THE FRIDAY 5: Nationwide Grocery Growth; Walmart’s New Approach to Innovation
Welcome to The Friday 5, Progressive Grocer’s new weekly roundup of the top news and trends in the food retail industry. Each Friday, we’ll take a look at the stories that are most important to our readers and also keep tabs on the trends that are poised to impact grocers.
1. Growth Mindset
While last week brought stories of downsizing, this week has seen an influx of news about retailers scaling up their operations. Low-price, big-assortment grocer Woodman’s Market, which currently has 19 locations in Wisconsin and Illinois, is looking to expand its footprint in the Prairie State and has submitted plans for a store in Plainfield, a suburb southwest of Chicago.
Lidl, meanwhile, is marking the opening of its 174th U.S. location at Queens Place Mall in the New York City borough. Further west, WinCo Foods is in expansion mode and is set to open a new location in the Phoenix market in late 2024, its eighth outpost in the state of Arizona. Additionally, Big Y Foods Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire the leasehold interests for three supermarkets in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
2. A Bevy of Executive Moves
Northeast Grocery Inc. has taken another major step in its strategic transformation plan by elevating its COO John Persons to serve as CEO, effective Feb. 26, as current CEO Frank Curci is retiring from the company. Minnesota-based Coborn’s, which ushered in the new year with new president and COO David Best at the helm, has elevated Emily Coborn Wright to the role of SVP of growth initiatives, while company veteran Nathan Tykwinski will move to VP of market strategy development.
Additionally, the board of directors of Big Y Foods named Nicole D’Amour Schneider to the position of SVP of retail operations and customer experience, making her the company’s first female SVP.
3. Fresco y Mas Officially Spun Off
Ahead of the expected closing of a massive deal for ALDI to acquire 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets stores, Southeastern Grocers has completed the divestiture of its other banner, Fresco y Más. The Hispanic chain will now be part of the Fresco Retail Group, an investment group from Coral Gables, Fla., specializing in the food and grocery industries.
4. Walmart’s New Approach to Innovation
Walmart is shuttering Store Nº8, which was formed in 2017 as part of the retailer’s larger innovation mission. While it was named after the Arkansas store where Walmart founder Sam Walton tested new ideas, Store Nº8 was not a physical location and had team members located in Hoboken, N.J.; Bentonville, Ark.; and Los Angeles.
“We’ve graduated capabilities from this operating approach that are now fully embedded in our organization,” wrote CFO John David Rainey in a staff memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal. “The responsibility to shape the future of retail is now shared by all segments.”
5. The Race for E-Commerce Dominance
Polling company Ipsos is out with a new study assessing grocers on the success of their e-commerce businesses. The study looked broadly at e-commerce experience trends and, more specifically, gauged different fulfillment methods across 17 leading U.S. food retailers.
Target Corp., Walmart and Albertsons Cos. emerged as overall top performers, with steady year-over-year improvements. Whole Foods Market was lauded by shoppers for having the best communication for delivery, and Albertsons ranked highest for loyalty.
