Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

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Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by Knight »

Publix is speculated to expand into the District of Columbia in the Washington Business Journal article "Publix making first push into Greater Washington."

Publix is already seeking sites in northern Virginia.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by klkla »

Very interesting. A well run company like Publix has to continually grow to keep the momentum going and they seem to have a good strategy.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by Knight »

klkla wrote:Very interesting. A well run company like Publix has to continually grow to keep the momentum going and they seem to have a good strategy.
Publix can easily grow. It is a well run organization indeed that is well organized, is able to open quantities of quality stores in many sizes, and can be diverse in its clientele from price conscientious customers to being upscale.

Expansion into the District of Columbia and northern Virginia could stretch Publix's Charlotte Division as entries into Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware are probable. I would not be surprised to see a new division established.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by arizonaguy »

Is DC the new epicenter of grocery competition?

As far as "traditional" chains I count the following:

Giant-Landover
Safeway
Shoppers Food Warehouse
Harris Teeter
Wegmans

Plus:
Food Lion

and now:
Publix
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by pseudo3d »

arizonaguy wrote:Is DC the new epicenter of grocery competition?

As far as "traditional" chains I count the following:

Giant-Landover
Safeway
Shoppers Food Warehouse
Harris Teeter
Wegmans

Plus:
Food Lion

and now:
Publix
Is Shoppers really all that of a winner? Didn't they lose a lot of customers when SuperValu tried to make them more of a mainstream supermarket than a discount grocery store? Not saying they're not going to vanish but they definitely look like the weakest of the six (if you count Food Lion/Giant-Landover as one).
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote:
arizonaguy wrote:Is DC the new epicenter of grocery competition?

As far as "traditional" chains I count the following:

Giant-Landover
Safeway
Shoppers Food Warehouse
Harris Teeter
Wegmans

Plus:
Food Lion

and now:
Publix
Is Shoppers really all that of a winner? Didn't they lose a lot of customers when SuperValu tried to make them more of a mainstream supermarket than a discount grocery store? Not saying they're not going to vanish but they definitely look like the weakest of the six (if you count Food Lion/Giant-Landover as one).
In 5 years, I expect that the DC market will consist of the following:

1. Giant-Landover (with low-hanging stores closed)
2. Safeway (same as Giant, also depends on how Albertsons manages their marketing and pricing)
3. Harris Teeter (with increased store count)
4. Wegmans
5. Publix (will likely grow quickly, as the DC area is too far from their existing regions to make just a few stores work)

Food Lion will be completely gone due to the size of their stores alone, and Shoppers Food Warehouse will be hanging on by a thread, if even that.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by BillyGr »

architect wrote: In 5 years, I expect that the DC market will consist of the following:

1. Giant-Landover (with low-hanging stores closed)
2. Safeway (same as Giant, also depends on how Albertsons manages their marketing and pricing)
3. Harris Teeter (with increased store count)
4. Wegmans
5. Publix (will likely grow quickly, as the DC area is too far from their existing regions to make just a few stores work)

Food Lion will be completely gone due to the size of their stores alone, and Shoppers Food Warehouse will be hanging on by a thread, if even that.
There are, though, some people who much prefer a smaller store over one of the large ones for the simple fact of ease of getting what they need.

It also may depend on what they do with the smaller chain (after all, people seem to have no problem going to an Aldi or Sav-a-Lot type store which is much smaller than a "regular" supermarket) - maybe it would be a good time to look at the origins of Food Lion (or if you want, Food Town) and take that model back (smaller stores, better prices, buying in bulk when there is a good price to be had)?
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by storewanderer »

I think one loser in DC will be Harris Teeter. With a lot of newer stores in what look to me like very high rent locations, and really not much special to offer other than some flashy looking stores, I think this chain is going to be in real trouble in light of a Publix expansion as it has elsewhere.

Safeway and Giant are entrenched enough and have a real estate situation that gives them a good advantage short of some real screw ups. Giant has been fumbling for years but always had very high volume stores to begin with so they could afford to lose some customers and still be okay. Safeway with mostly medium volume stores is not quite in the same position but due to the real estate situation I expect they should be okay. However, a combination of Publix and Wegman's going against their best 15-20 store locations could be a real disaster. Similar to how Mariano's went after Dominick's in Chicago... Safeway has little to nothing special to offer customers and is very vulnerable being in that position with medium volume stores. People I know in DC proper tell me they don't shop Safeway because Trader Joe's is cheaper and in certain cases even Whole Foods is cheaper. However with Albertsons eager to buy any store possible to paint a picture of growth to get its IPO off the ground, I would expect them to buy Food Lion/Giant divests and also eventually buy Shoppers from Supervalu to cover up the situation they are in.

I would also agree on looking at the origins of Food Lion... that is not a dead model, it is just too boring and simple for today's operators who keep wanting to change what they are doing if they don't get results in 10 seconds.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by pseudo3d »

Harris Teeter is backed by Kroger, which should give it an edge, but Kroger doesn't like situations where they have a small market share. Albertsons is a toss-up, if they get their act together, Safeway could be a strong player. Food Lion could work if Ahold Delhaize positions it as an alternative to ALDI, and have both brands have the same brand name mix.
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Re: Publix is speculated to enter the District of Columbia

Post by architect »

storewanderer wrote:I think one loser in DC will be Harris Teeter. With a lot of newer stores in what look to me like very high rent locations, and really not much special to offer other than some flashy looking stores, I think this chain is going to be in real trouble in light of a Publix expansion as it has elsewhere.

Safeway and Giant are entrenched enough and have a real estate situation that gives them a good advantage short of some real screw ups. Giant has been fumbling for years but always had very high volume stores to begin with so they could afford to lose some customers and still be okay. Safeway with mostly medium volume stores is not quite in the same position but due to the real estate situation I expect they should be okay. However, a combination of Publix and Wegman's going against their best 15-20 store locations could be a real disaster. Similar to how Mariano's went after Dominick's in Chicago... Safeway has little to nothing special to offer customers and is very vulnerable being in that position with medium volume stores. People I know in DC proper tell me they don't shop Safeway because Trader Joe's is cheaper and in certain cases even Whole Foods is cheaper. However with Albertsons eager to buy any store possible to paint a picture of growth to get its IPO off the ground, I would expect them to buy Food Lion/Giant divests and also eventually buy Shoppers from Supervalu to cover up the situation they are in.

I would also agree on looking at the origins of Food Lion... that is not a dead model, it is just too boring and simple for today's operators who keep wanting to change what they are doing if they don't get results in 10 seconds.
I definitely agree that Harris Teeter stands to lose a lot if they do not play their cards carefully. Although I am confident that Harris Teeter can be very successful in the DC market, they have to find a way to differentiate themselves (especially from Safeway and Giant). Personally, I think that is time for Kroger to start introducing their high-end specialty brands (such as Private Selection and Simple Truth) to Harris Teeter as a differentiator, even if the standard items retain the Harris Teeter branding for the duration of their Topco contract. In addition, they need to become more price competitive. Outside of Food Lion (more on that in a second), I expect that the most threatened chain is Giant, as they have little basis to differentiate themselves, and they are primarily entrenched in suburban areas which would be much easier for both Publix and Wegmans to enter and compete in. On the other hand, Safeway has many more urban locations, which will be difficult for Publix to dirrectly compete against without the right real estate opportunities.

As far as Food Lion goes, they really need to find an identity for themselves in order to survive. Although small-format supermarkets are highly-successful right now, the chains which are doing well are either limited-selection, high volume (such as Aldi) or specialty (such as Trader Joe's). When shoppers go to one of these stores, they clearly know what to expect. On the other hand, Food Lion is currently competing with traditional supermarkets, which puts them at a clear disadvantage compared to other chains with better amenities and pricing (due to higher volumes). Personally, I think that their best bet is to take on an Aldi-type model, but differentiate their stores by selling a focused selection of name-brand products which are sold at a low price, high volume model.
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