News Break:
GOOD NEWS FOR ALBERTSONS!
GOOD NEWS FOR ALBERTSONS!
Same store sales are up company wide but of course there is no word on how Acme is fairing these days.You can read all of the details at ProgressiveGrocer.com. The article also includes some interesting plans for the company's merger with Rite Aid.
PLATED COMING TO STORES
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
Guess they're taking their time to get it right but it seems like the rollout could not be going more slowly. Meanwhile competing chains already have meal kits available... ShopRite began offering them last month. Albertsons currently offers their Plated meal kits in only a handful of stores with a larger rollout happening by year's end. Still, the company is saying only "select" stores will be carrying them in the coming months. You can read more about Albertsons plans at SupermarketNews.com.
SHOPRITE DITCHES OWN BRAND
FOR TOP CARE?
I was shocked to see this brand change at ShopRite. The company is ditching its own brand of health and beauty aid products for the Top Care brand which is already available at other Northeast chains like Foodtown, Weis, Tops, Wegmans and Price Chopper. This marks the absolute end of private labels HABA in New Jersey supermarkets with Acme having Signature Care and Shop and Shop carrying CareOne. I find it to be strange move as the ShopRite brand is among the strongest in supermarket world. Why would they want to carry an in-house brand that's available others chains in their market?
THIS JUST IN >>>
WHOLE FOODS TO TAKEOVER
FORMER WAYNE A&P
The exterior of the building has been extensively renovated since A&P closed. Wayne Natural Food Markets was supposed to take over the space last year but wound up defaulting on their lease. Now word has come that Whole Foods is set to take over the space. You can read more about it on northjersey.com
I'm a regular ShopRite shopper and I hate the fact that Wakefern is getting rid of the ShopRite HBA brand! TopCare may be a good brand but the ShopRite name represents the entire chain which has a reputation for quality products at a lower price. It's all about the almighty dollar I guess. ShopRite has also recently renamed their Organic line to Wholesome Pantry brand.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting ShopRite thinks it will be more profitable. I'm sure they've done their homework.
ReplyDeleteI could see shoprite ditching their brand just so they can split costs more. Why contract to carry a new medical supply...when you can just buy the new stuff everyone else is carrying.
ReplyDeleteMakes total sense, I'm just surprised ShopRite has decided to carry the same line as so many others in the area do.
DeleteAnother thing I found surprising was the lack of ShopRite branded items in the HABA aisles while I was taking these photos. I was in a "World Class" ShopRite and noticed they barely had a third of the items much smaller Acmes carry with the Signature Select branding. Maybe ShopRite is looking to expand it's in-house product line without having to make huge investments to do so.
That "World Class" branding is only by one ShopRite franchisee (Saker), and generally doesn't mean a damn thing.
DeleteIt's entirely possible Top Care provided Shoprite the products all along and this is simply a switch to their own label.
DeleteI mentioned "World Class" just to express that I was in a large ShopRite yet the selection of ShopRite branded HABA was very limited compared to Acme. It's funny cause these days "World Class" ShopRites have become second-class ShopRites to the newly built stores in the chain.
DeleteThe similarity among the containers would seem to indicate that TopCare is the provider of some of the ShopRite branded HBA. If that’s the case then it’s obviously cheaper to go with the TopCare branded items rather than paying for the separate ShopRite labeling runs.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I didn't notice that.
DeleteWow - so much news at one time!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is HABA is not a huge focus for ShopRite, as customers can find the same merchandise for less at Walmart and Target. The are convenience shoppers (like myself, sometimes) who don't have the time to truck over to Target, but they probably don't care whether the private label brand is called ShopRite, TopCare, or Flibbertyjibbit.
Regarding the earnings report, I liked the CEO's comments about the Rite Aid merger. Essentially, they are going back to the good ol' days of Osco and SavOn, albeit on a much larger scale. "At Rite Aid, you can count on people who care" does have a nice ring to it.
Have to say, I completely disagree with that! I find ShopRite puts more focus on HABA than any other supermarket around. Their regular prices are the best of any grocery store but they go even further by having a huge selection of items on sale each week with prices as low or lower than what you will find at Target and Walmart.
DeleteBit of breaking news...had been hearing rumors that Gala Fresh in Passaic was in trouble. The store is in fact closing.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it closed at the end of March.
DeleteThat's what I had originally heard. I rode past there tonight to see the windows papered.
DeleteZero fanfare whatsoever.
Looks like they spent a decent chunk of money restoring the service departments which A&P stripped out of their Food Basics stores. The store looked pretty nice. Seems like these smaller companies taking over former A&P and Pathmark stores just get themselves in way over their head. You can always find plenty of complaints about management, employees and expired products for the stores that wind up shutting down.
DeleteIt's almost as if there was a reason the stores closed in the first place...
DeleteThe thing I'm noticing with the former Food Basics that were still with the chain when the end came is that many of them probably had been in business too long.
ReplyDeleteThe Belleville store never seemed to do any business. The Wallington store, which closed long before the demise, was an afterthought almost from day one. The only stores I knew that were pulling their weight were Paterson and Passaic.
North Bergen was very successful until the end. May have been the top performing store for the chain.
DeleteNot surprised.
DeleteI wonder if Aldi will try to get into the Passaic store like they did in Lodi. High traffic area, largely residential neighborhood, could do well there.
The Frankford Avenue Philadelphia store always had good business, and that store was built from the ground up as Food Basics, while the Bustelton Avenue Philadelphia Food Basics was 1/2 of a former Super Fresh Food Market
DeleteThe problem with Food Basics was that I don't know what A&P thought they wanted it to be. First it was supposed to be a totally no-frills store, at least from what I gathered. People weren't impressed. Slowly they added more stuff but they got a reputation and folks stayed away with few exceptions.
ReplyDelete