It’s December and while most people know about the ubiquitous ball drop in New York City’s Times Square at the end of the month, in recent years, Bethlehem, PA has been doing its own scaled-down version to ring in the advent of a new year. For the 13th consecutive year, Just Born Confections has partnered up with ArtsQuest, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides access to art, culture and educational programs to the residents of the Lehigh Valley area, to host a two-day festival that closes out with the PEEPS Chick Drop featuring the company’s most iconic mascot. During the family-focused event, which includes live musical performances and activities such as the PEEPSFEST Scavenger Hunt, the Leaning Tower of PEEPS, and a PEEPSONALITY family fun walk and run, a 400-pound, four-foot-nine illuminated yellow PEEPS Chick will descend each night with a fireworks display during a countdown. And to help ensure a safe and quality experience, the end-of-the-year celebration will take place completely outdoors and will require tickets for attendance.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating PEEPSFEST in person again this year,” says Meg Dowd, corporate affairs manager at Just Born Quality Confections. “The PEEPS Chick Drop has become a beloved New Year’s Eve tradition for our local community, as well as families across the country, so we can’t wait to welcome fans back to the PEEPSONALITY-filled celebration to close out 2021.”
The festival will take place at Steelstacks, a 10-acre campus that was once the home plant of Bethlehem Steel but now is dedicated to arts, culture, family events, community celebrations, education and fun. For more information on the event itself or to purchase tickets, go to steelstacks.org/festivals/peepsfest/.
With a new year just around the corner, a lot of publications and organizations have been channeling their inner Nostradamus by prognosticating about upcoming changes in the industry. One notable list comes from Chain Store Age, a provider of national retail news and analysis for retail headquarters executives across all sectors of the industry. The news outlet reached out to a few leading retail technology companies to get their forecasts for the retail sector. Among the many notable things they prophesied for 2022 and beyond were these striking points:
Inflation is good for private label. Because raw materials will continue to be hard to come by, the larger, big brand names will not be able to have their full portfolios on the shelves and as a result, there will be more grocery private label brands filling in those gaps.
Retail continues to benefit from foodservice woes. Not only will the move from restaurants to grocery retail continue, especially as the grocers offer more fully-prepared and easy-to-prepare options, but expect to see even restaurants trying to move into the retail space as well with their own products that they will sell on-site and in partner retailers.
Limited growth for food e-commerce. Due to unsustainable financial models that many retailers are currently using as a stopgap and because of supply chain and labor issues, grocery stores will need to eventually need to upcharge for e-commerce services which in turn will cause many customers to balk and to find a different way (or place) to shop.
Growing recognition of retail labor as a key asset. With personnel representing the biggest operational cost in retail, grocers will need to put more time and money into the recruitment of staff so that they are not only ensuring that they have enough workers, but that they have quality employees. They will also need to get much better at accurately forecasting their resourcing needs in both the front of and back of the house, so to speak, which in turn will provide structure and predictable work schedules, helping to ensure employee retention rates.
More tech (and even more tech) comes to retail. Retailers will continue to test out and employ new and innovative ways to provide an omnichannel experience for shoppers. They will also further invest in store-level automation solutions.
These were just a few of the insights from the story that I thought stood out. To see the complete list of predictions, go to chainstoreage.com/exclusive-retail-predictionsinsights-2022.
Another small list of grocery industry predictions for next year comes from Sean Turner, the CTO of Swiftly, a digital platform that empowers retailers to grow sales and build loyalty through the use of AI, who has forecasted that digital advertising will be the new retail stream for brick-and-mortar grocery stores. “Grocery will take control of the customer journey and generate new digital ad revenue. In 2022, the grocers that rise to the top are those that own the digital relationships with their customers, opening the door for new digital advertising revenue.” He continued, “Third-party apps such as Instacart were initially helpful in driving incremental volume at the height of the pandemic but are ultimately hurting grocers by disintermediating the customer relationship and taking the digital advertising dollars that rightfully belong to the retailer. Grocers that get ahead in 2022 will…create their own retail platform and media network to own the customer journey and digital advertising dollars.” Turner also believes that with the current supply chain challenges that all retailers are facing, “personalized and store-level inventory communications will be imperative. Now more than ever, retailers and brands need to work together to offer their customers a targeted experience with branding and promotions that push them towards products that are on shelf, in stock or ready to ship. A comprehensive digital platform connects retailers with customers when it matters most – in-app and in-store to drive more sales.” Additionally, Turner addressed what he believes the impact that Amazon’s and Instacart’s move into the brick-and-mortar field will have on other grocers. “There will be more pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers to have true omnichannel experience. Inflation, inventory and shipping challenges will continue to put pressure on ecommerce, making it less affordable and elevating the importance of the in-store shopping experience. Brick-and-mortar retailers need to act now to build digital relationships and deploy a true omnichannel shopping experience where every touchpoint is integrated seamlessly as Amazon moves to build stores and Instacart builds their own grocery warehouses.”
Finally, before I sign off for the last time in 2021, I want to give accolades to Safeway Mid-Atlantic for its annual Feast Of Sharing event that took place during Thanksgiving week late last month. Now in its 22nd year, the Lanham, MD-based banner of Albertsons Companies Mid-Atlantic division (along with its community partners) was still able to provide 5,000 Thanksgiving meal boxes and 5,000 gift bags to 19 DC-area nonprofits despite not being able to host its traditional in-person event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC for the past two years due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Pre-selected recipient organizations distributed the Feast of Sharing meals and gift bags to neighbors in need. Each meal box contained a turkey sandwich with condiments (including cranberry relish), a side potato salad, a granola bar, an apple, a juice box, a bottle of water and utensils. The gift bags consisted of winter clothing accessories and personal protective items, including a winter hat and scarf, a pair of gloves and socks, a face mask, and a toilet kit.
“Safeway Feast of Sharing is a cherished holiday tradition, and we are delighted that we can continue our tradition of sharing and caring,” said Jim Perkins, president of Albertsons Mid-Atlantic Division. “Alleviating hunger is an important priority for Safeway, and the need is greater than ever before. This Thanksgiving, we are proud to work with our local partners to provide meals and gifts to community nonprofits, allowing us to keep the Safeway Feast of Sharing spirit alive.”
The event was made possible through the hard work and support of community partners, including Events DC, Truist, Aramark, Unity Health Care, The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command, Runway for a Cause Foundation, Projection, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Goodwill of Greater Washington, Hi-Tech Electric, and Digital Conventions. And not to be forgotten were the countless number of volunteers that helped in all aspects of the coordination and execution of the event. It truly does take a village, and what a village Safeway Mid-Atlantic has!
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Until next month AND year…
Karen can be contacted via email at [email protected].