For over six decades, Tops Friendly Markets has been more than just a grocery store. It’s been a community hub, trusted neighbor and purveyor of quality products. With nearly 150 locations across New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont, Tops is woven into the fabric of the community.
From fresh produce to everyday essentials, Williamsville, New York-based Tops – The Griffin Report’s 2024 Retailer of the Year – strives to deliver on its promise of exceptional value, quality and service.
At Tops, the customer comes first. With a focus on personalized service and a wide range of quality products, the grocer has earned the trust and loyalty of its customers. By understanding the unique needs of each community, Tops strives to provide a shopping experience that exceeds expectations.
Tops has continued to build on this legacy by making significant investments in stores, technology and the communities it serves. These investments reflect the company’s forward-thinking approach and dedication to enhancing the shopping experience.
Operating in markets that include formidable competitors such as Walmart, Wegmans and dollar stores, Tops has created a unique position by leveraging national brands and promotions.
“We stand out in our markets due to having a wide variety of national brands. Our competitors’ store sizes often are two to three times larger than ours, but their assortments are heavily skewed toward store brands. This opens a door for us to capture market share by highlighting national brands,” said Ron Ferri, President of Tops.
“That’s not to say that we don’t have a phenomenal private brand portfolio, because we do. We have in the range of 27 to 29 percent unit penetration in private brands, but we also have the added variety of national brands that consumers crave.”
Admittedly, having this type of go-to-market strategy can be challenging to balance.
“It’s not easy to manage that assortment complexity, but with modern tools and technology we are able to manage this expanded variety and still be incredibly efficient,” said John Persons, CEO of Northeast Grocery Inc., the ultimate parent company of Tops and Price Chopper/Market 32.
Another point of differentiation for Tops is its smaller footprint, which makes it more nimble and able to fit into locations that may make some competitors wary.
“We can easily go into markets where others can’t because the neighborhood might not support a traditional big box store,” Persons said. “Our smallest footprint is 10,000 square feet and our largest is 100,000, which gives us the flexibility to go into any market that’s out there, including many of the smaller, more rural areas other grocers might shy away from.”
Loyalty program prowess
Tops operates in a number of diverse markets, but a key reason many customers choose to shop there is its fuel rewards program. Of Tops’ store count, 58 locations sell gas, and linking the pump to in-store promotions has proven successful.
Ferri noted that fuel has been an important part of Tops’ overall business for the past 20 years.
“Yes, it offers convenience. But it’s important to note 50 percent of our primary customers actively engage in the fuel program. Very few loyalty programs of this nature have that kind of penetration,” he said.
“Our fuel rewards program helps support our overall value message. We partner with many of our vendors to put together rewards promotions, such as buy a certain number of brand items and earn extra gas points.”
In addition to the fuel program, Tops runs promotional programs throughout the year tied to its rewards card, which provides customers an additional way to get value back on their purchases.
“Above having the best deals in town every day on the brands consumers love the most, which is our core message, we provide additional value through our Bonus Plus Card programs,” said Diane Colgan, SVP of Marketing and Business Intelligence for Northeast Shared Services.
“The card provides product discounts, as well as the ability to earn Tops GasPoints. Points can be used to get discounts on fuel at our own fuel stations.”
One of Tops’ most popular programs around the winter holidays is the Christmas Bonus promotion. Customers who spend $50 or more on groceries can save $10 on $50 gift cards at various retailers such as Best Buy, Cabela’s, Kohl’s, Lowe’s and Macy’s, to name a few.
“The message this sends is that Tops is going to give you the best deals on food. We’re going to give you great discounts on your fuel, but we’re also going to help you with all your holiday gifts,” Colgan said.
Persons noted that Tops has largely excelled in tough competitive markets because of implementing promotional programs such as these. “The engagement in all of our loyalty programs is remarkable,” he said.
[RELATED: Tops Launches Annual Check Out Hunger Campaign]
Growing store count
Over the years, Tops has grown largely through acquisitions. According to Ferri, the company’s strategy for the next few years likely will follow the same approach.
“Most of our marketing area is experiencing limited to declining population growth and the region is overstored, so the opportunity for us to grow is by buying existing stores. There are limited new entrants that would consider the markets we are in because they don’t see them as a growth vehicle,” Ferri said.
As Persons explained, Tops’ ability to thrive in small markets wasn’t always a strength. Prior to acquiring Penn Traffic stores in 2010, Tops didn’t have the ability – or agility – to efficiently run small-format stores.
“Penn Traffic’s strength was running smaller stores in rural areas – some in resort towns – and they ran them very efficiently,” Persons explained. “Once we acquired Penn, and many of their employees joined our company, they played a key role in helping us be more successful in running a variety of store sizes.
“Over the course of our history, we’ve had different owners and have been merged with and acquired companies. All these events allowed us to learn and grow. The experiences that Ron and I have had over the years wouldn’t be the experiences that you would typically get at a regional grocery company.”
Looking forward
As at other retailers, the leadership team at Tops is exploring how retail media networks can help them grow business.
“We want to figure out how we can effectively use it – not just the monetization side of it but how we use it to engage our shoppers. We believe RMN will enable us to connect with shoppers in a much greater way,” Ferri said.
Expanding home delivery is another initiative Tops is eyeing. The retailer is currently partnered with Instacart.
“We know there is interest in home grocery delivery, but we also see an opportunity to increase delivery options of our prepared foods and take-out meals,” Ferri said. “We are exploring how we can do more in this area to unlock the opportunity and compete with restaurants that are now realizing half of their business through doorbell [services].”
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