Summer is shaping up to be anything but quiet in the business, and we’ve got the action covered. This roundup spans everything from independent supermarket expansion and executive realignment to regulatory battles and regional market developments. Publisher emeritus Jeff Metzger examines McCaffrey’s acquisition of Pennington Quality Market, a deal that brings together two of the Delaware Valley’s most respected supermarket families and further reshapes the region’s independent grocery landscape.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Food Council President Linda Doherty weighs in on the growing controversy surrounding electronic shelf labels and the legislative proposals that could affect how retailers deliver pricing and loyalty savings to shoppers.
The news team reports on Wakefern’s significant sales and marketing restructuring, including its new partnership with Quad, while Maria Maggio rounds up the latest grocery developments from the Philadelphia market, where expansion activity and new concepts continue to emerge.
Further north, Kevin Gallagher’s Metro Beat covers promotions, charitable initiatives, industry milestones and other developments across the New York metropolitan market. But… before we roll on to the news: Here’s a reminder to keep your eyes peeled for the annual Food World and Food Trade News Market Study issues; they’ll be out soon. These are expertly hand-crafted research products with sales and market share for all retail channels — supermarkets, club stores, drug chains, mass merchandisers, and convenience stores. And all the data is broken out in an easy-to-read county-by-county and regional format. We’re proud to be the only trade publication in the country with this kind of in-depth market share coverage. Don’t miss it. Now on with the Roundup — it’s all below…
Taking Stock: McCaffrey’s Grows Its Roster with This Acquisition
Upscale independent McCaffrey’s Market is growing again. Earlier this year, the family-owned grocer announced it would relocate its 13,000 square foot “Simply Fresh” store in Doylestown, PA to a larger unit about a mile away in that same Bucks County berg. The new 51,000 square foot site once housed a Weis Market and is expected to open early next year.
Just before we went to press, we learned McCaffrey’s has agreed to acquire Pennington Quality Market (PQM), another upscale independent retailer in Pennington, NJ. The deal was made involving two “royal” families of supermarket merchants in the Delaware Valley.
Publisher emeritus Jeff Metzger has all the details here…
New Jersey Lawmakers Are Being Misled; Shoppers Could Pay
Electronic or digital shelf labels are one of the most controversial topics in grocery retail. They have the potential to protect margin, slash overhead and other costs, and transform promotions. Critics fear they could be used to play fast and loose with fair pricing.
As the New Jersey Food Council’s Linda Doherty points out, there’s a virtual flood of misinformation out there, and lawmakers in the Garden State and elsewhere are at risk of making bad decisions that could cost shoppers in the long run.
Here’s what the NJFC leader had to say…
Wakefern Is Making a Big Sales and Marketing Realignment
The country’s largest independent retailer cooperative is making a move intended to update and strengthen its sales and marketing departments, the better to focus on all brands. Wakefern has engaged multifaceted ad agency Quad to help execute the realignment.
Co-op president Mike Stigers sent a memo saying the move ““streamlines how our advertising work is delivered and shifts the focus internally here at Wakefern from transactional production tasks to higher-value strategic, customer-facing and sales enabling activities.”
The news team has the rest of the story here…
Philly Grocery Is Heating Up for Summer…
If you’re reading this, you probably know that our industry has a golf season. And if you didn’t know that, it’s the truth; there are no fewer than nine industry golf events coming up on our trade calendar.
The season kicked off just a few weeks ago, when MAFTO hosted more than 125 golfers at the Commonwealth National in Horsham, PA. And that’s just the beginning of what’s on tap for the grocery industry in and around the City of Brotherly Love.
Our Maria Maggio has much, much more…
…And So Is the New York Metro
Further up I-95, in and around the Big Apple, the summer season is also starting to pick up steam. There have been promotions, charity events, achievements, and memorials, too. We’ve got news from Krasdale Foods, ShopRite, and more. There are some can’t-miss “programming notes.” Kevin Gallagher has it all covered in his Metro Beat column, which you can read here….
