Mars. Magruder’s. Food King. Santoni’s. Lauer’s. Stop Shop Save. RIP.
Those are the names of some of the prominent family-owned Baltimore-Washington independent retailers that have left the scene in the past decade. Whether it was lack of a succession plan, inability to keep pace with current technology and/or other consumer trends, intense competition from larger merchants, adverse legislation or just plain lack of capital, the independent scene has radically changed for the worse since 2011.
In the past six months, two one-store independents have also packed it in – Silver Spring, MD-based Snider’s (which sold its Georgia Avenue store to Streets Market) and Eddie’s of Charles Village in Baltimore (whose affable owner Jerry Gordon decided to retire after being unable to find a buyer for his store located near Johns Hopkins University).
And last month we learned that another Baltimore City institution, Bel-Garden Bi-Rite, has closed after a history of serving the Gardenville community since 1951. Sandy Banthem, who owned the 30,000 square foot store with her sister Chrissie Bird, decided for a multitude of reasons, that it was time to exit the business that was started by their parents Leonard and Betty Shinosky.
“Food retailing has evolved dramatically and the community we serve has also changed,” said Banthem, who began working in the store as a teenager. “It’s been a struggle to move the business forward for several years and even though, we, like other food retailers, have experienced sales increases during the pandemic, the effects of serving our customers over the past 10 months has exacted a toll on all of us.”
When Bi-Rite moved to its current location in 1964 the store’s footprint was 10,000 square feet. After many remodelings and a few expansions, the store grew to 30,000 square feet. Like many independents, Bi-Rite’s edge came in its superior service and reliance on local favorites which its loyal customers could rely on.
Multiple sources have said that Banthem and Bird sold the store to Lidl. Banthem, citing a non-disclosure agreement, said she couldn’t comment on the future status of the store, other than that she and her sister have agreed to sell it.
When I asked Sandy what she’ll miss most about her 70-hour a week job, she said that she’ll miss Bi-Rite’s associates, including several who have been with the company for more than 40 years. She noted she’ll also miss the many loyal customers who have provided the Shinosky family with a lifetime career they truly enjoyed despite the recent challenges.
“It’s been a great run – my grandmother, Rose Novak, was actually the foundation of the business. Her parents came from Poland and with a third-grade education barely able to read, she opened a very small general store. We’ve been part of the community ever since,” Banthem reflected.
With Bi-Rite’s closing, there are only a handful of the old guard independent retailers remaining on the scene including B. Green, where Benjy Green now serves as chairman (and Rick Rodgers as CEO); Carl Geresbeck at Geresbeck’s; Nancy Cohen at Eddie’s of Roland Park; Graul’s (run by several family members); David Green and Melvin Shapiro at Save A Lot; Jim Street at Harvest Fare; McKay’s in southern Maryland led by David and Tommy McKay, and several one-store operators including Avi Hershkovitz (The Markets at Highlandtown), Lou Santoni at Santoni’s Marketplace & Catering and Walt Clocker (Angel’s Market).
In the next few years, that list is likely to further dwindle. This is a tough, unforgiving business that requires so much labor and capital to operate, the vulnerabilities of the smaller retailers operating in the ultra-competitive Baltimore-Washington market will be even more exposed.
For me, I miss all those who have departed. Their grit, tenacity and unique personalities were something very special.
‘Round The Trade
Walgreens Boots Alliance has named former Walmart and Starbucks executive Roz Brewer as its new chief executive, effective March 15. She will replace Stefano Pessina who announced last July that he would step down as CEO once a successor was named. Pessina will serve as executive chairman for the struggling drug chain. Brewer is well-positioned to take over the top spot of the Deerfield, IL retailer. She spent 22 years at Kimberly-Clark before switching to the other side of the desk when she joined Walmart in 2006 as a regional VP. She rose through the ranks to become chief executive at the company’s Sam’s Club division. Brewer joined Starbucks in 2017 as group VP and COO.
Walmart has said that it will add “dozens” of 20,000-30,000 square foot automated small fulfillment centers in the next few years. The mini-warehouses will be located in the backrooms of existing stores or in newly created space adjacent to its stores. Walmart will also begin selling ad space on the checkout TV screens in its physical stores. According to Janey Whiteside, the mass merchant’s chief customer officer, the changes at the Walmart Media Group, which will be renamed Walmart Connect, signal the company’s growing ambitions to diversify revenue and become a top 10 ad company in the next few years.”
As it readies for an initial public offering, Instacart has hired another key executive to strengthen its management team. Asha Sherma comes aboard of chief operating officer. She’ll be leaving Facebook where she served as VP-product and engineering.
Southeastern Grocers (SEG), run by former Giant Food president Anthony “Slick” Hucker, has canceled it planned IPO. My Wall Street sources told me that the Jacksonville, FL-based chain, which hoped to sell about 9 million shares in the $14-$16 per share price range, was unhappy with what the IPO might have been valued at when it launched. I’m sure all the recent nonsense around GameStop and created adverse market volatility that could have affected SEG’s thinking as well.
While we’re on the subject of “Flori-duh,” here’s a real example of that old cliché, “You can choose your friends but not your family” when applied to Publix. I’m referring to the recent news involving Julie Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of the chain’s founder George Jenkins. The Lakeland, FL-based chain, while technically an ESOP, still has some management and board members connected to the Jenkins family including Fancelli, who while not a Publix employee, served as president of her father’s charitable foundation. It was revealed late last month that she contributed the bulk of the funding ($300,000) to support the Trump Rally at the Ellipse in Washington DC on January 6. Although Fancelli distanced herself from the rioting that subsequently followed the rally, the whole mess created an uncomfortable situation for the hugely successful chain, which quickly issued a press release stating: “Mrs. Fancelli is not an employee of Publix Super Markets, and is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way. We cannot comment on Mrs. Fancelli’s actions.” I’d be running away from that story, too, if I was Publix.
Local Notes
Harris Teeter, owned by Kroger, has rolled out its “ExpressLane Online” plan which offers no service fees on orders above $100 and a more incentive-laden fee structure for smaller orders (minimum order is $25). Additionally, the Matthews, NC-based merchant has added some incentives to join ExpressLane including double fuel points, 5 percent off Harris Teeter brand items and other exclusive discounts and offers. The cost for an annual subscription is $99.95 and for a monthly one it’s $16.95.
The Giant Company was awarded a “Gold Plate” at the recent FMI Midwinter Executive conference (held virtually) last month. The Central PA merchant won for its “Today’s Table” campaign, which provided free meals to neighborhoods in need. Other retailers and manufacturers with Mid-Atlantic roots which also received “Gold Plates” were Wakefern/ShopRite and Campbell’s.
We have a few deaths to report this month. Howard Mitchell, 86, former H&S Bakery and A&P sales executive, passed away early last month. I first met Howard, one of the true gentlemen in this business, when he worked for the Tea Company’s bakery in Baltimore (which H&S later acquired). Then, as one of H&S’ top account execs, Howard called on many key retailers in the market, and was known in the trade for his keen knowledge of the baking industry (all told, he spent 51 years in the business.) After retiring from H&S in 2003, he and his wife Patricia moved their home to Delaware, where they remained until his death.
One of the most versatile actresses of the past 70 years, Cloris Leachman, who won an Academy Award (supporting actress) for her portrayal as a lonely, middle-aged woman in the Peter Bogdanovich classic “The Last Picture Show” (1971) has passed on. Leachman, 94, whose film career began in 1947, appeared in nearly 300 TV and movie roles, including two movies that will be out later this year. While Leachman was an excellent dramatic actress, it was her comedic work that really shined. She was a staple on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970-1977) as Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Richard’s dithering landlady, but her greatest role was as Frau Blucher, the sinister Transylvanian housekeeper in Mel Brooks’ iconic “Young Frankenstein” (1974).
The great actress, and civil rights activist, Cicely Tyson, died late last month at the age of 96. Born in Harlem to devoutly religious parents, she defied her mother’s warning and ventured into acting in the 1940s. Tyson spent much of her early career on the stage; her notable work there ultimately led to film opportunities. Besides her theater work, Tyson appeared in nearly 100 movies and TV shows, including two seminal roles. In the film “Sounder” (1972), Tyson was haunting as the wife of a Louisiana sharecropper who perseveres by taking menial jobs in order to raise her children, Two years later, she won an Emmy award for her portrayal of a 110-year-old woman who looks back on her life beginning as a former slave to the early years of the civil rights movement in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” Two weeks before she died, Tyson’s memoir “Just As I Am” was published.
Larry King, 87, has also left us. The interviewer and television pitchman probably spent as much time in a TV studio as any other small screen personality over the last 35 years. He hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN seemingly forever, taping more than 6,000 episodes of the show. Born Lawrence Zeiger in Brooklyn, he quit high school to take a job at a Miami radio station. He parlayed that low-level position into a bigger job as a columnist for the Miami Herald and then to a nationwide, overnight radio show before joining CNN. King also penned a column in USA Today which ran for almost 20 years. The column was a series of non-sequiturs and stream-of-consciousness thoughts that were unintentionally hilarious. Here’s an example from early 1993: “My spies tell me Barry Levinson’s new TV series ‘Homicide’ is a winner…Hell hath no fury like a critic criticized…whatever Ross Perot has can’t be bottled but the public loves it…When I was a kid, I was always excited by the mailman’s arrival and I wonder if kids get turned on when the fax machine has an incoming message…whatever Dick Clark takes every day, please send some.” You get the idea. And let’s not forget King’s special talent as a ubiquitous pitchman for questionable health-improvement products for seemingly every body part. They included Garlique, Prostagenix, BreathGems and Omega XL fish oil. To add a little more color to King’s life, it should be noted that he was married eight times to seven different women.