Retail Watchers

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/ne ... month.html

The former CEO of New Seasons was able to pivot several times, adjust locations, and so on but after a decade the chain never got enough traction.

This definitely makes me curious for Basics as well, but they are more on the west side / suburban market so perhaps it will be okay.

SamSpade wrote: ↑March 8th, 2023, 11:17 am https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/ne ... month.html

The former CEO of New Seasons was able to pivot several times, adjust locations, and so on but after a decade the chain never got enough traction.

This definitely makes me curious for Basics as well, but they are more on the west side / suburban market so perhaps it will be okay.

Basics also has a big financial backer behind it. The former owner of Pacific Foods who sold out to Campbells and was one of the original investors in New Seasons is behind Basics. Green Zebra never had big bucks behind it. Also I think the stores were too small and too expensive to really make it. You see these types of stores all over Europe and NYC but in Portland people weren't used to small markets to walk to. I loved the concept but it needed some fine tuning and a stronger financial backing.

The Raleys Market 5 One 5 concept in Sacramento was basically a straight copy of Green Zebra (that closed in 2021?). 11k square feet so a little bigger. And that was a failure too. They blamed COVID too. It has nothing to do with a flawed business model and too high of prices.

I don't think Green Zebra ever did enough sales volume to execute properly. My guess is they were losing a lot on shrink. They did not have the foot traffic to support the fresh operation that the customer they targeted expected. They gave it a good try- they tried to run it for 10 years. I suspect the recent inflation really did them in. That has been a killer. When you run a business that is barely making it and your cash flow is tight, and suddenly your wholesaler product costs go up 20-30% over a few month period and you barely have breakeven sales, unless you can find more cash, you are kind of screwed and stop being able to afford inventory (let alone that power bill that is 40% higher than last year, wages that are higher, etc.). It is unfortunate. I suspect Green Zebra's everyday pricing was not really significantly higher than Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, or Safeway either on like items on an everyday price basis.

storewanderer wrote: ↑March 8th, 2023, 11:28 pmI don't think Green Zebra ever did enough sales volume to execute properly. My guess is they were losing a lot on shrink. They did not have the foot traffic to support the fresh operation that the customer they targeted expected. They gave it a good try- they tried to run it for 10 years. I suspect the recent inflation really did them in. That has been a killer. When you run a business that is barely making it and your cash flow is tight, and suddenly your wholesaler product costs go up 20-30% over a few month period and you barely have breakeven sales, unless you can find more cash, you are kind of screwed and stop being able to afford inventory (let alone that power bill that is 40% higher than last year, wages that are higher, etc.). It is unfortunate. I suspect Green Zebra's everyday pricing was not really significantly higher than Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, or Safeway either on like items on an everyday price basis.

I would also like to add that my friend who worked there previously worked at Fred Meyer (after decades of owning a small retail business) and had a pretty challenging time there but rarely / never complained about workplace culture at GZ. It appears that the goodwill that NSM had under Sedlar continued into her new venture.

SamSpade wrote: ↑March 9th, 2023, 9:33 am
I would also like to add that my friend who worked there previously worked at Fred Meyer (after decades of owning a small retail business) and had a pretty challenging time there but rarely / never complained about workplace culture at GZ. It appears that the goodwill that NSM had under Sedlar continued into her new venture.

In a smaller operation that is lower volume with fewer co-workers there are going to be a lot fewer workplace politics. Fewer layers between employees and those in charge. Culture is more clear. Closure of these smaller businesses is actually a real loss for the employees.

In large stores like a Fred Meyer there tend to be a lot of little silos in the departments/even within shifts in the departments and the management is so buried/overworked/too many vacant positions they don't fully know what exactly is going on.