Kenosha: What a Competitive Grocery Market
Posted: October 30th, 2018, 8:41 pm
For a community of just under 100,000 people (and a county of about 170,000), this is a very competitive grocery market!
Stores I've been in here (and quick thoughts):
Overall: Beer/wine/liquor can be sold in mainstream stores but they appear to have clear statutes about walls and reduced hours of sales. In some smaller markets (Aldi) this secured area appears to not be required.
Eggs are very inexpensive in this part of the country and also the jumbo/extra large sizes seem more common. Many stores also still sell them in styrofoam.
Fried chicken seems to be self-serve in many stores in this part of the country.
Meijer - my first experience with Meijer. This store apparently opened in 2015 as a photo is included with the snapshot of their story/history at the front of the store. There is a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, so it seems like Meijer could move into Chicago suburbs if it wanted to. It does already have locations in Illinois.
Meijer is a pretty cool store. The apparel is definitely more at the level of Walmart/Target, meaning the "second tier" labels of big brand clothing, unlike Fred Meyer, who is allowed to sell "real" Levis, "real" Gold Toe socks, etc. The store had 2 doors and is open 24/7 I think.
The food floor is OK, but I looked at the oranges and just said "yuck" and moved on. They have a large area in the meat department devoted to sausages, but my coworkers here tell me that is very much a "thing" in Wisconsin. Their deli area is very comprehensive with a lot of options. It was not operating when I was in the store. Dietz & Watson premium meats.
Self checkout was interesting, I had to slide things down through a little windowed area and if it didn't go through correctly, the system would stop. These look like the larger self checkout stations some Walmart neighborhood markets use, but was a bit more sensitive.
Meijer is also promoting its home delivery and store pickup options like most retailers at present.
Steinbrink's Piggly Wiggly - TOPCO supplied store. Interesting. Went wild with their donuts, adding things like peanut butter frosting, fruity pebbles, etc. Quite a selection. Boar's Head premium meats in the deli case. Warehouse shelving in the aisles (maybe kind of like what folks here say about Shopper's - used to be the "cheap"/warehouse store but now very mainstream). Playing SiriusXM Prime Country for their in-store audio network.
ALDI - Aldi here had a small in-store bakery. I was there so close to closing (Aldi seems to like closing at 8 pm) it was already pretty much put away. I realized quickly how cheap ALDI is when they have something you want, but again it's kind of a core/fill-in store model. Across the street? Walmart supercenter. This ALDI may have been a little larger than the one I was in when in Lincoln, NE and seemed to have a bit more interesting merchandise. They were cleaning the floor while the store was still open.
Pick n' Save - Pick n' Save and Roundy's stores are now one division with Mariano's (more on that to come). They are open 6 am to 10 pm. There are lots of signs about "Wisconsin proud," etc. Pricing seemed similar to that of Kroger operated stores out west. There is a weird mix of store-brand products. Most are Kroger, but anything in dairy or gallon sized (but not most bottled) water were marked with Roundy's and it's chair's signature as a guarantee. I saw on the Meijer product I purchased their family has a similar guarantee, so perhaps that's the origin of it. Roundy's must still operate a dairy plant. The store decor is basically one of the newer Kroger decor sets. Lots of big yellow signs (especially in produce) emphasizing low prices. No click list visible. The prepared foods area by the deli was pretty large and all service departments were marked to be open until 8. Everything was being torn up promptly at 8. Deli was Boar's Head I believe.
Coming tomorrow:
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market
Festival Foods
Stores I've been in here (and quick thoughts):
Overall: Beer/wine/liquor can be sold in mainstream stores but they appear to have clear statutes about walls and reduced hours of sales. In some smaller markets (Aldi) this secured area appears to not be required.
Eggs are very inexpensive in this part of the country and also the jumbo/extra large sizes seem more common. Many stores also still sell them in styrofoam.
Fried chicken seems to be self-serve in many stores in this part of the country.
Meijer - my first experience with Meijer. This store apparently opened in 2015 as a photo is included with the snapshot of their story/history at the front of the store. There is a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, so it seems like Meijer could move into Chicago suburbs if it wanted to. It does already have locations in Illinois.
Meijer is a pretty cool store. The apparel is definitely more at the level of Walmart/Target, meaning the "second tier" labels of big brand clothing, unlike Fred Meyer, who is allowed to sell "real" Levis, "real" Gold Toe socks, etc. The store had 2 doors and is open 24/7 I think.
The food floor is OK, but I looked at the oranges and just said "yuck" and moved on. They have a large area in the meat department devoted to sausages, but my coworkers here tell me that is very much a "thing" in Wisconsin. Their deli area is very comprehensive with a lot of options. It was not operating when I was in the store. Dietz & Watson premium meats.
Self checkout was interesting, I had to slide things down through a little windowed area and if it didn't go through correctly, the system would stop. These look like the larger self checkout stations some Walmart neighborhood markets use, but was a bit more sensitive.
Meijer is also promoting its home delivery and store pickup options like most retailers at present.
Steinbrink's Piggly Wiggly - TOPCO supplied store. Interesting. Went wild with their donuts, adding things like peanut butter frosting, fruity pebbles, etc. Quite a selection. Boar's Head premium meats in the deli case. Warehouse shelving in the aisles (maybe kind of like what folks here say about Shopper's - used to be the "cheap"/warehouse store but now very mainstream). Playing SiriusXM Prime Country for their in-store audio network.
ALDI - Aldi here had a small in-store bakery. I was there so close to closing (Aldi seems to like closing at 8 pm) it was already pretty much put away. I realized quickly how cheap ALDI is when they have something you want, but again it's kind of a core/fill-in store model. Across the street? Walmart supercenter. This ALDI may have been a little larger than the one I was in when in Lincoln, NE and seemed to have a bit more interesting merchandise. They were cleaning the floor while the store was still open.
Pick n' Save - Pick n' Save and Roundy's stores are now one division with Mariano's (more on that to come). They are open 6 am to 10 pm. There are lots of signs about "Wisconsin proud," etc. Pricing seemed similar to that of Kroger operated stores out west. There is a weird mix of store-brand products. Most are Kroger, but anything in dairy or gallon sized (but not most bottled) water were marked with Roundy's and it's chair's signature as a guarantee. I saw on the Meijer product I purchased their family has a similar guarantee, so perhaps that's the origin of it. Roundy's must still operate a dairy plant. The store decor is basically one of the newer Kroger decor sets. Lots of big yellow signs (especially in produce) emphasizing low prices. No click list visible. The prepared foods area by the deli was pretty large and all service departments were marked to be open until 8. Everything was being torn up promptly at 8. Deli was Boar's Head I believe.
Coming tomorrow:
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market
Festival Foods