THE FRIDAY 5: SpartanNash Makes Yet Another Acquisition; Grocery Outlet CEO Resigns
Welcome to The Friday 5, Progressive Grocer’s weekly roundup of the top news and trends in the food retail industry. Each Friday, we’ll take a look at the stories that are most important to our readers and also keep tabs on the trends that are poised to impact grocers.
1. SpartanNash Makes Another Acquisition
Readers this week were interested in the growth of Michigan-based food solutions company SpartanNash. Following its announced acquisition of Findlay, Ohio-based regional grocer Fresh Encounter in mid-October, SpartanNash revealed that it also intends to acquire Markham Enterprises, a three-store chain of c-stores and fuel distributor.
"Markham Enterprises fits well in our current retail portfolio, as we look to expand our fuel center and convenience store footprint," said Masiar Tayebi, EVP and chief strategy and information officer at SpartanNash. "We are in the process of refreshing many of our existing fuel centers, so this acquisition is another exciting milestone in our investment in this part of our business – and in our strategic growth plans overall.”
The deal is expected to close in early December, though terms were not disclosed.
2. Changes in Leadership at Grocery Outlet, Albertsons
News broke this week that former Grocery Outlet CEO and current Chairman of the Board Eric Lindberg has been named the company’s interim president and CEO following R.J. Sheedy’s abrupt resignation from the position and his place on the board of directors.
Grocery Outlet’s board of directors has hired a global executive search firm to help identify a permanent CEO. For his part, Lindberg previously served as CEO or co-CEO of the company from January 2006 to December 2022.
There was also movement on Albertsons Cos.’ board of directors this week as the group elected Jim Donald as the sole independent chair and appointed Stephen Feinberg to the board after Chan Galbato stepped down from his co-chairman position on Oct. 22.
CEO Vivek Sankaran noted: “Jim will continue to provide strong leadership as chair of the board. I am excited to welcome Steve to the board, and I thank Chan for his significant contributions.”
3. Trader Joe’s, Brookshire Grocery Expanding
October proved to be a busy month for Trader Joe’s with numerous new stores openings across the United States, including those in Vancouver, Wash.; Sugar Land, Texas; Leesburg, Va.; South Lake City, Utah; Canyon Country, Calif., and Chandler, Ariz.
During a recent episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, Tara Miller, the grocer’s marketing director, noted that Trader Joe’s has been in acceleration mode, reflected in the recent openings. “We're adding lots of stores, even though we're a company that's been in business for close to 60 years at this point,” she said. “We are growing, and we are growing at a pretty good rate right now.”
Meanwhile, Brookshire Grocery is also in growth mode with the announcement that it is acquiring four Shoppin’ Baskit stores in West and Central Texas. The grocer will integrate them into its Spring Market banner.
The locations in the towns of Ranger, Coleman, Ballinger and De Leon will close for a short time in early December to convert to Spring Market stores. In addition to an expanded assortment of groceries and household essentials, the markets will also carry a variety of products from ACE Hardware as part of Brookshire’s partnership with ACE.
4. Kroger's Crystal Ball
Readers were interested this week in Kroger’s list of food trends for the coming year, which include emerging flavors, twists on classics, price-influenced preferences and more.
The five main themes include:
Food Dupes
Bold & Briny
Protein Renaissance
Pepper Palette
Hail, Caesar
Read on for a clearer look at these unique trends.
5. Exclusive Look Into Target’s Thanksgiving Marketing Strategy
PG Senior Editor Lynn Petrak got an exclusive peek inside Target’s strategy for the Thanksgiving holiday, which includes changing up some of consumers’ pre-holiday shopping habits. The mass retailer is touting itself as a destination for seasonal food and beverages, promoting a Thanksgiving meal deal priced at $20 and $5 less than last year’s offering.
John Conlin, SVP of merchandising, food and beverage at Target, spoke with Petrak about how Good & Gather is central to this year’s Thanksgiving gatherings, as well as the retailer’s other plans for helping its customers celebrate the annual repast.
