Crucial times for Shoppers

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. No non-grocery posts.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by storewanderer »

UNFI may have realized they need to keep these corporate stores to keep the distribution operation viable in some of these places.

In MN I am sure they have enough distribution business but back there in DC... questionable. They did pick up the Key Foods account from C&S last year which was a huge win for them though in the NY region.
Romr123
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 693
Joined: February 1st, 2021, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 56 times
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by Romr123 »

that is probably the case--the Eastern Seaboard limits the directions where UNFI can take additional business...we see that here in Michigan with SpartanNash being the only logical distributor over much all the state (SuperValu/Fort Wayne is not completely ridiculous for the lower 2 counties across the lower peninsula, and in far western UP from Minnesota)
BatteryMill
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 411
Joined: May 1st, 2016, 12:25 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 18 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by BatteryMill »

storewanderer wrote: June 28th, 2021, 11:44 pm UNFI may have realized they need to keep these corporate stores to keep the distribution operation viable in some of these places.

In MN I am sure they have enough distribution business but back there in DC... questionable. They did pick up the Key Foods account from C&S last year which was a huge win for them though in the NY region.
Currently Shoppers is supplied out of Richmond. That distribution center originally belonged to Richfood, serving as a bridge between Shoppers in D.C./Baltimore and Farm Fresh in Richmond/Hampton Roads. I don't know what's down there that UNFI currently takes in besides SFW, but they are a benefit now that they can't get FF and other stores back.
BatteryMill
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 411
Joined: May 1st, 2016, 12:25 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 18 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by BatteryMill »

Moving this Shoppers discussion over to the appropriate thread. We can still carry on the Food Lion talk in its thread, of course.
storewanderer wrote: September 12th, 2021, 2:15 pm
Bradford011 wrote: September 12th, 2021, 2:03 pm This is most interesting. I've never heard of Cub but then haven't been to the midwest in decades.

But lets be realistic, if the chains had NOT made money during the pandemic would they still be keeping these stores open?
They figured out that they need these stores open, under their ownership, and supplied by their wholesale side, to keep certain pieces of the wholesale business viable. It is more and more difficult to sell stores and attach a wholesale supply agreement to the sale, when more and more of the potential buyers do not want to have that stipulation. Or some who go along with it, figure out how to get out of it as soon as the term is up (like Albertsons), causing pretty significant business losses.

At this point it is down to 71 stores, it feels like too few stores to even matter. The longer they sit on Cub, the more Hy Vee expansion takes place in MSP, the less Cub will be worth. As far as Shoppers goes they were already in the process of closing that thing down and made multiple steps including closing all pharmacies, selling various random stores piecemeal, in at least one case selling a store to someone who keeps calling the store "Shoppers" but then it isn't really a Shoppers when you go inside...
It's a far cry from the 2000s, when Cub still had a decent store base outside MN, but I'm not sure how much of their footprint Cub has lost since SuperValu started shedding their retail operations. Either I would push for a sale now, or re-energize the retail department if I were in charge.

As for that one example, happened to the Shoppers in Waldorf, MD. Turns out that McKay's, the ones who own said location, are now temporarily closing that location in order to remodel to their own brand. The other location they purchased in St. Mary's opened earlier this year as McKay's.
mjhale wrote: September 12th, 2021, 7:59 pm
mbz321 wrote: September 12th, 2021, 5:42 pm And something else silly which I guess is an obvious goof, on the Shoppers' website under 'About Us' it says:

Shoppers, which began in 1949 as Jumbo Food Stores, became part of the United Natural Foods, Inc. family in 1999. :?
Geez talk about leaving parts out.... After the Haft family meltdown Dart Group purchased Shoppers in full in 1997. They had previously owned a non-majority share. In 1998 Richfood purchased Dart Group with the intent of only keeping Shoppers. In 1999 Supervalu purchased Richfood which gave them Shoppers. In 2018 UNFI purchased Supervalu.

But then again the average person doesn't care about all those details...
Well, it's on Wikipedia so anyone's free to edit, that's the thing. :lol:
mjhale wrote: September 12th, 2021, 8:04 pm Unfortunately, at least in the DC area, I just don't see Shoppers continuing as an entity after UNFI sells off the remaining stores. Supervalu tried to upscale Shoppers when they should have left it as a discount brand. They tried to compete with Giant and Safeway when long time Washington residents saw Shoppers as the cheap place to go if you can't afford anything else. In the interim the discounters - Aldi, Lidl and Walmart Supercenters - came in and even more mid to upscale competition moved in with Harris Teeter, Wegmans and Whole Foods moving in. Given the strength of Giant and Safeway as well as their recognition as mid-level grocers Shoppers was left with no space of their own. Even now they just don't offer anything I can't get elsewhere. It is sad to say that Shoppers is going to become fodder for other retailers to expand like the recent sale of locations for conversion into Lidl locations.
With Shoppers holding on to their stores "indefinitely", when do you think UNFI will let go of the remaining locations?
mjhale
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 429
Joined: October 2nd, 2016, 4:02 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 47 times
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by mjhale »

BatteryMill wrote: September 13th, 2021, 1:03 pm With Shoppers holding on to their stores "indefinitely", when do you think UNFI will let go of the remaining locations?
IMO "indefinitely" is only until UNFI gets the right offer on the stores. Whether that is now, 6 months, one year or more no one knows. I do think that as long as sales are strong enough to justify the cost of running a retail business when UNFI really wants to wholesale they will keep them around.
Bradford011
Stock Clerk
Stock Clerk
Posts: 45
Joined: August 20th, 2021, 1:30 am
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by Bradford011 »

I have to agree with this...
BatteryMill
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 411
Joined: May 1st, 2016, 12:25 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 18 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by BatteryMill »

So an interesting affront to these theories. Shoppers is in the process of closing three stores... two are going to Safeway, who previously declined to buy any Shoppers locations. Those are Fairfax, VA, Baltimore (Greenspring), MD, and Crofton, MD.
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/ ... irfax.html
buckguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1003
Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by buckguy »

The Greenspring location is actually in Pikesville, not Baltimore City, which has a Greenspring neighborhood. Apparently, it's Safeway's third try in the Pikesville area in recent years. It's also a store that started out as a Food Fair in the 60s. The current manager was a stocker at the Food Fair, but won't be staying.

This purchase would seem to answer the question of whether Safeway is committed to the area, at least in the short run.
mjhale
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 429
Joined: October 2nd, 2016, 4:02 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 47 times
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by mjhale »

Safeway is coming almost full circle taking over the Shoppers. Safeway had a store where the Total Wine and Staples are located across Pickett Road. Closed in the late 70s-early 80s maybe when the Pan Am Shopping Center location opened perhaps. I have to wonder if Safeway is opening here to preserve some presence in Fairfax City. Their store in the middle of town is still in its 1990s form last I was in there. The center was supposed to be redeveloped and Safeway renovated in the early 2000s but nothing ever happened. The east side of Fairfax City doesn't have many grocery choices anyway. You have to go to Pan Am, the new Giant at Scout on the Circle or go to Annandale. Safeway presumably should do well here but they skew pricey and higher end so you have to wonder if they will get the same cross section of people that Shoppers attracted.
mjhale
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 429
Joined: October 2nd, 2016, 4:02 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 47 times
Status: Offline

Re: Crucial times for Shoppers

Post by mjhale »

buckguy wrote: November 9th, 2021, 9:13 am This purchase would seem to answer the question of whether Safeway is committed to the area, at least in the short run.
Up to this point Safeway had been shedding stores here and there. I actually wondered if Albertsons was just going to run Safeway for what it is now considering all of the competition in Northern Virginia. Maybe Albertsons is actually looking to expand or relocate stores given this purchase and the recent store remodels.
Post Reply