Tennessee lawmakers are renewing a push to allow wine and liquor sales on Sunday, a move that could spur opposition from the state’s liquor retailers. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga, would align hours of liquor and wine sales with beer sales. Under current law, both grocery stores and liquor stores are not allowed […]
Category: Shelby Content
Exclusive, in-depth stories from the Shelby team. Explore Food Industry features, market profiles, and unique perspectives from industry leaders.
Born On One Coast & Based On The Other, Cohn Wholesale Serves Small Towns In Between
Editor’s note: This story is part of the Dakotas Market Profile, which can be found in the February 2018 print edition of The Shelby Report of the Midwest. by Terrie Ellerbee/editor—Midwest and Southwest The Cohn name likely is familiar to some in the Midwest, where Cohn Wholesale once operated 20 stores. The family business, however, began in […]
Recommended: Walmart—Why We’re Helping More Customers Scan And Go
By Justin Rushing Walmart Communications Our customers have made it clear: They want more ways to save time and money. For many, Scan & Go is doing just that, and now we’re helping even more customers across the country save time with this fast, simple and easy way to check out. That’s right. We’re expanding […]
URM Stores Continues To Strengthen Its Value Proposition For Retailers
Ray Sprinkle has been at the helm of URM Stores Inc. in Spokane, Washington, for four years now. During that time, the retailer-owned co-op has enjoyed some bright spots, like sales growth and a frozen and refrigerated warehouse expansion, while also weathering some storms, including a data breach. The future looks to be mostly sunny, […]
Georgia Independent’s Own-Recipe Fried Peanut Clusters Spawn A Thriving Second Business
by Lorrie Griffith/editor–Southeast West Foods, an independent grocery store in the rural southwest Georgia town of Edison, has been making and selling fried peanuts to its customers for many years. The store’s owner, John West, who bought the store from his dad, Richard, back earlier in this decade, said the peanuts have always been a […]
New Maine Food Group Executive Director Working To Join Retailers And Producers
by Mike Berger/editor-Northeast Christine Cummings, new executive director of the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association (MGFPA), will be returning to her position in January after maternity leave. She joined the association in 2017 and was promoted to executive director in June. She is excited about the growth of the association, the rise of Maine […]
Year In Review 2017: Top Stories In The Southeast
New competition—namely Lidl—garnered the most press in the Southeast edition this year. The merger of Amazon and Whole Foods Market also generated a good bit of speculation about what that might mean for the grocery industry. A number of top-level executive changes took place among the region’s grocers this year. Many also fine-tuned formats, undertook […]
Recommended: Kroger’s Battle Plan For Whole Foods, Amazon, Costco, Walmart And Aldi
To arm itself against competition from the merged Whole Foods/Amazon behemoth, Kroger has reshaped its strategy to make it leaner and more accessible, moves that will have a big impact on how you shop. There are plenty of challengers who’d like a piece of your food budget, but Kroger still dominates the Lexington grocery market. […]
At Hanover Co-op Food Stores, ‘Local’ Actually Means Local
Associated Grocers of New England member If you’ve ever seen a picture postcard of a quaint New England town, then you have a pretty good idea about the communities Hanover Co-op Food Stores serves, according to Allan Reetz, director of public relations. The 81-year-old co-op operates four retail stores in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, […]
The Right Coin Management Strategy For Grocers: Turn Hidden Costs Into Profits
by Jim Weaks/ VP, Cummins Allison The grocery industry is constantly changing. Grocers must adapt to changes in consumer behaviors and expectations, online competitors luring away once-loyal shoppers and economic uncertainty that threatens already razor-thin margins. With that in mind, the pressure is on to control costs and find new ways of increasing profitability. Fortunately, […]
Recommended: Lowes Foods Opens First Charleston-Area Supermarket In Summerville
Holly Famulari can’t wait to come to work every day. The cake “wizard” (decorator) at the new Lowes Foods supermarket dances and waves a wand in front of the store’s cake-making corner when the music begins to play for a game of cake walk. “You work, but you have so much fun doing it,” said […]
Arizona Enjoying Economic Rebound, Business-Friendly Climate
by Lorrie Griffith/editor–West Arizona has rebounded strong economically over the past year, with its unemployment rate down to 4.5 percent vs. 5 percent the prior year and about 80,000 jobs added. Added fuel for optimism is a more business-friendly climate at both the state and federal government levels, Tim McCabe, president of the Arizona Food […]
Recommended: Kroger Is Challenging Amazon And Walmart In Advertising
When Amazon entered the grocery business with the acquisition of Whole Foods this year, it was thought to be a supermarket killer. The grocery business was already facing competition from general retailers like Walmart that operate on larger scales and offer lower prices, and invading European grocers like Aldi and Lidl, before the mammoth conglomerate […]
Recommended: Doorganics Grocery Delivery Service Expands To Metro Detroit
Doorganics is expanding service from Grand Rapids to metro Detroit starting Wednesday. The grocery delivery company, launched as a startup in 2011, will begin shipping throughout metro Detroit and expand its service reach, including to the city of Detroit, throughout the first quarter of 2018, founder and CEO Mike Hughes said. The growth of the […]
Recommended: Lidl Hits The Brakes On N.J. Grocery Store As Other Store Plans Scrapped
Plans by German discount grocer Lidl to begin construction on its second New Jersey store have stalled as the company hits the brakes on several proposed locations in other states. Lidl, which operates about 10,000 stores globally, entered the U.S. market in June with several store openings in the southeast as part of a plan […]
Southeast Retailer Of The Year: Lowes Foods
Giving Customers What They Want Since 1954 Lowes Foods began in 1954 as a single store in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and, over those 63 years, has grown into a nearly 100-store chain operating in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Now based in Winston-Salem, the grocer grew rapidly during the 1960s, ’70s and early […]
And Then There Were Two: Texas Now Has Dallas And Houston Kroger Divisions
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a Special Section honoring Kroger as our Southwest Retailer of the Year. See the complete story in the December edition of The Shelby Report of the Southwest. The Kroger Co. has served Texas grocery shoppers since 1958. In August 2015, Kroger split its Southwest division into two. Now there […]
Southeast Woman Executive Of The Year Meg Ham & Food Lion’s 60th Anniversary
Results-Driven Yet Humble, Ham Leads Food Lion Forward Food Lion President Meg Ham is The Shelby Report’s Southeast Woman Executive of the Year for 2017. Ham will celebrate 30 years with Food Lion’s parent company, Delhaize America (now part of Ahold Delhaize) next year. She joined the company in 1988 and has held a range of […]
Bristol Farms’ 35th Anniversary & Kevin Davis, Food Industry Hall Of Fame Inductee
Bristol Farms was founded in November 1982 by two men whose careers had been in the meat business. Irv Gronsky and Mike Burbank were moving toward retirement age and so decided to sell their high-end meat business that supplied restaurants and butcher shops. But they weren’t quite ready to stop working altogether, so they decided […]
Bristol Farms Celebrates Grand Opening Of New-Concept Store
Bristol Farms recently celebrated the grand opening of its prototype store on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California. It is the first major design departure for Bristol Farms in its 35-year history and is “a store that we’ve been dreaming up for a decade,” Kacie Davis, owner of KMDesign Co., which implemented the design, told The […]
