Why the center of the Grocery store is dying fast.



It’s time category managers focus on the metric’s of the marketplace rather than the legacy metric’s of the center of the store. During the past twenty years legacy grocery store companies implement “new” center store programs. One plan after the other resulted in center of the store disappointment and inevitably lead to anther new plan. There are two reasons this keeps happening.

1. DOLLAR STORES are cherry picking center of the store products and consumers know it. The consumer has responded and in the past 20 years industry numbers indicate that there are 25,000+ new dollar stores and 20,000+ fewer grocery stores.

2. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food has captivated the time starved consumer. Restaurants are selling more and more Take out, in store delis are building sales, Drug stores the ilk of Walgreens and CVS are entering the fresh prepared food niche. Consumers are simply preparing meals differently. Not from the center of the store, but from the perimeter.

New metric’s will not make the center of the store more meaningful. However, smart retailers may make the center of the smaller. The consumer is more important than legacy metric’s.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment available for Restaurants, Convenience stores and Grocery stores. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant