Stores Magazine - December 2007 - (Page 28)

EXECUTIVE SUITE / NICHE MARKETING lion, lays claim to being the nation’s largest Hispanic supermarket chain. The first Sedano’s opened in 1962, the year after founder Armando Guerra fled Cuba, and has grown steadily, if slowly, since. The company also operated 13 pharmacies; in October, they were sold to Navarro, another Hispanic-owned business that ranks among the nation’s 20 largest drug store chains. Publix is the dominant supermarket chain in Florida, but it wasn’t until two years ago that it opened its first Hispanic store in the Orlando suburb of Kissimmee. Dubbed Publix Sabor, the store features more tropical produce than a typical Publix, plus meat butchered to Hispanic preferences and a delicatessen department that offers rice and beans, pressed sandwiches and Cuban coffee. A second Publix Sabor operates in the Miami suburb of Hialeah, and two more are on the drawing board for south Florida. Winn-Dixie was once a major grocery player in markets stretching from Texas to the Bahamas. Now the company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection last year, operates about 520 stores, 100 of which are merchandised specifically for Hispanic shoppers. Most recently, 30 stores in the Miami area and 25 in and around Orlando where added to this “neighborhood merchandising initiative,” according to chairman, president and CEO Peter Lynch. “It’s about getting better all the time and growing our brand,” Lynch says. “We have recognized the importance and diversity of the growing Hispanic market for a long time.” He added that localizing merchandising “allows us to keep our core product offering consistent throughout the chain, while identifying and fulfilling the special needs and desires of the many diverse neighborhoods that we serve.” Hispanic supermarket chains have historically operated in a single market or region. Thus, there was national attention when Rancho Liborio jumped into the Denver market from its California base. Greater Denver was already served by two Avanza supermarkets opened five years ago by Minneapolis-based distributor Nash Finch. Rancho Liborio, headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., had six locations in Southern California and Las Vegas when it opened in Aurora, Colo. It plans to add as many as six more units in Colorado over the next few years. 28 STORES / DECEMBER 2007 Rancho Liborio’s 50,000-sq.-ft. stores offer specialties such as fresh tortillas made on the premises, live fish tanks and a deli serving pupusas, but had to shelve plans to sell and slaughter live poultry due to local objections. In Arizona, Basha’s has been around for 75 years and grown into a $2 billion business. It serves Hispanic communities with its Food City stores. On the West Coast California has the nation’s largest Latino population, but the grocery industry serving these consumers is fragmented and mostly localized. Superior Grocers, which operates 28 stores under the Superior Super Warehouse banner, is the largest chain. Among the other Hispanic chains operating at least 10 units are Vallarta Supermarkets, with 24 locations, mostly in Los Angeles County; Cardenas Markets, which will open its 22nd store in Moreno Valley; and Fiesta Foods, which recently opened a 50,000-sq.-ft. warehouse store in Fresno. In the northern part of the state, Mi Pueblo has grown to 10 stores, including its first in Oakland. Retailers and suppliers catering to Hispanic and Latino consumers will soon be getting assistance in the form of more detailed market research. Nielsen is putting the final touches on a program to track purchases made in 11,000 Hispanic households throughout the country, and hopes to begin providing that data in May. The collective buying power of Hispanic consumers is nearly $1 trillion, says Tim Kregor, president of Nielsen’s consumer panel services. “By understanding what Hispanic consumers are buying, where they’re buying it, how they’re buying it and why,” he says, “retailers and marketers can adapt product offerings and promotions to ultimately better satisfy this rapidly growing and diverse consumer segment.” As Hispanics in the U.S. become more acculturated, brand loyalty becomes less evident, according to Nielsen Homescan Research. Therefore, Kregor says, “the key learning for marketers is understanding the importance of building a brand relationship during the initial steps of acculturation and maintaining this connection as HisStORES panics’ integration to American life increases.” David P. Schulz, a New York-based writer and editor, reports on U.S. and foreign retailers for several publications. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Stores Magazine - December 2007

STORES - December 2007 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Holiday Shopping Extravagance What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Niche Marketing Eight Predictions for 2008 Concept2Watch Merchandising Strategy Sourcing E-Commerce Supply Chain Warehouse Management Software Contactless Payments Marketing Marketing Online Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

Stores Magazine - December 2007

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