Obama Makes Grocery Store Push

The Obama Administration is getting involved in the supermarket business. Late last week First Lady Michelle Obama was in Pennsylvania, encouraging the development of grocery stores in underserved, low-income areas.

The plan would offer $250 million in federal tax credits to retailers willing to open some of these locations. Obama says that the stores are needed to ensure that more Americans have access to healthy food options.

Tesco Keeps Pushing Fresh & Easy

Fresh & Easy, UK-based Tesco’s 10,000-square-foot grocery concept in the US, had booming same-store sales growth in its latest quarter, up 30% to 40% year over year, company officials recently reported.

The chain is still growing, too. Tesco’s management is planning 60 new stores this year, bringing its total to 170 by the end of the fiscal year.

Whole Foods Takes on The Man

With all of this craziness in the economy, we’d almost forgotten that Whole Foods has been trying to acquire Wild Oats Markets for…what? About 10 years now?

Actually, the deal, which seems like ages ago, was only announced in February 2007. Later that year the FTC started opposing the deal, and now its come to Whole Foods filing a federal suit against the commission over its antitrust investigation of the transaction.

Safeway Enters the Development Game

While “traditional” developers all over the place are cutting back the development plans, grocer Safeway has decided to get into the shopping-center building enterprise, a Reuters report says.

The supermarket operator has 36 developments underway, and Chairman and CEO Steve Burd says there are “pretty extraordinary” opportunities out there to develop centers without spending a lot of capital.

Fresh & Easy Hits Roadblock

What was once a temporary breather to see how operations were going has become an admitted slowdown in expansion. UK retailer Tesco says it is no longer planning on having 200 US Fresh & Easy stores by February and now expects to hit that number next year.

The company, which has rolled out stores on the West Coast for the past year, hit its 100th unit recently. It currently operates in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The Smaller the Better

Much has been made of UK-based grocer Tesco’s expansion into the US, in part because its 15,000-sf footprint allows the chain to expand rapidly in spaces too small for other grocers. This article discusses how many major domestic chains like Wal-Mart and Safeway are following suit.

We particularly love this quote, by supermarket consultant Willard Bishop: “If you’ve got 50 feet of ketchup and what you want is Hunt’s 64-ounce and you can’t find it, people get overwhelmed.”

Can Aldi Compete With Wal-Mart?

An analyst quoted in this New York Times article poses an interesting theory: Deep discounter Aldi will one day compete head-to-head with Wal-Mart. We hadn’t heard this one before.

According to this online fact sheet, the closely held German grocer has 950 stores in the US and this year will open more than 100 units here, entering Florida and Rhode Island. Texas is on tap for next year.

Grandma, What Was the Depression?

We find this article kind of disturbing. People are resorting to powdered milk now?

Grocery sales probably won’t go downhill any time soon, but consumers are sure getting hit. How much more can costs increase? And how long will this continue?

Will You Necessity Shop at Whole Foods?

A recent New York Times article says that Whole Foods is trying to change its image to attract more shoppers searching for everyday items. Executives hope that Whole Paycheck, the nickname it has earned due to its high-priced items, will go away.

It might be a tough battle. Says the article: “Told of the company’s budget pitch by a reporter, some Whole Foods customers said they had not noticed cheaper prices; a few laughed.””

Winn-Dixie Is Tough.

Winn-Dixie is becoming a boxer that refuses to get knocked out.

After news last week that competitor Publix is buying 49 stores from Albertsons, Winn-Dixie chairman Peter Lynch released a statement saying that the move won’t impact his chain, as a majority of its stores are close enough.