Supermarket Wars

[Andy M.]

Now that our local super market chain is back in business after settling a family feud, I decided to stop by to see how things looked.

Walking up and down the aisles, I saw gaps on the shelves in the dairy, meat and produce sections. Otherwise, the store was almost back to normal stock levels.

I bought a few small items I could not find elsewhere including the lox I like best. I'll be baking bagels this weekend. Planning a full shopping for Sunday.

Customers were there in force and the aisles were full of employees stocking shelves in just about every department.

I stopped to chat with the Asst. Manager and he was greatly relieved.

My daughter is no doubt thrilled now that they are back. She was not taking the walk-out/boycott well.

 

[Addie]

Now that our local super market chain is back in business after settling a family feud, I decided to stop by to see how things looked.

Walking up and down the aisles, I saw gaps on the shelves in the dairy, meat and produce sections. Otherwise, the store was almost back to normal stock levels.

I bought a few small items I could not find elsewhere including the lox I like best. I'll be baking bagels this weekend. Planning a full shopping for Sunday.

Customers were there in force and the aisles were full of employees stocking shelves in just about every department.

I stopped to chat with the Asst. Manager and he was greatly relieved.

My daughter is no doubt thrilled now that they are back. She was not taking the walk-out/boycott well.

I am with your daughter on this one. I wasn't too happy either. But then today I get a notice in the mail, that SNAP didn't get my recertification papers back in time, so I will be receiving my food stamps late for September. Oh joy! First DeMoulas and now SNAP. Is the world trying to force me to diet?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Andy, I stopped in the one I shop on Thursday. Needed a jar of Miracle Whip to make the Chief's coleslaw, so I figured it would give me the chance to scope things out. The grocery aisles were hit-and-miss with product. The dairy looked decent, as well as the deli being about half-way. I was surprised that the fresh seafood was fully stocked! Guess Boston Sword and Tuna was eager to make a point.

The in-store bakery was empty, as was the rotisserie chicken cart. A produce clerk and manager were talking so I congratulated them on getting back to work. I mentioned that I figured the further a store is from the warehouse, the later they would be restocked. The produce manager said that even though the stores had a chance to do thorough cleanings, the fresh food section of the warehouse has to be completely sanitized because when people walked out all that stuff that was there spoiled. He figured it would be Saturday or Sunday before those trucks could roll. We probably won't get fresh out here in the boonies until Wednesday of next week. I guess it's off to a small store I tried a town over. It's so 1950's, but the quality is good enough and the prices generally are the best I've found in the last six weeks of exploring.

 

[Addie]

Thanks for the update on the produce. I can only hope they will have produce by the time I am able to go shopping. If they ever straighten out my food stamps.

 

[buckytom]

is it me, or does it seem like you guys need more competition in the supermarkets?

we've had a lot of consolidation/monopolization here, but i'm not sure how to get a bead on it. my only comparison is nyc which is already a crime.

 

[Addie]

is it me, or does it seem like you guys need more competition in the supermarkets?

we've had a lot of consolidation/monopolization here, but i'm not sure how to get a bead on it. my only comparison is nyc which is already a crime.

DeMoulas is a family owned chain of supermarkets. It started out as a Mom and Pop small grocery store out in Lowell. The father grew his store into a supermarket and from there it took off. The only way this late comer could survive was to always charge a few cents less on most of the items. And it has always been that way. Then when Artie T got fired as CEO, the workers walked out. It was him that gave them a reasonably decent wage, and employee benefits along with bonuses four times a year. When he got fired, the employees saw all that going out the window. No wonder they walked out. During the walkout, the other two major chains in this area were going crazy trying to keep up. But they knew that it wouldn't last. So they smartly did not hire any additional help.

Now the question is, since DeMoulas lost 90% of their business during the walkout, can they recoup their losses without raising prices? The saga is not over yet.

 

[buckytom]

what other choices are there? just expensive "boutique" or corporate places like whole foods?

 

[Addie]

We have Stop and Shop and Shaw's. Shaw's has been listed as being very expensive. But Stop & Shop is almost right up there with them for price. Unlike DeMoulas which is a privately owned chain, Shaw's and S&S are both corporations.

DeMoulas was giving back to the customer 4% of their total register receipt excluding the obvious like cigaretts, alcohol, milk, milk products and by products, etc. (Milk and it by products in this state requires a special license to sell.) It is supposed to run until the end of December. I hope they will continue to do so. It was for appreciation for the customer support it gave last year when all the turmoil began.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

bucky, the eastern half of MA has more grocery stores than you can shake a coupon at. Depending on where you are, you can chose from:
1) Shaws
2) Price Chopper
3) Hannaford
4) Stop and Shop
5) Market Basket
6) Roche Brothers
7) Whole Paycheck Foods
8) Aldi's
9) Price-Rite
10) Wegmans
11) Park n Shop
12) Trader Joe's
And probably a few more that I don't even know about. Heck, back in OH where we lived you basically have a choice between Giant Eagle and Not Giant Eagle.

Granted, some of those chains have just a couple of locations. Also, some are concentrated in smaller areas. I live near the CT border and south of Worcester MA. Within a 25-mile radius I can shop at any of those except for Whole Foods. And if they were the closest store I would STILL shop any of the others before I picked them.

I'm sure there are even more small chains closer to Boston that I am not aware of. If you live in Boston proper (like Addie) your big-store choices are few. But then you enjoy those small family grocery stores, some that cost pennies more but give you so much more because of the quality. We have a tiny Polish grocery store in our town. The kielbasa isn't priced like Hillshire Farms, but neither is the taste! Even if their seven choices didn't cost between $4.50 and almost $8 a pound, we would still buy it infrequently because of the danged fat content!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Oops, I forgot Big Y. You can tell I never shop there.

Then there are the club stores, if you so chose: Costco, BJs, Sam's.

Don't forget some Wal-Marts and Targets have expanded their food offerings.

 

[buckytom]

wow, thanks cg. i think i was getting the wrong impression before.
them northeasteners really do set their jaw when they choose their way.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

bucky, I'm not even a native New Englander but I hated the idea of having to find a new regular market if Market Basket didn't resolve the family feud thing. I love my Market Basket!! Their quality is usually high, but they charge such reasonable prices and they still make a profit. I'm going to try and remember this correctly from some stats given early on in this walk-out. Last year, with something like 182 stores, Hannaford made a profit of $4 billion. With 71 stores, Market Basket made a profit of $3.5 billion. MB has fewer stores and lower prices, yet their profit wasn't exactly chump change. That leads you to wonder how much gouging goes on at the other major chains! It also shows what makes people loyal to Market Basket. Since we got a store about seven miles from our home I rarely shop anywhere else unless I need something NOW. I have a small-chain store less than a mile from home. What I'm spending extra for that gallon of milk ($3.89 vs $2.49) I'm saving on gas for the car.

 

[Andy M.]

BT, the Market Basket chain is a gem. 71 stores and 25,000 employees in this area. While privately run, they have one of the highest profit margins in the country yet still provide the lowest prices and take good care of their employees as evidenced by the employee and customer support of the once ousted CEO.

This chain should be studied by the other guys.

 

[kleenex]

We have Stop and Shop and Shaw's. Shaw's has been listed as being very expensive. But Stop & Shop is almost right up there with them for price. Unlike DeMoulas which is a privately owned chain, Shaw's and S&S are both corporations.

DeMoulas was giving back to the customer 4% of their total register receipt excluding the obvious like cigaretts, alcohol, milk, milk products and by products, etc. (Milk and it by products in this state requires a special license to sell.) It is supposed to run until the end of December. I hope they will continue to do so. It was for appreciation for the customer support it gave last year when all the turmoil began.

That 4% back to in store purchases was in retaliation for the 300 Million given back to the shareholders right...

 

[Addie]

That 4% back to in store purchases was in retaliation for the 300 Million given back to the shareholders right...

Yes. And that is what got Arthur T fired.

 

[kleenex]

Yes. And that is what got Arthur T fired.

I don't think the company at the time really had the 300 million to give back to the shareholders imo.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Gee, after the franchise wars all restaurants became Taco Bell. So after the supermarket wars, are all grocery stores Safeway?

 

[kleenex]

Gee, after the franchise wars all restaurants became Taco Bell. So after the supermarket wars, are all grocery stores Safeway?

I will say no when you can go to....

1) Shaws
2) Price Chopper
3) Hannaford
4) Stop and Shop
5) Market Basket
6) Roche Brothers
7) Whole Paycheck Foods
8) Aldi's
9) Price-Rite
10) Wegmans
11) Park n Shop
12) Trader Joe's
13) Tops
14) Vons
15) Jewel Osco
16) King Soupers
17) Publix
18) Food Lion
19) A&P Supermaket
20) Winn Dixie
21) Giant Foods
22) Albertsons
23) Schnucks
24) Piggly Wiggly
25) Shop N' Save
26) Path Mark
27) Kroger
28) H.E.B
29) Bi~Lo
30) TomThumb
31) Ralphs
32) Smiths Food And Drug Stores
33) Gelson's
34) Harris Teeter
35) Fred Meyer
36) Raley's
37) Save Mart Supermarket


Coscto
Sam's Club
BJ'S



Walmart Super Stores
Target Super Stores


Albertsons does own Safeway now...

 

[Andy M.]

I don't think the company at the time really had the 300 million to give back to the shareholders imo.

They had the cash. It was a question of how it should have been spent. The shareholders had received a distribution not too long before.

 

[bakechef]

I will say no when you can go to....

1) Shaws
2) Price Chopper
3) Hannaford
4) Stop and Shop
5) Market Basket
6) Roche Brothers
7) Whole Paycheck Foods
8) Aldi's
9) Price-Rite
10) Wegmans
11) Park n Shop
12) Trader Joe's
13) Tops
14) Vons
15) Jewel Osco
16) King Soupers
17) Publix
18) Food Lion
19) A&P Supermaket
20) Winn Dixie
21) Giant Foods
22) Albertsons
23) Schnucks
24) Piggly Wiggly
25) Shop N' Save
26) Path Mark
27) Kroger
28) H.E.B
29) Bi~Lo
30) TomThumb
31) Ralphs
32) Smiths Food And Drug Stores
33) Gelson's
34) Harris Teeter
35) Fred Meyer
36) Raley's
37) Save Mart Supermarket


Coscto
Sam's Club
BJ'S



Walmart Super Stores
Target Super Stores


Albertsons does own Safeway now...

But remember that Kroger corp owns Kroger, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Smith's, Fred Meyer, Dillons etc... While different brand names, same company.

Food Lion, Hannaford, and Bottom Dollar are the same company. Jewel Osco, Shaws the same company.

Ugh, my brain is filled with too much grocery information...