Albertsons / Safeway

  1. Department & Category

Food Marketers It’s Time to Step-Up

  Why Branding Food Across Every Channel Is Now the New Battleground for Consumer Migration The battle for foodshare in 2026 is no longer simply about location, price, or convenience. It is about identity, emotion, speed, trust, and relevance. Consumers today move fluidly between restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, dollar stores, club stores, meal delivery […]
6 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Is Cooking at Home Still Relevant? The New Battle Between Grocery Stores, Restaurants, C-Stores and Meal Convenience in 2026

  The American meal landscape is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in modern food retail history. The traditional idea that consumers routinely drive to a grocery store, shop aisle-by-aisle, return home, cook dinner, and wash dishes afterward is no longer the default behavior for millions of consumers. Instead, convenience, immediacy, personalization, and foodservice-driven […]
7 min read
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  1. Retailer Media

Retail Media Networks Look To Compete Against Broadcast For Ad Bucks

The Wall Street Journal has a story about how retail media networks are making a play for the big time, attempting to show that that they can compete with legacy television networks in terms of return-on-investment. They will do so by participating in what in the ad biz is called “the upfronts” – a series […]
2 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Your Views:  Amok Time

MNB the other day took note of a New York Times report that “Maryland this week became the first state in America to ban grocery stores and third-party delivery services like DoorDash from using customers’ personal data to set higher prices. “The practice — supported by artificial intelligence and known as dynamic pricing or surveillance […]
6 min read
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  1. Channel: Mass

FaceTime with the Content Guy:  What Company Is Best Described As The New Walmart?

There has been a lot of hyperbolic coverage of Walmart lately, with a number of stories and commentaries focusing on a decline in grocery market share at Walmart, and another headline breathlessly proclaiming that “Albertsons Is The New Walmart When It Comes To Tech Dominance.”  I’m not sure that this kind of hyperventilation is called […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Ready-2-Eat vs Heat-N-Eat: Should Prepared Food Come With Calorie Counts?

  The “grocerant” economy—fresh prepared meals sold in grocery, convenience, and hybrid retail formats—is no longer a niche. It’s a primary consumption channel. As consumers increasingly substitute restaurant visits with Ready-2-Eat (RTE) and Heat-N-Eat (HNE) meals, one question keeps surfacing: Should prepared foods come with calorie counts—everywhere, every time? The Big Shift: Prepared Food Is […]
5 min read
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  1. Department: Food

Your Views:   Backlashes

We had a story the other day about how Target plans to adjust its approach to grocery by focusing more on specialized products, and moving away from the something-for-everyone strategy. I was, to say the least, dubious. In wrote, ion part: The thing is, it isn’t easier to be an effective specialty food retailer.  It’s […]
13 min read
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  1. Stores & Formats

Plans For NYC-Owned Grocery Stores Take Shape

The New York Times reports that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is beginning to lay out his plans for city-owned grocery stores, looking to fulfill a core campaign promise he made during last year’s election. According to the story, Mamdani said the plan is to open all the stores before the end of his […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

From Points to Precision: Why AI-Powered Loyalty Is Rewiring the Grocerant Economy in 2026

  The loyalty landscape in foodservice and convenience retail is undergoing a structural reset—and the data is no longer subtle. According to the 2026 Paytronix Loyalty Report, operators that once relied on static, points-based systems are now pivoting toward AI-driven personalization fueled by first-party data. The result? A measurable lift in visit frequency, ticket size, […]
5 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

OffBeat:  The Big Not-So-Easy

If you are not already watching “Shrinking,” on Apple TV, you should be. “Shrinking,” which just finished its third season and has been renewed for a fourth, is a gently comedic look at the lives and relationships of three therapists – played by Jason Segal, Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford – in the Southern California […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Reoccurring Customer Visits Drive Incremental Revenue Faster

  The growth algorithm across all sectors of food retail—restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery service delis—has converged on one immutable truth according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®:  frequency of visits is the most reliable driver of incremental revenue and long-term profitability. What was once a convenience-store insight is now […]
5 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Stitch Fix CEO Matt Baer, Nike’s Identify Crisis, Grocery’s Looming Collapse of the Middle, and Pets.Com: The Sequel

This week on The Remarkable Retail Podcast, Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc break down the forces reshaping retail before sitting down live at Shoptalk in Las Vegas with Matt Baer, CEO of Stitch Fix. The episode opens with a wide-ranging look at the macro pressures bearing down on the industry—geopolitical conflict, rising tariffs, and supply […]
2 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

The need for speed: here’s why Amazon has no desire to stop at one hour online deliveries

Amazon is starting one-hour and three-hour deliveries in parts of the US, with Udit Madan, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations commenting this week: “Our customers are busier than ever and are looking for new ways to save time while keeping their households running.” And the company has no intention of stopping there, observes Brittain […]
3 min read
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  1. Department & Category

Are Grocery Stores Still Focused on Legacy Stationary Business—And Missing the Boat?

  For more than 70 years the U.S. supermarket was built around one assumption: consumers would buy ingredients and cook dinner at home. That assumption is collapsing. Today’s consumer doesn’t necessarily cook dinner—they assemble dinner. Meals are increasingly built from a mix of restaurant takeout, grocery prepared foods, frozen entrees, snacks, and delivery orders. The […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

The Grocery Barbell Effect: The Middle Is Shrinking — and the Food Dollars Are Moving

  The latest JLL report confirms a structural reality: the American grocery marketplace is no longer linear — it’s polarized. Traditional supermarkets are being compressed between aggressive discounters and premium fresh specialists. Foot traffic data from Placer.ai shows traditional grocers such as Kroger and Safeway captured 73.2% of grocery visits in Q1 of last year […]
5 min read
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  1. Department: Food

Operational Clarity Meets Consumer Relevance: Why Schlotzsky’s Deli Is Engineering Margin Through Brand Focus

  From the Grocerant Guru® perspective, this is not simply a rebrand. It is a case study in operational discipline aligned with consumer-recognition research — and that alignment is where sustainable growth lives. Under the leadership of parent company GoTo Foods, Schlotzsky’s Deli is returning to its core competency: abundant, differentiated deli sandwiches delivered with […]
5 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

7-Eleven’s Big Bite in the Age of Time-Starved Consumers: Legacy Icon or Launchpad for Fresh Fast?

  No brand in the convenience ecosystem has historically leveraged a proprietary food item like the 7-Eleven with its Big Bite. The roller grill once symbolized immediacy, affordability, and accessibility. It was hot, ready, and under $2—an edible billboard for frictionless consumption. From the Grocerant Guru® perspective, the question is no longer whether the Big […]
4 min read
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Editor’s Choice

  1. Trends & External Forces
  2. Shopper & Customer
  3. Technology & Innovation
  4. Trends & External Forces
  5. Associates & Employees
  6. Merchandising
  7. Stores & Formats

Walmart to Expand Digital Shelf Labels Chainwide

Walmart will deploy digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide this year, doubling the approximately 2,300 U.S. locations currently using the technology (Walmart U.S. operates more than 4,600 stores). With more than 120,000 items in a typical Walmart store, managing price changes manually requires significant associate hours. Additionally, these DSLs are equipped with LED lights that make […]
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