern/ShopRite - $14 billion
29: BJ's Wholesale - $13 billion
32: Whole Foods Market - $12.5 billion
37: Supervalu - $11 billion
38: Aldi - $11 billion
40: Family Dollar - $10 billion
50: Trader Joe's - $8 billion
62: Wegmans - $7 billion

Fresh Grocer closes NJ store in "food desert"

The Fresh Grocer closed its New Brunswick, NJ store on May 24 after less than two years in operation. The store, located in a downtown "food desert," was not able to generate enough business, according to owner Pat Burns.

The company, which became part of the Wakefern cooperative last year, operates six other locations in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The New Brunswick Parking Authority owns the property in which The Fresh Grocer operated and is looking for replacement tenants for the 50,000 square foot space.

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)

Wakefern sales increase to $14.1 billion in fiscal 2013

Wakefern reported last week that retail sales reached $14.1 billion for the fiscal year ending September 28, 2013. The figure represents a 3.9% sales increase over the previous year.

During fiscal 2013, the company added 10 new ShopRite stores, four PriceRite stores and one Fresh Grocer store. It also expanded its ShopRite from Home service to 172 stores.

The Wakefern cooperative has approximately 250 ShopRite stores located in NY, NJ, PA, CT, DE and MD, 32 of which are corporately owned. PriceRite, a subsidiary of Wakefern, operates more than 50 stores in CT, MA, NY, PA and RI.