It’s that time of the year again, when we experience back to school, New York Fashion Week, the onset of crisp fall weather with nature’s beautiful show of changing leaves and everything pumpkin spice. Get out and enjoy this magnificent time of year because if winter 2017 is as extreme as this past summer was, we’ll be indoors for weeks!
The efforts to reshape the supermarket landscape in our market are still in full swing with Acme opening three new stores, Brown’s ShopRites breaking ground on a future Fresh Grocer and the Colligas family moving their ShopRite to a vacant Pathmark. Acme also celebrated the grand reopening of its Pike Creek store in Wilmington, DE store on September 2.
The Acme stores, in Patterson, NY on August 30, Salisbury, MD on September 9 and Boonton, NJ on September 16, respectively, opened with much local fanfare and customer excitement. Dan Croce, president of Acme, presided over the ribbon cutting ceremonies, remarking in Boonton, NJ: “Our new store celebrates our customers and we are thrilled to offer them such a fantastic new shopping experience.” The extensive renovations included expanded fresh departments, including home meal replacement offerings, a fresh, modern décor and salad bar. At each store opening, donations were made to community organizations and Acme’s signature donation, a bench made of 3,900 recycled plastic bags was given to each town to celebrate Acme’s arrival.
The Colligas family cut the ribbon on its state-of the-art supermarket on 3rd & Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia on September 1 at the site of a former Pathmark. The 60,000-square-foot ShopRite of Whitman Plaza is a replacement of its store on Front Street and Snyder Avenue (just around the corner). The new store features a much better layout, a large selection of freshly prepared foods, international and domestic cheeses, an in-store café and catering. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney joined the family for the morning ribbon cutting as shoppers lined up all around the store and perimeter of the parking lot in anticipation of the opening. “We are honored to be part of this community and serve South Philly neighborhoods with our ShopRite store, and we look forward to continuing our purpose of providing our customers with an exhilarating, pleasurable experience in our new, expanded ShopRite on Oregon Avenue,” said Jennifer Colligas-Moyer. The new space was extensively renovated and includes a fresh bake shop with store made special occasion cakes; meat cut to order by trained butchers; seafood department stocked with same-day catches; prepared foods and catering departments, and grab-and-go meals such as sandwiches, heat and eat entrees, hot bar, salad bar, Asian cuisine and Sushi. An on-site dietitian will be available to offer free, one-on-one consultations, store tours or meal planning to customers and associates. In addition, the checkout lanes are all named with South Philly numbered street signs and the express check outs are named with the larger streets in the area, including Plaza, Delaware and Oregon Avenues. The convenient online ShopRite from Home service will also be available to customers in a greatly expanded space convenient for store pick-ups or delivery. The new store is also outfitted with the latest energy-saving and sustainable technologies in refrigeration and lighting.
Brown’s Super Stores celebrated the official “ground breaking” of its second Fresh Grocer location on Monument Road in Philadelphia on August 30. The 55,000 square foot store, a former Pathmark, will open in early 2017 with extensive renovations and expanded product offerings. The new store will feature Brown’s Chef Market prepared meals including the delicious Fire Grilled Chicken and the now famous store made sweet potato pie. The Fresh Grocer will feature a beer garden and will be one of the first supermarkets to have a wine department. “All of the offerings will support our customer’s efforts towards a healthy lifestyle – and at more affordable costs compared to other natural and organic retailers,” said Jeff Brown, CEO of Brown’s Super Stores. The store on Monument Road will create more than 200 new jobs. Brown’s Super Stores has been busy in the community as well. The ShopRite of Fox Street in North Philadelphia is renovating the kitchen and eating areas at the Covenant House, which provides vital housing and support for young people in need. A formal ribbon cutting to unveil the renovated facility took place September 14. The Covenant House, located in the Germantown section of the community, supports young adults who have been turned away from their families and have nowhere else to live. Covenant House was founded in 1972 with the simple, profound mission to help homeless kids escape the streets. Today Covenant House represents the largest privately funded charity in the Americas, providing loving care and vital services to homeless, abandoned, abused, trafficked, and exploited youth. This latest donation, one of many made by the Brown family to help young people in need, will improve a key program space where Covenant House residents meet and connect each day. “Our mission is to bring joy to the lives of the people we serve and we are dedicated to helping the communities we do business in,” said Brown. “The Covenant House of Philadelphia provides tremendous support to youth who have nowhere else to turn and we are proud to help them in their efforts.” The new kitchen and eating area was also sponsored through the generosity of Watts-for-Wishes, U.S. Global Glow, Lynmar Builders, Cold Technology and Penn Jersey products.
Giant/Carlisle has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification at its Lewisburg, PA store. The rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated with green technologies for improved environmental and human health performance. “Giant is proud to invest in sustainable retailing technologies to reduce waste and save energy and lessen our environmental impact,” said Tom Lenkevich, president of Giant/Carlisle. “This includes utilizing green building technologies on newer stores such as Lewisburg, and making existing stores more energy efficient, including replacing open refrigerated food cases with closed doors.”
The Lewisburg Giant, which opened in August 2015, includes LED lighting and skylights to significantly reduce energy needs. Warm concrete floors have replaced traditional tile, reducing the amount of cleaning solutions normally utilized. Water efficient landscaping and fixtures and low-emitting, local and recycled materials used in the construction of the store. In addition to the Lewisburg store, five other Giant locations in Ephrata, Flourtown, Havertown, Kutztown and Trexlertown achieved LEED certification for implementing practical and measurable solutions to achieve sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, sustainable material management and improved indoor environmental quality.
If you haven’t registered for the 11th Annual Food Industry Summit (FIS) yet, please do so. This one-day summit is being held in Mandeville Hall on the Saint Joseph’s University campus on October 11. The FIS will give insights into the changing world of fresh prepared and on-the-go food at the crossroads of food retail and foodservice. The topic for 2016 is “Frontiers in Food: The Future of Fresh Prepared and On-the-Go.” Come hear how some of the best, most innovative food industry companies are delivering to consumers. On the speaker docket are: Bob Goldin, Technomic; Doug Wickman, Perdue; Bob Cassidy, Key Impact; David West, Sysco; Cathy Schlosberg, Aramark; Jessica Foust, McDonald’s; Emilio Mignucci, DiBruno Brothers; and Gary Fechter, Wegmans. For more information or to register, go to www.foodindustrysummit.sju.edu
The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s 53rd annual event, IDDBA 17, will be held in Anaheim, CA June 4-6, 2017. Still growing, this show is a full-service seminar and expo with top-tier retail buyers and merchandisers with the best dairy, deli, bakery, and foodservice products, packaging and services. With approximately 1,900 booths representing more than 730 companies, exhibitors and retailers are able to cultivate relationships, new business, and fresh ideas and concepts throughout the expo floor. From seminars featuring notable speakers, to the New Product Showcase with innovative trends all in one place, and to the Show & Sell Center which highlights merchandising ideas, new products and workshops, IDDBA 17 is a can’t-miss event for anyone in the industry. See you there!
Birthday shout outs for the “when are the leaves going to change” month of September go to: Ed Elborne, Nick Sborlini and Anne Marie Mozzone, Acme Markets; Fran Dolan, Herr Foods; Nate Ostroff, Network Food Brokers; Joe Gardyan, Utz Snacks; Bob Higgins, SJU; Lauren Eni, Dietz & Watson; and Joe Seiler, retired from Campbell’s. Buon compleanno a tutti!
To our industry friends and colleagues of the Jewish faith, we extend best wishes for a l’shanah tovah! Happy New Year!
Quote of the month: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Jon Kabat-Zinn