Content about Retailing

ST. LOUIS — Save-A-Lot, the hard-discount, limited-assortment grocery chain owned by Supervalu, on Tuesday dispatched two "brand ambassadors" on the Save-A-Lot Fuel Your Family Road Trip. The "Road Scholars" will make pitstops at Save-A-Lot locations in 10 cities between Aug. 7 and Aug. 28 to help raise awareness that Save-A-Lot can be the go-to source for affordable, high-quality food.

NEW YORK — Discount stores will continue to dominate as the destination for the majority of consumers’ back-to-school dollars this year, according to a survey by Accenture on parents’ back-to-school shopping plans.

The majority of parents (59%) will spend between $100 and $500 on back-to-school shopping this year, with 21% of consumers saying they plan to spend more than $500 this year. That’s down from 28% in 2010, indicating a decline in spending on the big-ticket items for school.

NEW YORK — Financial services firm Credit Suisse tabulated total basket increases of 2.7% year over year and 1% month over month for retail.

“Our monthly pricing survey in Dallas and Chicago showed that all retailers raised prices on a year-over-year and month-over-month basis with the exception of Jewel [a Supervalu banner operating in Chicago],” Credit Suisse research analyst Ed Kelly wrote in a note published Monday.


The 19th century British writer William Hickson may have written, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again,” but he only had half the story. By all means, try again, but don’t do the same thing over and over and expect different results.


WASHINGTON — Expect flat back-to-school sales this year as parents continue to be cautious with their spending, the National Retail Federation found in its latest survey.

In its back-to-school survey, conducted by BIGresearch, NRF found that consumers are purchasing more store-brand or generic items (39.9%), comparison shopping more online (29.8%) and shopping for sales (50%). Additionally, nearly half of survey respondents said the economy is forcing them to simply spend less in general (43.7%).

NEW YORK — Rising food prices and shrinking package sizes are a top concern for consumers, according to Deloitte's "2011 Consumer Food and Product Insight Survey."

CARLISLE, Pa. — The U.S. subsidiary of Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold is hoping to attract local and diverse suppliers to its stores in the markets in which it operates.

Ahold USA said Thursday that it had its first annual Local/Diverse Business Opportunity Fair last month. The fair attracted participants from more than 140 companies that were given the opportunity to have their products reviewed by Ahold USA procurement teams for placement in more than 750 stores throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons is pulling the plug on its self-checkout units, which will be replaced by standard "H" lanes or express lanes, the grocer has confirmed.

The 217-store grocer that operates in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Utah has self-checkout units installed in roughly 100 of its stores. Those units will be removed by the end of the summer.

According to the grocer, the self-checkout units prevent it from providing the level of customer service it wants to offer its shoppers.

Overdrive.


Increasingly, chains that traditionally have not been major forces in food retailing are making bigger commitments than ever to fresh — including meat, produce and dairy — in an effort not only to help solve the nation’s growing health crisis and expand Americans’ access to nutritious food options, but also to create new reasons for customers to shop their stores.


BOSTON — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Meet the Market program on Saturday afforded the more than 250 retail buyers in attendance a bit of a preview of what new product ideas and launches will be showcased at the conference.


BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The new small-format Walmart Express stores that opened earlier this month are an interesting concept with intriguing growth potential. But for the time being, and possibly for much longer, competitors need not concern themselves with the small stores.


At least that’s what Walmart wants the marketplace to believe following the opening of the first few of the 15,000-sq.-ft. stores earlier this month in northwest Arkansas.


Drug Store News spoke with Greg Tradup, category manager of perishable, supplies and foodservice at McLane Co., about how chain drug retailers successfully can operate in the growing perishable foods space.

Drug Store News: Why have fresh and frozen food become such an attractive category for chain drug retailers?