EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

C&S Wholesale keeps growing despite A&P losses

An executive for C&S Wholesale Grocers said yesterday the company is growing through the addition of customers like Ahold (Giant, Stop & Shop), Foodtown and Target. This growth comes despite the fact that bankrupt A&P had accounted for as much as 20% of the company’s revenues. At a conference yesterday, C&S Senior Vice President and […]

Supervalu has problems, and experts have opinions

A recent Forbes.com blog post pointed out that Supervalu (Acme and Save-A-Lot in these parts) has problems. “Revenue at Supervalu has declined each of the past two years, earnings have been negative for two of the last three years, and dividends have been declining as well…” According to the blog post, Former Supervalu President Gene Hoffman […]

Whole Foods posts best earnings results in 5 years

After posting their strongest quarterly results in the past five years, Whole Foods may accelerate store growth, raise the dividend or repurchase stock, according to C0-CEO John Mackey. Here are some of the key stats from the company’s fiscal second quarter: Net income rose 33.3% to $89.9 million. Sales increased 12% to $2.4 billion. Comparable […]

Target has big increase in grocery sales

Although the Supermarket News story below is not just about Target, the attention grabber is the retailer’s announcement of a 30% increase in comparable-store grocery sales for April. Retailers Post April Sales Gains

Weis plans to increase pace of store growth

Saturday’s Supermarket News story reports that Weis Markets will increase capital spending in 2011 and increase the pace of its store growth. Although the company isn’t as big and well-known as some of its Pennsylvania rivals, it remains a healthy competitor in this market. Weis Increases Cap-Ex Budget to $110M

Aldi is the affordable price leader, according to recent study

Earlier this week a new study by Market Force Information, conducted in March with 6,100 participants in the U.S. and Canada, determined that Aldi is the low price grocery leader. Other grocers that topped the list include Costco, Giant Foods, ShopRite, Walmart, Safeway, H-E-B, Kroger, Meijer and Publix. Other findings included the following:   Walmart ranked highest among […]

Acme Cuts 900 Part-Time Workers

According to Acme, clerks and baggers who work about 12-16 hours per week will be the people who lose their part-time jobs. There is no doubt Acme President Dan Sanders and his staff are working hard to right the ship. Cutting workers won’t make their efforts to improve customer service any easier, but it certainly […]

Starbucks is now the No. 3 U.S. restaurant chain

MSNBC reported today that Starbucks has surpassed Burger King and Wendy’s to become the third largest restaurant chain in the U.S., based on domestic sales. McDonald’s and Subway are first and second, respectively. Full disclosure: Equity Retail Brokers represents Starbucks in the Greater Philadelphia market, but there is no direct evidence (just rumors) that this […]

Depending on who you believe, Acme or ShopRite tops the Philly market

Supermarket News published an article yesterday that provides Supervalu’s up-to-date grocery sales market share positions in 10 markets relative to a year ago. According to their numbers, Acme’s sales and market share are falling in the Philadelphia region “like peppers on an overstuffed cheesesteak.” The numbers are based on a study by Metro Market Studies, […]

A&P Seeks to Sell 25 Super Fresh Stores in MD, DE and DC

The Supermarket News story below reports that A&P will sell 25 Super Fresh stores in the next two months. The bulk of the stores (22 of the 25) are in Maryland, primarily in the Baltimore market, while two are in Washington D.C. and one is in Delaware. According to the story, A&P said Super Fresh […]