Coborn's to buy Rainbow Foods?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

Cub sucks except for staples. Terrible produce. Weak meat dept. Less than stellar deli. Coburns is excellent, but it is true, the prices are higher. Guess it's the old addage of 'you get what you pay for'.

Jerry's Foods needs to expand nationwide. That's where we shopped when I lived off Pioneer Trail in Eden Prairie.

[disneyrecords]

Watching the poor performance of SuperValu stock, I don't know the direction they should go. Sell off Albertsons? However, I do have some observations taken from the best regional stores which would help the national chains like SuperValu, Nash Finch, etc.

1. Know your client base. A one-size-fits-all store does not work in all cases. For example, a Hispanic population's needs will vary from average suburbia. Allow some shelve space for flexibility. Ask your customers what they want. I was in Chicago earlier this month and noticed a variety of lunch meats and cheeses I was not familiar with in the deli. They sell well in Chicago, but would they sell well in the twin cities? Probably not.

2. Have a kick butt deli and bakery. Fresh, fresh, fresh! In my youth, I worked for an independent grocery store. The owner was very frank about what was working and what was not. I remember him saying, "How do you know if people like our doughnuts? If the sales of Dolly Madison's are up, we have a problem." Likewise, if you are in an area which is proud of its Italian heritage and your Italian sausage doesn't sell, fix it! Ask your customers.

3. A cafeteria! I'll steal this from HyVee's playbook. HyVee operates cafeterias in its stores. The food is good, the department is clean, and the prices are low. They don't push this area as a big profit center, but it is always packed with patrons. A 50 cent cup of coffee, a $2.50 plate of bacon and eggs, such a deal, huh? How can they do it? They look for it to break even. The cafeteria serves two purposes. It gets people into the store, and it showcases their catering business-- which is a significant profit center. Make the cafe cheap, and there will be a huge increase in foot traffic building customer loyalty.

It's easy to be an armchair administrator. I assume no risk.

[1stpontiac]

We've turned into Aldi's fans, after several friends were raving about how cheap it is. Between having lower prices on the basics, and also having less of the fancy stuff to tempt you with, its resulted in our grocery bill being cut by ~20% vs. Cub (and HyVee when we lived in Iowa).

I like the smaller size of the stores, too. Cub has just about everything you could need, but it takes an extra 20 minutes when you are at the back corner and you realize you forgot to grab a lime in the produce section.

[ozzie679]

I've shopped Coborn's for 20+ years and they've gone WAY downhill. The deli and bakery are horrid. They purchase their salads from a company in NW suburbs. The salads are pre-packaged and low end...the quality is terrible. The locally baked bread and buns are still good. But the pastries are tasteless and terrible. The meat dept and produce dept are still good. But Coborn's move to "Walmart-ize" their stores is the best thing that's ever happened to St Cloud's local bakeries, especially Byerly's, which is the only good grocery store in St Cloud.

Byerly's beats every other store's price on milk and eggs. They BOGO specials are also the best. Sure, Byerly's has some high end brands and their produce is more expensive (better quality tho). Give them a chance and watch their ads...you'll be shocked at the good values.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

We've turned into Aldi's fans, after several friends were raving about how cheap it is. Between having lower prices on the basics, and also having less of the fancy stuff to tempt you with, its resulted in our grocery bill being cut by ~20% vs. Cub (and HyVee when we lived in Iowa).

I like the smaller size of the stores, too. Cub has just about everything you could need, but it takes an extra 20 minutes when you are at the back corner and you realize you forgot to grab a lime in the produce section.

Aldi's is cheap, but the quality is poor. But it's a good place to save money on the basics. I got turned off when I purchased some frozen chicken from Aldi's. They shrunk by 50% on the grill and tasted funky.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

Aldi's is cheap, but the quality is poor. But it's a good place to save money on the basics. I got turned off when I purchased some frozen chicken from Aldi's. They shrunk by 50% on the grill and tasted funky.

We've actually been pretty pleased with the quality, although we always bought the store and generic brands at Cub/HyVee/etc, so that may play a role as well. The meat is not as good as the butcher counter at Cub, but overall I'd say that the fruits and vegetables have been a little better than we got at Cub.

I do miss having the bakery and butcher counter right in-store, but that probably saves me a lot of money. Plus, it gives me an excuse to go visit the little local stand-alone butcher shop down the street.