Kroger’s ‘New Concept Store’ Main & Vine

Consumers love new store openings, the excitement, the hype, smiling employees excited about a new job, perfectly faced shelves fully stocked, it’s an adventure, a treat, and hopefully a ‘find /reward’ worth a revisit according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®

Main & Vine is Kroger’s new concept store, located in Gig Harbor, Washington which is a long way from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Main & Vine from our first visit appears to be what Kroger’s managers wanted to build for years but were not allowed too in short it is a Whole Food’s lookalike with ‘show-rooming’ e-commerce twist.  

Here is the problem, what they built in our opinion is closer to what Whole Foods in the 1995’s wanted to become and became in the 2005 plus mail-order.  Today, Whole Foods has moved, grocerant niche customers have moved, and this concept store will evolve or dissolve.   

Kroger’s is clearly still stuck in the past, eluding the middle, and avoiding the future.  Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food is driving customer migration, this store will capitalize on that fact, but that alone will not drive the top line sales and bottom line profits for success going forward. 

Main & Vine is much like Kroger’s recently acquired Mariano’s (Chicago).  It is a high service perishable driven store that invests very heavily in labor, due to a lack of grocerant niche integration, and operational throughput understandings according to our team’s observations.  

It appears that, while they may have the ability to drive high sales volume during the opening, they will not achieve the volume necessary to routinely cover all require operational inefficiencies and misplaced labor cost.   There is a clear lack of acceptance of or lack of understanding of operational efficiencies and grocerant niche customer expectations /demands in today’s retail marketplace.  

Main & Vine is a standard footprint store trying to compete with small footprint units that specialize in, In & Out shopping trips which make up about 72% of small-box retail trips that will pose a conundrum for both Kroger and consumers.  However, that is what happens when your directors, designers, and consultants utilize metrics from the past to guide the present. Successful Omni-channel retail requires consumer interaction and participation built-in, not just for out of stock items; it requires a merchant mentality not a category manager regiment.  

Clearly the melancholy of mediocrity is not lost at Kroger or at Main & Vine.  Grocery sector deli sales last year were close to $ 11 Billion, and are growing at a 10% pace.  There is plenty of room for mediocrity, experimentation, and concept testing.  Foodservice Solutions® teams suggestion, don’t try to be what Whole Foods was, evolve your own brand, your own identity. 

Winning the battle for share of stomach requires more than looking like other retailers past success, showrooming, or mail-order.  Copycat development will keep you brand, a brand of yesterday, not a brand of tomorrow.  The battle for customer’s attention is top of mind for retailers when it comes to food.  The undercurrents of that fight can be found among restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores, and convenience stores. Is your brand prepared to win a greater share of stomach in 2016? 

The grocerant niche mix & match meal component platform is the New Normal in retail foodservice. Edifying your foodservice operation with customer focused meal personalization, customization, and local differentiation is a success clue no retailer should overlook.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Scorecard or a Grocerant Program Assessment before you start your remodel or new test concept.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

 

At Newk’s Eatery Eat-In or Eat-Out your Eating Well

Newk's Eatery is where Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is ready when you are.  With an uncanny ability to understand it customers the 93 unit fast-casual chain features an extensive grab-and-go selection of sandwiches, salads and bulk packs of its signature chicken salad and Southern-style pimento cheese that provides a level of customer relevance that will drive incremental growth according to our Grocerant Guru®.

 

All Newk’s locations have a separate grab-and-go counter with a design that "is cohesive with the rest of the restaurant," says Rachael Myrick, building and design project manager for Newk's. "It's part of the design rather than being an island out there by itself."

Recently Newk's repositioned the grab-and-go counter nearer to the front door, even establishing a separate entrance strictly for grab-and-go customers.  Myrick went on to say "When we go into newer markets, our guests aren't familiar with our grab-and-go concept, so we want them to be able to know about it when they come through the front doors. Eventually, they learn that we've got a separate entrance where you truly can grab-and-go."

The separate entrance helps alleviate customer confusion, increases speed of service, and drives incremental sales as grocerant niche customers seeking quality Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food migrate from competitors to Newk’s according to Foodservice Solutions® team. Kevin Anderson, Newk's vice president of company operations stated "since we really do focus on our dine-in business”. 

Today system wide Grab and Go accounts for about 6 percent of Newk’s total sales that are all incremental to and help drive top line volume and bottom line profits.  The grab-and-go doesn't have a significant impact on labor costs at Newk's. Anderson calls it "cost-neutral," because the grab-and-go counter can also handle call-in orders. "In some restaurants, it actually helps labor because we do so much [volume] out of those coolers," Anderson went on to say.

Success does leave clues Newk’s was founded in 2004 by Don Newcomb, Debra Bryson and Chris Newcomb. The same team had previously created and launched the McAlister’s Deli concept. Evolving within retail foodservice with success is what this leadership team can do.  Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat grocerant niche food is driving success today. 

Do you understand how to drive top line growth and bottom line profits within the Grocerant Niche?  Looking for Outside Eye’s for help?  Call Foodservice Solutions® at 253-759-7869 or visit our website at: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email our Global Grocerant Expert at Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Muscle Maker Grill ‘Better for You’ Meal Starter Kits

Muscle Maker Grill, makes meal time ‘better for you’ easy with Braggability according Foodservice Solutions®, Grocerant Guru®. Muscle MakerGrill is promoting a healthy lifestyle by offering nutritious alternatives to traditional dishes, announced the launch of its Meal Plan Starter Kits. 

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared grocerant niche food that is ‘better for you’ has been complemented by Muscle Maker Grill when they launched the Meal Plan Starter Kits as a supplement to its Meal Plan program where guests can pre-order delicious meals via phone, in-store, or online, available for pick up or delivered right to their door. 

Robert E. Morgan, president and CEO of Muscle Maker Grill stated “At Muscle Maker Grill, we are always looking for ways to make healthy eating easy and enjoyable for our customers. Now guests can try our Meal Plan program before having to commit to receiving multiple meals. We believe that once our guests experience our Meal Plans, they will sign on due to the convenience, variety, flavor, and nutrition of the dishes.”

Morgan went on to say “We are excited to roll out our new Meal Plan Starter Kits at all of our locations,” says. Muscle Maker Grill’s new Meal Plan program is designed to provide a variety of nutritionally balanced dishes suiting all lifestyles available in one to four meals a day, for five to seven days a week. Starting at just $7 per meal.

Customers can choose from 22 Muscle Maker Grill menu items, such as the Hollywood Salad, grilled chicken breast, turkey bacon, reduced-fat Cheddar, tomatoes, onions, and zero-carb signature dressing over a bed of romaine lettuce; Rocky Balboa Wrap, grilled chicken breast, turkey meatballs, reduced-fat Mozzarella, and marinara in an herb wrap; Tucson Bowl, grilled chicken breast, turkey bacon over brown rice and zero-carb signature sauce; and many more.” 

Success does leave clues and since the beginning in 1995 and founded by Rod Silva, Muscle Maker Grill provides its guests healthier versions of mainstream-favorite dishes that taste great, making it easy, affordable and enjoyable to eat healthy now ‘better for you’ food has never been easier. 

Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization and braggability?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information. 

Loyalty Programs be Dammed

Loyalty programs be damned in 2016 according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®. With food cost deflation at hand and consumers still recovering from the great recession there is a battle for share of stomach underway. Both Portability and Price are key drivers of customer traffic in 2016 according to Foodservice Solution® team.  

When Technomic edified Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Food Marketing  the undercurrents of change and success within the food industry were forever changed.  That changed can traced back directly too Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food marketing. 

In 2016 the role of price and portability are being used with greater emphasis than ever before according to Foodservice Solutions® team. When they were first introduced back in 1994; then implemented, and integrated by foodservice companies including Full Service Restaurants, Chain Drug Stores, Grocery Stores,  QSR’s, and C-Store clients.  The 5 P’s are: 

After repeated successful retail food industry adoption of Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing, Technomic conducted qualitative and quantitative research then compiled the following infographic highlighting the importance and consumer relevance that portability play’s today.  The Technomic infographic is entitled Pertinence of Portability:

McDonald’s 2 for $2, Burger Kings 5 for $4 or Wendy’s 4 for $4 are targeting the 50% of consumers over the age of 18 that are single.  These are meals and priced to be pantry busters.  The simple fact is a single person cannot cook a hamburger at home for a $1.00.  Why would anyone cook from scratch and spend more money while earning less than they did before the great recession? 

With commodity deflation as a back drop, fast food retailers see an opportunity to drive solid customer counts increases in 2016 regaining customers lost to grocery stores and C-stores the past 7 years. You have all heard the old adage time is money.  Handheld food for immediate consumption is driving top line growth and bottom line profits while garnering market share in 2016 because time is money. 

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant