Years ago, Robert Schuller stood in front of a room full of Iowa corn farmers who had just lived through their worst crop in memory. He wasn’t there to talk about weather patterns or commodity prices. He was there because those farmers needed something to hold onto, and he knew it. In his big voice, […]
Category: The Grocer’s Playbook
Practical advice for grocery retailers from industry veterans and advisors. Regular columns on leadership, ownership and succession, and finding profit in store operations.
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Capital Investment – Building A Stronger Future
Technology combined with process will help improve vertical expertise for independent grocers.
Posted inFeatured News, Guest Contributors, Leadership, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Leadership: A Call For Civility In Business And Life
Columnist Steve Black explores the keys that are critical to building stronger workplace cultures and improving communication.
Posted inFeatured News, Grocery Store Equipment, Guest Contributors, Hidden Profit, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Hidden Profit: 30 Seconds To Find Gold Hiding In Motor Room, Back Of Store
On average, grocers spend more than $10,000 annually to repair leaks and charge replacement refrigerant within their systems.
Posted inFeatured News, Crossroads, Guest Contributors, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Is An ESOP The Right Choice?
Shelby columnist Carey Berger explains how an ESOP can support business succession, employee ownership and long-term growth.
Posted inSustainability News, Featured News, Guest Contributors, Hidden Profit, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Hidden Profit: The Revenue Stream Hiding In Your Trash
Because grocery stores generate FFPs as a byproduct of their operations, it effectively becomes a revenue source.
Posted inGuest Contributors, Leadership, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Leadership: 3 Words More Important Than ‘I Love You’ …
The core leadership lesson here is that three simple words – “I appreciate you” – are more powerful and transformative than “I love you” when it comes to building trust, safety and performance in relationships and teams. In a 2026 grocery world shaped by tight margins, omnichannel shopping, AI tools and value‑seeking customers, making “I […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Capital Investment – Building A Stronger Future
by Darryl Miller Founder | AislePoint Consulting Independent grocery retailers are operating in one of the most competitive environments in the history of food retail. Customers today have more choices, while retailers face increasing pressure from inflation, labor shortages, rising operating expenses, aging infrastructure and changing consumer expectations. In this environment, one reality has become […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Finance News, Grocery Store Equipment, Hidden Profit, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Hidden Profits: Benchmarking Meat Cases Reveals Opportunities For Grocery Retailers
Benchmarking shows meat cases with doors can reduce energy use, shrink and labor costs while improving margins and creating significant profit opportunities.
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, Featured News, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Future Of Independent Grocery – Growing Next Generation Of Owners
I recently had the privilege of speaking at the IGA Coca-Cola Institute in Atlanta. In the room were some of the brightest young leaders in independent grocery – selected by their organizations because of their talent, commitment and potential. Representing stores and communities from around the world, they and those like them are the future […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Featured News, Finance News, Grocery Store Equipment, Hidden Profit, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Hidden Profit: The Power Of Knowing Your Store
My colleague Peter Cooke and I are approaching a combined 40 years of helping food retailers improve their operations and, ultimately, their profit. For many of these years, this was represented by best sustainable practices or a similar vernacular. Regardless of the outside wrapper, we helped real retailers – real people – identify and capture […]
Posted inFinance News, Crossroads, Featured News, Guest Contributors, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Beyond The Store – Financial Balance In Independent Grocery
By Grant Fossum, AIF, RFC | ProWealth Financial Independent grocers understand diversification better than those in most other industries. Inside the store, balance is built into daily operations – meat and produce drive traffic, center store drives volume, service departments drive margin and the front end shapes the customer experience. Outside the store, that […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Featured News, Leadership, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Leadership: Be The Leader People Want To Work For
People do not follow titles for long. They follow credibility. They follow consistency. They follow leaders whose behavior makes trust possible. In an age when culture is tested daily, the enduring leadership principle is surprisingly simple: do your job, live your values, and give people something worth following. There is a leadership lesson that never […]
Posted inFinance News, Crossroads, Featured News, Guest Contributors, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Beyond Value – Factors Impacting Decision To Sell
Life is complicated. Every decision creates a ripple effect, and no meaningful decision is ever driven by a single factor. Few choices carry more weight for a business owner than the decision to buy or sell. The decision to purchase often is made at a relatively young age, at a stage when there’s not much […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, Featured News, Finance News, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: How Cap Rates, Lease Terms Affect Grocery Store Property Value
In a previous column, we discussed building businesses to last and some of the factors that influence valuation. Today, we will take a closer look at one area that often creates confusion – the valuation of real estate in the grocery industry. Nerd alert: This one is a little more technical, but I believe it […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, Featured News, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: The 8 Sales-Building Touchstones
For the third article in our ongoing column dedicated to long-term success over the generations, we have invited keynote speaker and food industry expert Harold Lloyd to share his thoughts on some of the many ideas to help increase the top line of your ongoing business success and value. The most obvious influences on […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Finance News, Leadership, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Leadership: Prime Time Defined
Leaders who consistently win understand one simple truth: performance is never evenly distributed across the day, week or year. Some moments matter more than others, and what a team does in those windows separates average operations from extraordinary ones. What is ‘prime time’ in leadership? In operations-heavy environments, prime time is the predictable window when […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, Finance News, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Built-To-Last Factors Impacting Value
As we have discussed before, understanding the value of a business is important at every stage of its life. By tracking value over time, we can see its trajectory. By understanding the factors that impact value, we can better identify where to focus our time, energy and investment. In the grocery industry, there are multiple […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Leadership, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Leadership: Coach To Behaviors And Numbers Will Follow
In nearly every leadership conversation today, the focus always drifts to numbers – sales numbers, productivity and labor numbers, engagement scores, turnover rates and market share. Numbers matter, but they are not where great leadership begins. When leaders obsess over numbers, they miss the deeper truth – numbers are outcomes, not causes. The most effective […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Crossroads, National, News, The Grocer's Playbook
Crossroads: Where Life And Business Meet
This is the first installment of a new ongoing column in The Shelby Report. We’re calling it Crossroads, in recognition of the intersection between life and business, where all of us – especially independent grocers– truly live. Each month, this column will highlight a moment where life and business collide and attempt to offer insight […]