Retail Watchers

Food Lion has learned to survive on super low volumes. Pretty unappealing places to shop but I suppose they get the job done. Fresh products are clearly not a strength in any way, and are out in limited quantities, but what is out does appear to be pretty fresh.

I would probably opt to shop just about anywhere else but at least the pricing is fair. Given the choice between, say, a Food Lion and a Wal Mart, I would probably select the Wal Mart for any major shopping but pick off any lower priced items at Food Lion.

Thinking about it, at least the pricing is fair and Food Lion doesn't try to be something it isn't. This is unlike some, well, really, I can think of just one, regional chain out west that run stores very much like a Food Lion, but has highest-in-market pricing.

mjhale wrote: ↑December 13th, 2017, 9:41 pm

I'm curious to know where there has been a Martins to Food Lion conversion. I'd be interested to see what that would look like.

This one in Ashland, VA. Looks like not much was done to the stores at the time of these photos.

Wasn't Martin's a fairly perimeter-heavy format? I can only imagine what Food Lion did to the perimeters...

storewanderer wrote: ↑December 28th, 2017, 10:20 pm Wasn't Martin's a fairly perimeter-heavy format? I can only imagine what Food Lion did to the perimeters...

It is my feeling that Martins was perimeter heavy because Ukrops was perimeter heavy. At the time of the buyout Ukrops was beloved by folks who had been around Richmond for a long time. It was the home town grocer. Problem was Ukrops was having issues adapting to folks moving into the area and competing against what was considered to be a modern grocery store. Ukrops refused to sell alcohol and stayed closed on Sundays. I think Ukrops got the pass for a long time because of the quality of their perimeter and the level of service in the stores. Their prepared foods were quite good in my opinion. At the time of the Ahold buyout they said they would keep the traditional Ukrops things like heavy perimeters, carry out service, focus on service in the stores, etc but open on Sundays and start selling alcohol. Ultimately Ahold did what Ahold does and turned the former Ukrops turned Martins into another cookie cuter Ahold chain. The one new Martins store that was built on the west side of Richmond was for all intents and purposes a Giant-PA store but in Richmond. There was some Ukrops there as a nod to the past but it was only that. (Interestingly this new build Martins was not initially picked up by Publix. They ultimately did buy it after the fact.) While the former Ukrops stores under Ahold did have a heavier perimeter than the typical Giant-PA location I don't think it was anything that special anymore. My feeling is that turning a Ukrops turned Martins into a Food Lion is still a pretty big step down but Ahold had already gone a few steps down with how it ran the former Ukrops stores under the Martins name and the Giant-PA format.

mjhale wrote: ↑January 20th, 2018, 6:59 am At the time of the Ahold buyout they said they would keep the traditional Ukrops things like heavy perimeters, carry out service, focus on service in the stores, etc but open on Sundays and start selling alcohol. Ultimately Ahold did what Ahold does and turned the former Ukrops turned Martins into another cookie cuter Ahold chain. The one new Martins store that was built on the west side of Richmond was for all intents and purposes a Giant-PA store but in Richmond. There was some Ukrops there as a nod to the past but it was only that. (Interestingly this new build Martins was not initially picked up by Publix. They ultimately did buy it after the fact.)

Are we talking about the store at News Road and Monticello that was closed but Publix decided to reopen anyway? I think that was the "new" one but it's east of Richmond.

pseudo3d wrote: ↑January 20th, 2018, 8:15 am Are we talking about the store at News Road and Monticello that was closed but Publix decided to reopen anyway? I think that was the "new" one but it's east of Richmond.

I was referring to the Martins store at 200 Charter Colony Parkway in Midlothian. It opened in 2014 as a replacement for the Martins in Sycamore Square that had opened as a Ukrops in the 1970s.