by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Midwest Anyone who wanted to grab a cold beer on Sunday in Indiana was out of luck until March of this year. That is when a state law took effect allowing Sunday alcohol sales. Now a customer can get a cold one on Sunday, but only from a liquor store. Grocery, drug and […]
Tag: Shelby Signature Content
Consumers’ Expectations In Dairy Products Changing
The list is long of what consumers are demanding from their dairy product favorites, including qualities like sugar reduction, value-added ingredients, portability and clean labels. The themes play out across dairy’s four leading categories: cultured products, cheese, milk and ice cream. According to the National Dairy Council (NDC), nutrition experts agree that it is best […]
Larkin: Digging Into The Data Points On Digital
by Peter Larkin/ president and CEO, National Grocers Association Special to The Shelby Report The growth of e-commerce is high on the radar of independent supermarket operators, and it’s important for them to understand the current online shopping preferences of consumers. Findings from the third annual National Grocery Shoppers Survey outline these preferences and identify key moves […]
Lovera’s In Krebs, Oklahoma, Makes Award-Winning ‘Approachable’ Cheese
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Southwest Caciocavera is the signature cheese of Lovera’s Handcrafted Foods in Krebs, Oklahoma. The name is a play on the Italian caciocavallo (literally “horse cheese”). It keeps with a tradition born in Southern Italy some 500 years before Christ walked the earth. Cheeses were tied one to the other and transported to market […]
Mars Wrigley’s Front-End Plan Can Bring ‘Instant’ Double‑Digit Growth
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Midwest & Southwest As food retailers know very well, the majority of consumers no longer eat three sit-down meals every day. They are snacking instead. It is no surprise, then, that the fastest-growing category in the check lane is snacks. Yet snacks only get about 8 percent of the space there, Rimsha Baig, […]
Flexibility Has Kept Alabama Grocer Thriving For 50 Years
Gene Lawrence began his grocery career on a bicycle. Back in the early 1960s, he delivered groceries to people’s homes when he worked for an independent grocer in Montgomery, Alabama. About 1964, he went to work for Hudson-Thompson wholesale grocers there in Montgomery. He worked in produce, stocking and checking, and they trained him in […]
Larkin: Setting The Record Straight On SNAP
by Peter Larkin/ president and CEO, National Grocers Association Special to The Shelby Report In April, NGA—alongside the Food Marketing Institute (FMI)—welcomed supermarket retailers, wholesalers and food industry state association executives from across the nation to Washington, D.C., for the annual “Day in Washington” supermarket industry fly-in. The timing of the fly-in could not have been more […]
IGA Is ‘Upbranding’ Before Switch To Digital-First Marketing
Shoppers will always want three things from their local grocery store: value, convenience and selection. Those have been the top three attributes shoppers have sought out for many decades. What has changed over time are the qualities that come next, said IGA President and CEO John Ross. “You start asking them ‘what would make a […]
13th Annual Showcase Of Women Of Influence In The Food Industry
We are proud to present the 13th annual edition of Women of Influence in the Food Industry. The honorees represent companies coast to coast and have various backgrounds and experience. The categories include manufacturers, brokers, distributors, retailers, chefs, convenience stores, organizations/associations and restaurants. These women trendsetters are qualified for inclusion in this prestigious listing because […]
Central Florida Gaining In Population, Businesses
by Lorrie Griffith/editor–Southeast Central Florida is in the midst of a housing crisis created by Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico last September. According to the Orlando Sentinel’s 2018 Central Florida Business Forecast, released in January, 50,000 or more Puerto Ricans are believed to have moved to Florida since the storm, many of them now […]
Art’s Angle: Keeping The Business Simple Bodes Well For Growth
by Art Patch/a retired retail executive & regular columnist for The Shelby Report I had the opportunity recently to chat with one of the owners of a small but very successful independent food retailer in Northern California. He is co-owner of an eight-store chain with stores ranging in size from 20,000 to 50,000 s.f. He […]
Ralphs President Valerie Jabbar Honored As West Woman Executive Of The Year
For her three decades in the grocery industry, her leadership abilities, her embracing of new challenges, her devotion to education and giving back in her career as well as her determination to keep her family life a priority—all of these reasons pointed to Valerie Jabbar as a worthy recipient of the Woman Executive of the […]
HR & Benefits News: Stop Rolling The Dice With Employee Health Benefits
2018 NGA Financial Symposium Workshop Editor’s note: HR & Benefits News is a monthly column by Chris Cooley, co-founder of MyHRConcierge and SMB Benefits Advisors. Independents face so many conflicting choices about employee health benefits. It’s crucial to control escalating benefits expense, but if you reduce benefits or cut hours, you risk losing workers, customers […]
J. Polep Distribution Is Our 2018 Wholesaler Innovator Of The Year
Polep family message continues to be dominant theme for customers, employees and vendors by Mike Berger/editor – Northeast Throughout every conversation with each team member of J. Polep Distribution Services, the word “family” always comes up. Jeff Polep, company chairman, says he wants every staff member, customer and vendor to be part of the J. Polep […]
Larkin: Five Priorities For Independent Grocers In The 2018 Farm Bill
by Peter Larkin/ president and CEO, National Grocers Association Special to The Shelby Report Congress has the chance to strengthen the food security safety net, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for recipients and retailers in the 2018 Farm Bill. Every five years, Congress must pass a comprehensive omnibus bill that’s one of […]
HAC Seeks To Build Awareness Around Employee-Owned Companies
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Southwest There is something special about employee-owned companies. Marc Jones, president and CEO of HAC Inc., sees it as an attribute that attracts both employees and customers. “An employee-owned business is seen as a big plus in both groups, which is kind of a fun thing,” he told The Shelby Report’s Jan Meade, […]
Alabama Market Profile: State’s Economy Is On The Upswing
by Lorrie Griffith/editor–Southeast Alabama’s economy is on the upswing, according to Ellie Taylor, president of the Alabama Grocers Association AGA), located in Birmingham. In fact, the state’s unemployment rate is now 3.5 percent—the lowest in its history. The good times look to be continuing, as two major plants were announced in January. One is a […]
Larkin: 2017 Year In Review For Independent Grocers
by Peter Larkin/ president and CEO, National Grocers Association Special to The Shelby Report Last year was an exciting one for the supermarket industry, which is perhaps undergoing more rapid change than at any other time. As usual, though, independent grocers proved—once again—that they’re the best equipped to evolve with changing times and serve their communities. […]
Reasor’s Refocuses To Keep Up With Evolving Needs Of Shoppers
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor—Midwest and Southwest Several factors are driving change at Tahlequah, Oklahoma-based Reasor’s as it celebrates its 55th anniversary this year. Perhaps the most significant will be the ability to sell full-strength beer and wine beginning in October. For decades, Oklahoma grocery stores have only been allowed to offer beer that is 3.2 percent […]
Nevada Market Profile: State Drawing New Residents, New Business
by Lorrie Griffith/editor–West “Go west, young man” is how the saying goes. But today, some young men (and women) and older people, too, are doing the opposite and going east, according to a Dec. 3 article in the Los Angeles Times. They are leaving Southern California to head to Las Vegas to “find the middle-class […]
