As Amazon attempts to create more seamless efficiencies between its highly profitable organics/natural Whole Foods Market (WFM) brand and its failing traditional Amazon Fresh (AF) unit, it has chosen Plymouth Meeting, PA as a test site to combine the assets of each retailer under one roof.
Earlier this month, the Seattle-based juggernaut announced that it has added a 10,000 square foot automated micro-fulfillment center (MFC) at its existing store in that suburban Montgomery County burg.
The new MFC will serve as a mini-conventional store and potentially make thousands of conventional grocery items (think Coca-Cola, Oreos and Doritos) available to shoppers at that WFM location.
Shoppers at the Plymouth Meeting location will find QR codes throughout the store. Once scanned with their smartphone camera, the QR code will open up their Amazon app and take them to a custom mobile storefront. From there, they will have access to thousands of additional products available beyond the store shelves to their Whole Foods Market shopping cart in the app app. When ready, often in less than 10 minutes, customers will receive a text notification to collect their Amazon items at the Amazon pickup and returns counter after finishing up their WFM shopping.
Amazon noted that as it collects feedback from the Pennsylvania location, it will refine and expand the store format.
“At Whole Foods Market, we’ve always taken pride in offering a wide selection of natural and organic products, but we understand our customers appreciate the convenience of one-stop shopping,” said Jason Buechel, vice president of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores and CEO of Whole Foods Market. “We’re making grocery shopping more convenient for customers by thoughtfully blending our grocery offerings and leveraging new fulfillment capabilities in creative ways. This new concept store experience allows customers to get everything on their shopping list in one convenient stop or one online order, combining quality with convenience while still delivering the exceptional shopping experience customers expect.”
Other than a relatively small investment in infrastructure and labor, this will likely bring some additional revenue into the Plymouth Meeting location.
But a big winner? I wouldn’t make that bet.
Local Notes
Despite major concerns from many retailers about the economy and changing consumer spending habits as we enter the busy holiday season, sales remained solid for some merchants during their third quarter operating periods. At Weis Markets, which this month opened its fourth new store of 2025 in growing Middletown, DE, its Q3 numbers improved from the corresponding period last year. Overall sales increased about 4 percent and comps (ex-fuel) jumped 2.5 percent for the period ended September 27. However, earnings dipped 29.4 percent to $18.25 million. However, 2024 Q3 net income benefited from a $4.58 percent pre-tax gain on disposition of fixed assets.
“We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our associates for their excellent service and commitment to our customers and communities every day. Despite ongoing cautious consumer spending and macroeconomic uncertainty in the third quarters, our team increased net sales and gross profits through successful customer engagement and operational excellence. We are also focused on prudent cost management,” said Jonathan Weis, the Sunbury, PA regional chain’s chairman, president and CEO. “We continue to make significant investments in our associates, technologies and facilities that will improve efficiencies, enhance customer experience and generate long-term shareholder value.” Incidentally, Weis will open another new store early next year in Waldorf, MD.
Weis rival Ahold Delhaize also reported solid financials for its third quarter which ended on November 5. At its U.S. stores and platforms, total sales increased 1.9 percent and comps (ex-fuel) grew 2.9 percent, primarily on the strength of the Dutch operator’s pharmacy and online gains. The closure of 32 Stop & Shop units last year adversely impacted Q3 sales. Operating income in the U.S. was $677.5 million, a 4.6 operating margin.
The retail star again was Food Lion, which posted an impressive 52nd consecutive quarter of comp store revenue gain. And it was refreshing to hear that much beleaguered Stop & Shop was given a shout-out by Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller for improving component of its operation including quality of service and promotional optimization.
Another big winner for the international merchant was the growth of its online business where U.S. revenue jumped 15.3 percent in the quarter.
Additionally, Muller said that his company will roll out its new retail media platform, Edge, in January 2026. The tech platform will fit under the retailer’s media arm AD Retail Media and creates new opportunities for CPG partners to reach the more than 26 million customers who interact with Ahold Delhaize USA brands each week, by offering a transparent, intuitive, and measurable way to quickly launch and promote products and advertising campaigns across physical and digital channels – helping them reduce delays and accelerate time from planning to customer engagement.
“Edge isn’t just a platform – it’s the ‘One Stop Ad Shop’ that gives our partners a smarter, easier way to grow their businesses while strengthening the bond between shoppers and the brands they love,” said Bobby Watts, senior VP of AD retail media, digital merchandising and marketing for Ahold Delhaize USA.
“With real-time insights guiding strategic decisions, Edge empowers brands to navigate the most effective path forward. It’s powerful because it’s built by grocers, for grocery – bringing together customer loyalty, past purchase trends and e-commerce connectivity in a way that is a true reflection of what’s possible when deep industry expertise meets innovative technology.”
News from other ADUSA brands (divisions) includes a new replacement store for The Giant Company (TGC) in Allentown, PA (Salisbury Township). The 68,000 square foot unit in the South Mall Shopping Center replaces an old, smaller supermarket on West Emmaus Avenue.
At Giant Food, the Landover, MD-based brand has enlisted Washington, DC-based tech company Upside to help the B-W market leader offer its customers personalized cash-back rewards. The Upside platform utilizes AI technology to analyze thousands of data points and determine personalized pricing that incentivizes customers to choose Giant over its competitors. If the algorithm determines a customer was already planning to shop at Giant, the retailer doesn’t pay for that cash back offer. The new program began last month and Giant will share the results with other ADUSA brands for potential future opportunities.
At Food Lion, we already reported on the new $860 million state-of-the-art distribution center that will be built in Burlington, NC which will encompass more than one million square feet when it opens in 2029. Food Lion has also just completed remodeling 153 stores in the Charlotte, NC area and has begun a similar improvement project for 92 stores in the adjacent Greensboro, NC market.
Sprouts also posted strong numbers during its recently completed third quarter with overall sales rising 13.5 percent (helped by a slew of new stores). Still, comps were among the best in the industry, increasing 5.9 percent, and the Phoenix, AZ-based “fresh” merchant grew its online sales 21 percent (15.9 percent of total sales) for the period ended September 28. Sprouts also posted a healthy bottom line with profits skyrocketing 34 percent to $120 million. All told, Sprouts will open 37 new stores this year, with a similar growth plan targeted for 2026. Recently, the specialty retailer opened a new 23,000 square foot unit in Woodbridge, NJ (Middlesex County) and plans to open its first New York store in Centereach (Suffolk County) in late January.
From the “let’s waste more taxpayer money” department comes news that Connecticut Attorney General William (Elmer Fudd) Tong’s office has found that supermarkets in the Nutmeg State are not guilty of artificially inflating to create additional profits. The political blowhard, who has previously conducted investigations into grocery pricing practices, has vowed to now focus on the industry’s supply chain to find potential culprits. And the dish ran away with the spoon.
We have a few obits to report including Pierre Robert. While many outside of Philadelphia may never have heard of Robert, he was a legendary radio voice in the Delaware Valley. As the midday host at rock station WMMR, Robert was one of the city’s most recognizable celebrities who loved rock and roll and displayed his passion for the music daily on his show which began in 1981.
“Today we lost a great friend,” said Jon Bon Jovi. “Someone who truly loved music. All types of music. Someone who loved musicians. Not just famous ones or chart toppers. He admired local artists and tomorrow’s rising stars.” It’s true, listening to Robert made you feel like turning the volume up and singing along to the creative playlists he created for more than 40 years. RIP from one of his admiring “citizens.”
Also leaving us was NBA Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, 88, one of the first great point guards and (for a time) the winningest coach in league history. Growing up in poverty in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY, he enrolled at Providence College because his former priest recommended him to the coach of the Friars’ basketball team. At Providence, Wilkens bloomed, averaging 15 points a game while leading his team to the championship game in the NIT (a big deal back then – they lost to Bradley University). He was subsequently drafted in the first round by the St. Louis (now Atlanta) Hawks in 1960. In 15 seasons, he was named an All-Star nine times. He was also cited as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1996. Wilkens began coaching in 1969 and in 32 years as the main man behind the bench, Wilkens coached six teams. In 1995, he passed Boston Celtics’ legendary coach “Red” Auerbach in all-time wins (939). When he retired in 2005, Wilkens’ teams had won 1,332 games, an all-time record. (That mark has since been topped by Don Nelson and Greg Popovich). Lenny Wilkens was inducted in the NBA Hall of Fame two times – first as a player in 1989 and nine years later as a coach. A class act who was greatly admired by his peers, Lenny Wilkens will be missed.
We just we learned that Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, 59, will retire on January 31, 2026, after serving as head honcho of planet’s largest retailer since 2014. John Furner, another homegrown talent like McMillon, will become Walmart’s new chief executive. Currently, the 51-year-old Furner serves as CEO of Walmart’s U.S. business and first joined Walmart as an hourly associate in 1993 as McMillon did in 1984. He becomes only the sixth person to lead Walmart since it was founded by the legendary Sam Walton in 1962. And other than Mr. Sam himself, nobody has been a better steward for the retailer than McMillon. Not only has he galvanized the culture of the Bentonville, AR-based merchant, he’s brought the company into the modern age. His decision to dramatically shift the company’s focus to digital in 2017 was not only ballsy, it was also brilliant.
Since McMillon took the helm 11 years ago, Walmart’s market value has tripled (currently its market cap is at $817 billion) and its stock price has skyrocketed a whopping 323 percent. McMillon will serve on Walmart’s board until June 2026 and as an adviser until January 31, 2027. Not only has Doug McMillon been the best retail executive of this millennium, he’s also been one the finest CEOs in all of American business. He’s transformed Walmart in so many ways, it’s hard to believe that his predecessor Mike Duke (remember him?) only left the company in 2014.
Jeff Metzger is publisher emeritus of Food World and Food Trade News and founder of Taking Stock LLC, a grocery industry advisory and consulting firm.
