Vince 'Jim' Genuardi, supermarket pioneer, dead at 88

Vincent "Jim" Genuardi, who along with his brothers built the Genuardi's Family Markets supermarket chain, died earlier this month. He was 88 years old.

At its height, the Genuardi's chain had 33 stores and 7,000 employees in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Genuardi's daughter, Lisa Genuardi Wilson, said her father "was part of the committee within the National Grocers Association that paved the way for beer and wine in supermarkets. He spend a lot of time way back in the late '80s in Harrisburg, fighting for the rights we have in select (grocery) stores today."

Jim Vuotto, who worked for Genuardi's for 48 years, said Genuardi "was a pioneer for using bar codes. We were also the first company where every manager in the store was food certified. That was huge."

"They were all an incredible, community-oriented family," Vuotto said. "All the brothers had their own expertise area. Jim was groceries, Charles ran produce, Joe ran frozen food, Tom ran meat, and Frank did real estate."

Independent grocers saw net profit gains in 2011

Independent grocery stores, which make up about 5% of the grocery market as compared to 20% 10 years ago, saw average net profits before taxes rise to 1.12% in 2011, a 3.7% gain from the previous year, according to a survey by the National Grocers Association and FMS Solutions.

According to the survey, same-store sales for independents rose 2.6%, but when adjusting for food-at-home inflation (changes in retail prices for food), it was actually a 2.2% decrease. Gross margins increased from 25.68% to 26.33%.

The survey also found that independents whose net profits were in the top 25% of the sector significantly outperformed their peers, as their net profit before taxes was 4.67%, an increase of 14% from the previous year.