EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Alec Baldwin Rocks Wegmans Ads

After seeing story after story about Alec Baldwin’s Wegmans commercials, I thought I’d post one of them. The Baldwin – Wegmans relationship is pretty neat, especially since it wasn’t initiated by Wegmans, and that Baldwin is donating his fee to his mother’s charity. http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND1124107.aspx

Washington DC reacts to plans for new Walmart stores

This isn’t a Philly story, but it’s still interesting. It illustrates the intense reaction Walmart gets when coming into – or expanding in – a community, whether big or small. http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2010/11/blogs-twitter-shops-unions-react-to.html

Improved weather, sales expected for the holidays

From the International Council of Shopping Centers: http://www.icsc.org/apps/news_item.php?id=2699

‘Turkey Wars’ Could Be Costly: Analyst

I just like the opening sentence of this story: “Retailers waging ‘turkey wars’ this holiday season could be hurt by the rising cost of ammunition, an analyst said Monday.” ‘Turkey Wars’ Could Be Costly: Analyst

Read Jeff Metzger's monthly column from Food Trade News

Jeff Metzger’s column in the Food Trade News is always stock full of industry info. Check it out. http://best-met.com/column/retail-sales-at-11-8b-its-another-banner-year-for-wakefern/

Montgomery County, PA - The Land of the Supermarket

I make a good portion of my living from grocery-anchored shopping centers, and I love stats. So it’s no surprise that I know about each and every grocery-anchored center in Montgomery and Bucks County, PA, and that I have stats. Stat number one is 86, as in 86 grocery-anchored shopping centers in Montgomery County, which is Pennsylvania’s third largest […]

The subtle differences between Aldi, Bottom Dollar and Save-A-Lot

I spent six hours on the road today visiting grocery-anchored shopping centers, and although I saw my share of Giants and ShopRites, I only got out of my car for an Aldi, Bottom Dollar and Save-A-Lot, supermarkets often linked together and referred to as limited assortment or discount operations. The Aldi I visited had the company’s more recent, modern design, was […]

Fresh Market IPO Reflects High-Income Recovery

The notion that Fresh Market’s success is a “boon for retailers at the high end” but an “ongoing challenge for those in the middle” (e.g. traditional supermarkets) is consistent with the conclusions drawn in the Gerson Lehrman Group report that I blogged about earlier this week. Fresh Market IPO Reflects High-Income Recovery

Ex-CEO explains the secrets of success at Trader Joe's

To get inside the mysterious world of Trader Joe’s, Fortune spent two months speaking with former executives, competitors, industry analysts, and suppliers, most of whom asked not to be named. What emerged is a picture of a business at a crossroads: As the company expands into new markets and adds stores — analysts say the grocer could […]

Report: Food Retail Formats of the Future

The Gerson Lehrman Group just published a report titled, “Food Retail Formats of the Future.” It analyzes the “customers of tomorrow,” who are currently – and will continue to be – influenced by social media, the economy and a more diverse population. In addition, other trends like the aging of the baby boom population, the increasing […]