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,” […]
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 […]
Giant opens a fast-casual restaurant in its Maryland supermarket
Giant Food opened its first in-store fast-casual restaurant last week in partnership with Maryland-based Nelly Fresh. The restaurant opened in Giant’s Ellicott City, MD location. According to news reports, Nelly Fresh is a chef-driven concept that makes everything fresh daily and features a wide variety of customizable salads, wraps and bowls. The in-store location is […]
Grocery Outlet continues expansion in Philadelphia
Grocery Outlet opened its fifth Philadelphia store last week, bringing a “much-needed local grocery option to the area,” according to the company. The store, located on 1801 North American Street in North Philadelphia, will be run by independent operators Jess Loflin and Marie Cole. Grocery Outlet’s strategy is to offer low prices by opportunistically buying […]
Lidl lays off 200 U.S. employees but “is still a danger for the U.S. grocery market”
“Lidl is still a danger for the U.S. (grocery) market.” That’s the statement made by Sebastian Rennack, a retail analyst at Aletos Advisory in Germany, in response to Lidl’s decision last month to layoff 200 U.S. corporate employees. The company’s geographical penetration in the U.S. is low, he says, because the locations were not well […]