Albertsons Is What Stuck in the Middle Looks Like

 

Doing what you have always done and doing it the same way once again does not seem to be working.  Safeway was forced to shed thousands of stores a few years ago in Canada and around the US.  They Albertsons picked up Safeway ran them as if everything was just fine.

Pontificating on metrics developed or defined by Bill Bishop and how well they were doing.  Guess what, the consumers do not care what your brand looked like in 1990, 2015, or 2020 they know if is not relevant to them today they will more on. 

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Albertsons looks more like a concept of yesterday more than concept with relevance today or tomorrow. When Walmart was forced to move from the ‘low-cost leader’ by Aldi, Lidl, and Winco Walmart became the middle. One thing is clear and that is Albertsons simply cannot compete for the middle with Walmart. 

Who did not see this coming? When Albertsons Cos. said that its board has begun a review of possible strategic alternatives for the company, including potential financial transactions. You can bet that the teams at Kroger, Publix, and Ahold said once again how can we ensure this will not be our fate as well?

Never use the word mistake, but when you read this from Albertsons what do you think? "The board believes the continuing strength of our business and the scale of our portfolio of assets warrants a deep and considered review of all possible paths toward maximizing value creation," Albertsons board co-chair Chan Galbato said in a news release. Galbato is CEO of Cerberus Operations, the operations platform of former Albertsons majority owner Cerberus Capital Management.

Thanks to the pandemic and according to data released earlier this month by foot-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai, Albertsons ended 2021 on a positive traffic note, with store visits in the year's final three months rising quarter over quarter and year over year as well as climbing nearly 15% over traffic in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Here are some numbers on Albertsons, any guess what they will look like tow years from now?  They operated 2,278 retail food and drug stores as well as 22 distribution centers and 20 manufacturing centers across a total of 34 states and Washington, D.C., as of Dec. 4, 2021. Among its 20 banners are leading regional players such as Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme and Tom Thumb. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter