Despite their decline in sales and market share, Metro Market Studies says Acme is still the market leader, with a 16.8% share, down 0.8% from a year ago. Giant/Martin’s is second, with a 12.3% share, up 1.4% from 2010. Although Wegmans and ShopRite don’t show up in the article’s market share chart, the story acknowledged that these strong operators are hurting Acme, just as Target and Bottom Dollar are.
But truly defining market leaders comes down to defining the markets themselves. Nearly one year ago Food Trade News published its annual market study, and Publisher Jeff Metzger reported that ShopRite surpassed Acme as the leading supermarket retailer in the 15-county Delaware Valley market, although Acme maintained a small lead in Greater Philadelphia’s 8-county area. This market study holds more weight in my book, as their market definitions and overall analysis seem to be stronger. The 2011 Food Trade News market study should come out in a couple months.
Here’s the Supermarket News story:
Not So Super | An analysis of 10 key Supervalu retail markets illustrates the company’s struggles