ClownLoach wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2024, 10:01 am
Basically a Stop & Shop mass closure is on the way, and they want to reiterate to investors that they have more growth plans than closure plans. I would still have concerns about the execution ability which is far below industry standard.
Agreed. I don't know about the second part, though, from everything I've seen execution at both Giants, Hannaford, and Food Lion ranges from very solid to really good. I think this is a Stop & Shop-specific problem. All of the growth they talked about was with the Giants, Hannaford, and Food Lion; all of the closures they talked about were with Stop & Shop.
Edit to add: here's Reuters saying Stop & Shop stores are to be closed, but they don't have any information we don't already know -- they, I'm sure, were listening to exactly the same parts I was.
pseudo3d wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2024, 1:04 pm
How do they intend to do Stop & Shop closures? Sell them off? Close them and put them on the market? Convert a bunch to Food Lion?
To me, that's gonna depend on the details -- the number and locations of the closures. If Ahold Delhaize wants to dump 15 random stores across the chain that are unprofitable, they could just do that. But if we're looking at maybe two dozen closures in central New Jersey and another dozen or two in central and western Massachusetts -- which I think is likely, given that those areas seem to be a bit of a struggle and many of those stores haven't been renovated in a decade or more -- then if I were Ahold Delhaize, I'd want to call up Albertsons or Wakefern or somebody before I just give up. (I don't think there will be anything as dramatic as, say, leaving New Jersey altogether, but it could happen.) There were no such details today and it sounds like some time in the next few months, they'll make a formal announcement with those details.
pseudo3d wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2024, 1:04 pm
How do they intend to do Stop & Shop closures? Sell them off? Close them and put them on the market? Convert a bunch to Food Lion?
A friend of mine started working part time at Food Lion which has caused me to give them a second look. Ahold-Delhaize still has some scattered Food Lion locations in the periphery of the Northern Virginia area. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by Food Lion. The stores are not Giant-MD or Safeway in environment. But being on the smaller size, they are easy to get into, get what you need and get out. The stores seem well-staffed and actually have regular registers open if one doesn't want self-checkout. Pricing is quite good. They are running some very aggressive sales as well. I like having a blend between the Food Lion brands and the brands from Ahold as needed especially in the organic and natural areas. Packaged produce is fine but the other things are pretty average. Deli/Bakery is still lacking compared to Giant-MD or Safeway but for sliced American or Swiss cheese I can make it work.
When Ahold and Delhaize merged, Food Lion was pretty dumpy. I can see why they kept Giant-PA and Giant-MD stores where they were dominant or where communities strongly lobbied. It seems that Ahold-Delhaize has put some resources into Food Lion since the merger. It might be interesting if Food Lion was used as some sort of semi-price impact, not as small as an Aldi but not as huge as a Stop and Shop/ShopRite/Giant type format. That might be a way to get some traction in areas that one of the Ahold-Delhaize large format stores wouldn't work. The non-union issue would have to be worked out if there were conversions. The other thing I have wondered with Food Lion is if Ahold-Delhaize is looking to spin them off. On its face, the format doesn't fit with the other stores in the company. However, Food Lion is still the only traditional grocer in many rural markets. That probably brings in some good money that makes it worth keeping. Also, calling Food Lion a "powerhouse" seems to indicate dedication to the brand.
ClownLoach wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2024, 9:00 am
Basically it's fluffy things. Anything actually strategic like a specific outcome for Stop & Shop would not be discussed in such a venue. It's nice to know info for investors, but these types of calls will never get into explicit financial performance. If I was an investor and I had to hear acknowledgement of failure of the absolute basics like full shelves I would be furious. Connect the dots. He says they switched to self distribution, and the shelves aren't staying full. So basically not only do they not know how to operate stores properly, they don't know how to distribute either and should not have fired C&S. I guess C&S is more competent? And that means they don't know how to manage inventory, forecast, analyze data, etc. Lots of bad there that even relatively small and local chains can figure out but this multinational conglomerate can't?
Is the move away from C&S a reaction to the still pending Kroger-Albertsons merger? In the original divestiture list C&S is to get about a dozen Harris-Teeter locations in the DC area. I have struggled to think of who C&S could sell these stores to if that is the plan. If C&S kept the stores and tried to operate them as their own, Ahold-Delhaize would be buying from their now competitor. Of course, no one knows how long that would actually last given the discussions in other threads on this site regarding if C&S is even capable of running the stores they receive or selling them to other chains/independents and then supply them.
I think Food Lion has cheap leases and tight expense controls in its operation. Customers don't expect much of Food Lion but it seems to be delivering on a promise of fresh (.. not having much out on perimeter it does seem to be fresh, yes), fast (I agree), and friendly (... maybe).
I see it as a potential spin off given how they've separated out private label, IT, etc.
Moving away from third parties operating the warehouses is something that a lot of chains have been doing over the years. What seemed like a good idea in the 90's isn't.
mjhale wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2024, 5:39 pm
Is the move away from C&S a reaction to the still pending Kroger-Albertsons merger? In the original divestiture list C&S is to get about a dozen Harris-Teeter locations in the DC area. I have struggled to think of who C&S could sell these stores to if that is the plan. If C&S kept the stores and tried to operate them as their own, Ahold-Delhaize would be buying from their now competitor. Of course, no one knows how long that would actually last given the discussions in other threads on this site regarding if C&S is even capable of running the stores they receive or selling them to other chains/independents and then supply them.
It's definitely not related to the merger. The change was announced in 2019.
