Safeway

[texdav]

That maybe why so many Safeways close a few years ago, They could compete in many ares of their country.After A&P dropped out of the biggest chain they took over for awhile openig alot of storesbut almost went bankrupt soon afterwards.

[mrstewart]

My family owned a major food wholesaler and the grocery stores buy according to their demographics...if you live in a high end area you will have stores that stock foods that are going to be more likely to sell in that area.

[Steve Bagu]

BINGO !!! Mrstewart....I was in the Inventory field for 23 yrs and you are correct. Being in many different grocery stores was able to tell what kind of people lived in the neighborhood. Other then the high dollar canned goods a good place to look was in the produce section and the meat dept. Bulk pinto beans and rice meant a hispanic area. Also the fresh spices were noticable.The meat dept might have a Pigs head in the case meaning a black area of customers. The produce and meat are a big giveaway as to the neighborhood. On the other hand, when all the can goods have imported labels and you cannot find a can of Campbells tomato soup then you are definetly in a high class area. Have seen it all. Steve

[Sleddog905]

It sounds like the same type of Safeway that opened here in Colorado. It has the olive bar, nut bar, sushi, a really nice kitchen section, and all sorts of other things that I can't name off the top of my head . It's a beautiful store, but I don't typically shop there unless I'm looking for something specific. We also have a King Soopers (owned by Kroger) that is typically much cheaper, so we get most of our staple products there. If we want organic products or specialty items we typically head to Denver to shop at Whole Foods. I haven't noticed things that I can't get there, but again, that isn't our only shopping option.

[smilingoptimist]

It has the olive bar, nut bar, sushi,

Sushi? Wow. Ours has the olive bar and "Express China," and some other crazy things, but sushi?

[Steve Bagu]

Mrstewart...not sure how to reply on the DM so here goes. Worked for my cousins husband who started the first Grocery Inventory Service in Southern Calif (1947). I started with him in 1954 and later was a supervisor. Was offered a job as grocery mgr in a large chain in the SF bay area but refused as I had never worked in a grocery store (New all my prices). Later did work in a chain store...stocking clerk...checkstand...receiving clerk...okayed customers checks etc. Got some experience and then quit with some store background experience, Started and ran my own Inventory Service for 15 yrs. Been to all the large chain stores as an Inventory employee and as an owner of a service. Talked to a lot of store owners...some with money and some with super amount of money. Understand the complete operation of the grocery industry...liquor industry. Know the ins and outs of the operations...markups...gross profit margin...net profit margin...what the net profit % is at the end of the yr etc. Every operation is different...depending on the area in question...profit margin can be high...and can be low. Now we are back to the original talk of the shopping cart problem. There is a certain amount of theft...shoplifting of items etc. Its all part of "Cost of Operation". The average consumer is paying for the losses involved. If the store operater did not raise his prices to cover the losses he would be out of business real fast. Steve