by Chris Cooley/MyHRConcierge Special to The Shelby Report How can the IRS determine if I complied with the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? That is one of the most common questions that I hear regarding ACA. Many have stated they have not heard of penalties being handed out to employers and doubt there will be enforcement of […]
Category: Guest Contributors
Posted inBakery News, Deli News, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, National, Packaging News, Perishables, Produce News, Shelby Content, Store News, Suppliers, Supply Chain News, Wholesaler/Distributor News
Five Steps To Cut Spoilage And Reduce Losses
by Michael Falck/co-founder and U.S. president, RELEX Solutions Special to The Shelby Report According to a 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shrink loss in fresh fruit, vegetables and meat items continues to increase despite advances in food technologies. In the same report, the USDA found that in 2011-12, the average loss estimate […]
Posted in, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, National, Shelby Content, Shelby Signature Content, Store News, Suppliers, Wholesaler/Distributor News
Trade Show Planning For Your Store Success
by Michael Isenberg/COO, Chex Finer Foods Special to The Shelby Report The spring trade show season goes into full gear at the end of each February. Trade shows are important opportunities to see new products, renew old friendships, learn about industry trends and enhance your professional relationships. To assist you with maximizing your trade show opportunities, […]
Posted inShelby Signature Content, Amazon Fresh, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, National, Shelby Content, Whole Foods
Millennials And The Marketplace
by Caroline Brindle/Special to The Shelby Report My friends and I often are asked for the “Millennial perspective.” So here are some of my observations. We love glamour, but have tiny paychecks. We put out lots of social media posts, but crave genuine relationships. We have our sights set on success, but don’t want to […]
Posted inCenter Store, Guest Contributors, Health & Wellness, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, National, Nonfood Items, Shelby Content, Shelby Signature Content, Store News, Suppliers, Women In The News
Non-Food For Thought: Why Make HBW Your Top New Year’s Resolution?
by Naomi Sleeper/director of business development, Imperial Distributors According to an Acosta study commissioned by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), sales of health, beauty and wellness (HBW) products total $84 billion annually. Grocery retailers only capture about $15 billion of those sales. This means a big opportunity for supermarkets to increase their share of HBW sales. […]
Posted inStore News, Albertsons, Amazon Fresh, Equipment & Technology, Grocery Store Equipment, Grocery Store Layout, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, National, Online Grocery Technology, Shelby Content, Whole Foods
Amazon Go Experiment Challenges Retailers To Test New Innovations
by Marek Polonski/SVP, Applied Predictive Technologies E-commerce giant Amazon is striving to make the dream of a streamlined shopping experience a reality with the recent debut of Amazon Go, a brick-and-mortar grocery and convenience store leveraging technology to eliminate checkout lines. At Amazon Go’s physical location, the store’s technology detects when products are picked up […]
Posted inC-Store News, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Southeast
GACS President: Businesses Being Held Responsible For Fulton County’s ‘Sliders’ Problem
by Angela Holland/president, Georgia Association of Convenience Stores “Sliders” are not just small burgers in Atlanta. They also are persons who slide from one vehicle to another while the owner/driver is pumping gas. Many times, they steal valuables from the car, but if one leaves their keys in the car, they simply steal the car. […]
Posted inShelby Content, Grocery News, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, National, Shelby Signature Content
To Capture Holiday Profits, The Pennies Are In The Details
by Art Patch/Special to The Shelby Report As a college student, I had the good fortune to work for a manager who was willing to share with me what it took to run a grocery business. He let me know right away that no question was without merit. But before he began responding to my […]
Posted in, Feature, Grocery News, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, National, Shelby Content, Shelby Signature Content
How The American Supermarket Can Best Serve Hispanic And Asian Customers
by Harry Blazer/Food industry consultant and former grocer The Shelby Report asked me to provide some advice to supermarkets regarding how to best serve Asian and Hispanic customers. First of all, there is a distinction to be made between ethnicity and race. Currently, the United States Census Bureau defines six race categories: • White or […]
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Demographics Don’t Tell The Whole Story…But Store Managers Do
For years, grocery retailers followed a simple formula to identify their key customer. The target was a woman 19 to 49 years old. Why? Because this group most often was married, had children, were homemakers and did the majority of grocery shopping. Their shopping list was usually made up of recipes for family meals. As […]
Posted in, Center Store, Grocery News, Guest Contributors, Health & Wellness, Home Page Latest News, National, Snacks Brands
Column: Getting A Boost From Nutrition Bars
by Naomi Sleeper Director of Business Development Imperial Distributors As the sun makes an appearance in the summer, so do we…on bike paths, hiking and running trails, waterfronts, sports fields; any outside venue, really. The seasonal upswing in outdoor activities, enhanced by a growing focus on wellness and active lifestyles, means a boost in the […]
Posted in, Guest Contributors, National, Shelby Signature Content, The Independent Perspective
Larkin: Taxes, Healthcare, Regulations Top Concern List For 2016
by Peter Larkin/Special to The Shelby Report Despite Republican majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Congress continues to grapple with gridlock. And, heading into an important 2016 presidential election, where Republicans need to defend 24 U.S. Senate seats vs. the 10 seats on the Democrat side, the 2016 elections will […]
Posted in, Albertsons, Guest Contributors, National, Shelby Signature Content
The Path To Chapter 11 Can Follow One Of Several Roads
Events leading a business to file for protection under Chapter 11 can take different forms and move at different speeds. The retail food business has recently served up two examples of polar opposites in their trip to Chapter 11. A&P’s trip, by some accounts, began in the 1950s. Haggen, on the other hand, had barely […]
Posted in, Guest Contributors, Industry News, National, Shelby Signature Content
For A Healthy Return, Invest Executive Time In New Hires
If your company does not arrange for a member of senior management to spend time with new hires during basic training you are missing an opportunity. The opportunity to help newly hired employees get a clear understanding of your company’s brand character as well as the financial drivers that make a retail grocery business successful. […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
A Light At The End Of The WIC Moratorium Tunnel?
by Ron Fong, CGA president/CEO For The Shelby Report California continues to suffer under an indefinite moratorium on new WIC vendor authorizations. The issue remains one of the most critical facing California’s retail grocers. The California Grocers Association (CGA) has taken a multi-pronged approach in an attempt to help the California WIC Department and the […]
Posted in, Guest Contributors, National
A Difficult Personnel Decision Some Executives Can’t Make
The recent series of events that led to the termination of Rutgers University’s head basketball coach, Mike Rice, brought to the forefront an issue faced by many executives. For those of you that missed the story, Coach Rice was secretly filmed conducting what for him was a typical practice. The issue was that for Coach […]
Posted in, Guest Contributors, National
What If…The Holiday Sales Spirit Lived All Year?
You are just about to finish the most exciting sales season of the year. Starting in early October and running through New Year’s Day, seasonally merchandised supermarkets can expect a lift in transaction count and, more importantly, an increase in the average sale amount. Further, there is a spirit that prevails in most stores that […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Banning the Bag: The Sequel Coming to a Store Near You
Every summer you can bet on two things coming from California: A blockbuster story hitting the movie screen and blockbuster legislation. Last year’s story was Assembly Bill 1998, a statewide bill to ban plastic bags and require a charge for paper bags. Grocers made the difficult decision to support the bill because we knew that […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Help Us, Mr. Attorney General — Our Industry Is on the Ropes
CGA President Ronald Fong continues his series of open letters to our newly elected state constitutional officers. This issue’s letter is addressed to California Attorney General Kamal D. Harris. Dear Attorney General Harris, California is the nation’s leader in many things and most of them are admirable. But our state’s increasingly anti-grocery regulatory and litigation […]