Retail Watchers

storewanderer wrote:
I read in another article Weis has no debt. That is wonderful and explains a lot about how they have been able to keep going despite what appear to be somewhat low store volumes and in general not overly exciting stores in some really competitive places. I wonder how much of their real estate they own.

I feel like Weis has done very well, speaking specifically in the central PA region, especially since Giant (PA) continues to morph into a generic cookie-cuttter supermarket with the elimination of in-store services like butchers and in-house made food (The last time I bought a hoagie at Giant, which used to be made in the deli, I noticed the packaging was different....turns out they were now shipped in from California of all places!), and they continue to cut back on staff to very minimal levels. Not to mention, Weis is a true PA owned company...many Giant shoppers now realize their store is part of a major conglomerate. Also, IMO, Weis offers better weekly sales...the weekly Giant flyer is just 'blah' , and gas reward offers that Giant was heavily focused on are no longer as appealing with the current low price of fuel.

mbz321 wrote:

storewanderer wrote:
I read in another article Weis has no debt. That is wonderful and explains a lot about how they have been able to keep going despite what appear to be somewhat low store volumes and in general not overly exciting stores in some really competitive places. I wonder how much of their real estate they own.

I feel like Weis has done very well, speaking specifically in the central PA region, especially since Giant (PA) continues to morph into a generic cookie-cuttter supermarket with the elimination of in-store services like butchers and in-house made food (The last time I bought a hoagie at Giant, which used to be made in the deli, I noticed the packaging was different....turns out they were now shipped in from California of all places!), and they continue to cut back on staff to very minimal levels. Not to mention, Weis is a true PA owned company...many Giant shoppers now realize their store is part of a major conglomerate. Also, IMO, Weis offers better weekly sales...the weekly Giant flyer is just 'blah' , and gas reward offers that Giant was heavily focused on are no longer as appealing with the current low price of fuel.

I've always heard Giant-Carlisle was the inferior of the two Giant supermarkets, but a pre-packed hoagie shipped across the country? Yuck! I remember the Randalls (Safeway) back in Houston sold two types of pre-wrapped deli sandwiches, ones made in-store at the deli or from Antone's, which made sandwiches sold at area grocers from a regional commissary.

mbz321 wrote:(The last time I bought a hoagie at Giant, which used to be made in the deli, I noticed the packaging was different....turns out they were now shipped in from California of all places!)

Was it actually shipped from there, or maybe just the company's main address?

Like we've seen the Safeway and other now related stores with items (milk as an example) with their California address but they still bottle it more locally in the East, just put the corporate address on it.
Then again, of course, Giant doesn't have any part of the company out there, so...

BillyGr wrote:

mbz321 wrote:(The last time I bought a hoagie at Giant, which used to be made in the deli, I noticed the packaging was different....turns out they were now shipped in from California of all places!)

Was it actually shipped from there, or maybe just the company's main address?

Like we've seen the Safeway and other now related stores with items (milk as an example) with their California address but they still bottle it more locally in the East, just put the corporate address on it.
Then again, of course, Giant doesn't have any part of the company out there, so...

Like you said, a California-based company could own the commissary. Still, they should probably be more careful about that stuff. Giant doesn't have stores west of Pennsylvania, so it looks bad.

rwsandiego wrote:

BillyGr wrote:

mbz321 wrote:(The last time I bought a hoagie at Giant, which used to be made in the deli, I noticed the packaging was different....turns out they were now shipped in from California of all places!)

Was it actually shipped from there, or maybe just the company's main address?

Like we've seen the Safeway and other now related stores with items (milk as an example) with their California address but they still bottle it more locally in the East, just put the corporate address on it.
Then again, of course, Giant doesn't have any part of the company out there, so...

Like you said, a California-based company could own the commissary. Still, they should probably be more careful about that stuff. Giant doesn't have stores west of Pennsylvania, so it looks bad.

I don't know any national brand (save for those pre-packaged small "ham and cheese on white bread" sandwiches you see in convenience stores sometimes) that makes hoagies AND has multiple commissaries making them on the East Coast. Yeah, you bet it looks bad...probably because it is!

Martin's stores 6433, 6434, and 6499 closed Monday, 28 November 2016, to begin their conversions to Publix. Stores 6421, 6435, 6438, and 6494 have been announced to close on of after Monday, 6 February 2017, to begin their conversions. I am unaware of updates for stores 6429, 6439, and 6498. Stores 6429 and 6439 do not have pharmacies, which Publix could easily fix.

Knight wrote:Stores 6429 and 6439 do not have pharmacies, which Publix could easily fix.

I don't know any of the specifics regarding this transaction but there are CVS stores in both shopping centers so maybe they have a clause in their lease preventing other pharmacies from opening in the same center.

Knight wrote:Martin's stores 6433, 6434, and 6499 closed Monday, 28 November 2016, to begin their conversions to Publix. Stores 6421, 6435, 6438, and 6494 have been announced to close on of after Monday, 6 February 2017, to begin their conversions. I am unaware of updates for stores 6429, 6439, and 6498. Stores 6429 and 6439 do not have pharmacies, which Publix could easily fix.

Wait, are any one of these the recent store that opened in November 2014? Sounds short-lived to me, as if Food Lion had the upper hand in that market.

All this merger news is going too fast... soon enough, with all these changes, Publix will be in NJ and Weis down in Georgia, it seems.

klkla wrote: I don't know any of the specifics regarding this transaction but there are CVS stores in both shopping centers so maybe they have a clause in their lease preventing other pharmacies from opening in the same center.

Martin's, or Ukrop's, may have made deals with CVS to not have pharmacies in those stores. Publix has many stores with pharmacies that are adjacent to competing drugstores.

BatteryMill wrote: Wait, are any one of these the recent store that opened in November 2014? Sounds short-lived to me, as if Food Lion had the upper hand in that market.

All this merger news is going too fast... soon enough, with all these changes, Publix will be in NJ and Weis down in Georgia, it seems.

I do not have any knowledge of when specifically Martin's stores in the Richmond area opened.

I see Weis being in a same position as Ingle's limited itself to a specific geographic area and adding store count within its limited footprint.

I do not see Publix being in New Jersey for decades. It could be doable as Publix opens quantities of quality stores in varying sizes in existing and new markets. I think Publix is in excellent position to exceed 2,000 stores.