EXCLUSIVE: What Does the Viral ‘Grocery Tourism’ Trend Mean for Local Retailers?

Out-of-towners who visit Leevers Supermarkets can check out a variety of locally-popular and often locally-made products.

While grocery prices have gotten a lot of attention over the past year, there has been a more positive and fun buzz about supermarkets in recent weeks. Social media posts related to vacation trips to food retailers have gone viral and made the term “grocery tourism” part of the cultural lexicon.

Of course, picking up sundries and supplies at a nearby market while out of town is not new, nor is the practice of checking out local products and trends. As grocery tourism is trending online as a topic, though, it’s an opportunity for grocers to do what they have long done well: showcase their unique offerings and connect with existing, new and temporary shoppers alike.

“For us, it’s been interesting as this ‘grocery tourism’ thing has taken off. With our footprint, we’ve always had an opportunity to cater to locals and if there is an added benefit of travelers stopping in our stores to see what local people eat and what we have, we’re happy to be a part of that, too,” said Jon Koontz, COO of Leevers Supermarkets, in a recent interview with Progressive Grocer. (In 2023, Leevers acquired the last stores owned by Save A Lot in the St. Louis area, before Save A Lot finalized its move to become a licensed wholesaler.)

Market data confirms the spike in sales in tourist areas where visitors can swell a grocer’s customer base. “In general, we do see visitation trends to grocery stores and other food retailers in tourist markets outperform during the summer months. Each destination is slightly different given the number of visitors and the number of food retailers local to that market,” R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at location analytics firm Placer.ai, told Progressive Grocer. “We also saw dwell time for grocery stores increase in many of these tourist markets this year, which goes against the general trend of shorter grocery visits this year. This may be due to several factors: more crowded stores and consumers taking more time to look for unique products.”

Stores that carry a range of local products can promote them effectively, especially at time of the year when tourism is high. “Save A Lot has a hyper-focused strategy on being specific to areas we serve and we hold a lot of vendor relationships very tight. The ability for suppliers or retailers to tell a story today, especially through social media, is better than it’ s ever been,” pointed out Koontz.

Hottovy agreed that grocers can and have leveraged opportunities to capitalize on novel shopping experiences. “While value has been a motivating factor for many shoppers this year, we're also seeing consumers prioritize uniqueness. Some markets do it better than others, but it did seem like local products made a comeback at tourist grocery stores, particularly in the beverage category,” he reported. “Several grocery stores we saw during travel this summer featured a larger-than-average assortment of local beverages--both alcoholic and nonalcoholic--showcasing local brands as consumers seek out unique brands that can only be found in certain tourist markets.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, those in this business enjoy popping in other grocery stores when they are out of town. “I think a lot of us in the industry haven labeled as weird by family members when we want to do that on vacation,” joked Koontz. “But for me, it’s an opportunity capture what good operators are doing and not just from a product assortment basis, but also from an operational standpoint.”

Mary Moorkamp, chief legal and external affairs officer at Schnuck Markets, Inc., shared some of her experiences with Progressive Grocer, too. “Grocery tourism is a family event and every vacation involves visits to grocers – new ones we’ve never seen and familiar ones we’ve visited often. My kids do it also and it was a particularly proud moment when my daughter was in New York for a track meet and called me saying, ‘You’ll never guess where I am and what I introduced my friends to… Wegmans!’ We’ve visited different Wegmans over the years as we’ve taken family trips to states in which they operate. We particularly love the brownies with icing and just about everything else they sell,” she shared.

Discovery is also enhancing education from a broader point of view. “I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time at international stores and chains, too, and have seen how European formats have been selling. You can get a lot of products specific to those regions as well,” Koontz noted.

Founded in 1977, Save a Lot services more than 800 stores in 32 states. The St. Ann, Mo.-based company is No. 58 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company among its Best Independent Grocers of 2024. Meanwhile, St. Louis-based Schnucks operates 114 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and employs nearly 12,000 associates. The company is No. 65 on The PG 100. PG also named the company a Top Regional Grocer.