By Kevin Williams
I wasn't in Connellsville to grocery shop, but whenever I travel, I like going into grocery stores. Some of you know, I was in the grocery business for several turns 15 - 20 years ago. I think the grocery business is like the newspaper business, it never really leaves you. And just how I still enjoy going around and looking at different newspapers, I also enjoy scoping out different groceries.
Connellsville, Pennsylvania is like a lot of communities, it has a dingy, dumpy, scrappy grocery and an affluent, upscale, opulent grocery. Honestly, I like both. I love an underdog and having a smaller, scrappier competitor in town keeps the big grocery from selling $9 bags of chips and $10 cases of soda. Competition is healthy. And from my experiences with both upscale and underdogs, you can move a lot of product at the underdog store, you just have to price it right. A pie that sells at $7.99 at the upscale store will mold on the shelf at that price at the underdog. So there's more margins to work with at the upscale store.
So, let's take a photo tour that puts into sharp relief the differences between the two types of stores. The first batch of photos is from CashSaver, a small chain of groceries and Martin's (not to be confused with Martin's Super Markets in Indiana). Martin's is part of the much larger Giant chain.
CASHSAVER
This is a CashSaver store in a past-its-prime strip mall in Connellsville, PA
Notice the kind of scuffed, unkempt floors, produce in wooden crates on skids, definitely no frills...
No organics here....
No one is trying to push Kombucha or coconut water on you, here it is all about the soda/pop.
They have a wall of value...
The pricing concept here is everything on the shelf is sold at cost and when they ring it all up at the register, they add 10 percent. I guess that is supposed to be a good deal for the customer, and ensures the store makes their margins. I'm kind of skeptical, but the concept does seem to be catching on.
Wow!
MARTIN'S
Across town, and seemingly a world away, is a more upscale grocery and the differences hit you right away.
Colorful and big and the parking lot has covered cart corrals so they don't get wet in the rain.
Look at the wonderful produce and the polished tile floors.
It's all about the produce
A delicious salad bar at Martin's
Rotisserie chickens are popular, but I think yhou can get the same at Costco for $3.99
Plump muffins
A self-serve doughnut case...
And, Marty, the creepy robot that patrols the store presumably to "watch for spills"...Yeah, I have some swampland to sell you...If you expect me to believe that the ONLY thing Marty is doing is watching for spills...I am sure Marty is also watching for pilferers, etc...Marty started chasing me at one point, but I gave it the slip in the snack aisle. I captured the moment on video and I'll share it soon.
Leave a Reply