EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Wawa traffic on the rise, Placer names it one of "10 Retail Brands to Watch"

A report earlier this year from Placer.ai found that Wawa, one of Placer’s “10 Top Retail Brands to Watch in 2023,” can attribute much of its success to its ability to shift priorities and strategies in the face of rising prices and shifting post-Covid work routines. The report also mentioned that Forbes ranked Wawa number […]

Survey says Wegmans and H-E-B are best in class

We know that Walmart accounts for the most grocery dollars in the U.S., but according to a recent survey, the world’s largest retailer accounts for almost twice as much as second place Kroger. The survey, conducted by MarketForce and called “US Grocery Benchmark Study: Consumer Experiences and Competitive Benchmarks,” was based on answers from 6,555 […]

Ideal Food Basket opens in Bethlehem

Ideal Food Basket, a 15,000 square foot store featuring a bakery, deli and seven aisles of groceries, opened last week in Bethlehem’s south side, considered by the USDA to be a low income and low access area (formerly known as a food desert). The building previously housed Ahart’s Market, which closed two years ago after […]

Economic Policy Institute says Kroger-Albertsons merger could cost workers $300M

The Economic Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States, said in a policy memo that workers at Albertsons and Kroger could lose a total of $300 million annually if the $24.6 billion merger between the two grocers takes place. […]

Weis Markets plans to invest $160M in growth

Weis Markets CEO Jonathan Weis said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month that they plan to invest more than $160 million this year on new stores, remodels, fuel centers and information technology upgrades. “Our budget includes 20 remodels, six fuel centers, one addition and one new store, which will open in 2024,” […]

Irish Drones Are Heading This Way

One of the world’s most successful drone delivery companies will be expanding to mainland Europe and the United States in 2023. Manna Aero has already done over 100,000 drone deliveries in multiple locations in Ireland and is trending to hit over 1,000 deliveries per day in individual dense urban markets. But it won’t be instantly […]

Analysts think Amazon could acquire stores available once Kroger, Albertson merge

In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the grocery business needs to be a focal point of the company’s strategy, despite its recent struggles. Jassy stressed the need to find a mass grocery format that’s worth expanding broadly, saying that a larger physical store footprint is needed since most […]

Smaller grocery stores experiencing surge in customer traffic

Shoppers shifted away from superstores in the first quarter of the year in favor of smaller grocery chains, according to a recent Placer.ai report. In an attempt by consumers to curb food spending, grocers like Metro Market (17.9% increase), Grocery Outlet (11.6%), Trader Joe’s (8.8%) and others have experienced a surge. Despite the dip in […]

Aldi opening more stores than any other grocer

Aldi opened 49 new stores across the U.S. last year, the most of any grocer, according to a recent JLL report. And the discount grocer shows no signs of slowing down. An article in Eat This, Not That said Aldi is on track to open 26 new and remodeled stores this spring, including 18 stores […]

Digital grocery sales reached $128 billion in 2022

A recent study conducted by Incisiv concluded that online grocery sales have settled down to a level below the high pandemic rates of 2020, but they are still well above pre-pandemic levels. Incisiv reported that total digital grocery sales reached $128 billion last year (that’s 14.4% of all grocery sales) and are expected to grow […]