Anybody want to make a guess about when the final day for Shoppers Food will come? After nearly 20 years of being treated as the “red-headed stepchild,” first by Supervalu, and (since 2018) by parent firm UNFI, Shoppers has been left to wither as a dying entity in the competitive Baltimore-Washington market.
If you’ve been doing business in the Mid-Atlantic market and been in the grocery biz for more than 25 you will surely remember the halcyon days of one of the best discount merchants in the country.
The company, founded by brothers Irving and Kenneth Herman, traces its roots to a single store on Benning Road NE in Washington, DC in 1929. Later, the merchant changed its name to Jumbo Food Stores and by the late 1970s had expanded to six stores in DC and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
In 1978, the brothers (aided by Irving’s son Michael) took a chance. They elected to develop a new brand as a warehouse operator, experimenting with a new banner – Shoppers Food Warehouse – and opened their first warehouse store in Alexandria, VA.
What ensued was magical. Under the Hermans’ leadership, the family-owned organization grew rapidly in the 80s and 90s. reaching about 60 stores after it merged with Metro Food Markets in 1998 (both companies were acquired by Richfood that same year). A year later, Supervalu (SVU) acquired Richfood.
In those days, Supervalu’s retail assets were numerous (Farm Fresh, Save-A-Lot, Shop ‘n Save, Hornbacher’s, Scott’s and Cub Foods) and generally well-run. That certainly held true at Shoppers, where, under the leadership of the great Bill White, the B-W division prospered with strong sales results and a top-notch culture.
By 2007, things had begun to deteriorate rapidly following Supervalu’s game-changing (for the worse) acquisition of more than 1,100 supermarkets from Albertsons for $17.4 billion a year earlier. From the outset, SVU CEO Jeff Noddle, a very competent wholesaler, quickly proved he knew very little about how to operate as a retailer (or as Bill White succinctly put it: “you can’t make a pitcher a catcher”).
Many of the 1,124 Albertsons stores that were purchased in the deal needed significant improvement, and the core regional retail chains that Supervalu had initially owned also began to deteriorate as capital investment was virtually abandoned. It didn’t help that clowns such as Craig Herkert and (for a short time) ex-tire salesman Wayne Sales helmed Supervalu as the publicly-traded company posted huge annual losses.
It wasn’t until 2013 when former Albertsons executive Sam Duncan replaced Sales as CEO that the company began to stabilize operations. Unfortunately, Duncan’s culture rebuilding and that of his successor, Mark Gross, did little to improve its retail banners, all of which, except for Cub and Shoppers, had been dumped by 2018.
When Supervalu sold to UNFI that year it quickly became clear that the Providence-based wholesaler knew even less about corporate store ownership than the Minneapolis-based firm it had acquired for $2.9 billion.
Under the hugely underwhelming performance of then-chief executive Steve “Spinmeister” Spinner, Shoppers Food began to founder even more. A year into his tenure as CEO of the newly combined entity, Spinner essentially began the wind-down process for Shoppers, selling or closing about 20 stores.
But then COVID struck and Spinner, a man of devout consciousness, decided he couldn’t close any more stores in a time of crisis. However, by 2021 Spinner had quit, obviously tired (and incapable) of running a troubled operation like UNFI, and it became clear that many of its problems were ones that he had helped facilitate.
He was replaced by “Sandy” Duncan, who had a successful 30-year career at Coca-Cola, a less than stellar one as CEO of Staples, and a current dismal four-year run as UNFI’s chief executive.
As for Shoppers, the burst of increased business that occurred during COVID proved to be short-term. Over the past few years, the retailer has continued to close stores while investing little capital or sweat equity into what once was a crown jewel.
But don’t point fingers at former Shoppers leaders like Dick Bergman, Tim Lowe, Bob Gleeson or Jeff Bleichner for the failure of the company.
That blame can be fully placed on Supervalu and UNFI for a generation of lack of leadership and an apathetic approach to corporate retail.
I feel bad for the nearly 2,000 people who remain at Shoppers – many of whom are still dedicated and loyal to the brand they helped build.
Do you think UNFI really cares about them? Maybe it would be better for all parties if UNFI and its brand new retail president David Best just pulled the plug on the entire operation.
The thought of stringing this out for much longer seems too painful to endure.
‘Round The Trade
The recent change in leadership at Target has been on the horizon for quite some time, and while it’s not a great surprise that current chief operating officer and former CFO Michael Fiddelke will replace veteran CEO Brian Cornell (in February 2026), I still believe the struggling mass merchant would have been better off if the board chose an outside whose background was more merchandising or operations focused. Give Cornell credit though. How many chief executives have spent more than 11 years in such a pressure-filled job? For most of his tenure, the former Safeway and PepsiCo executive did a splendid job of running one of the country’s largest retailers. But sometime after COVID, Target lost its mojo, specifically it’s ability to separate itself from other retailers, particularly Walmart which has improved its physical stores and run laps around Target in the digital realm. Fiddelke, who’s been with Target for 20 years is certainly well qualified – but can he restore the juice and creativity that the company once had. Just before the leadership change was announced, Target continued to post mediocre financial results in its second quarter. Overall sales decreased 0.9 percent and same-store revenue dipped 3.2 percent and its net income of $1.3 billion represented a decline of 19.4 percent compared to last year’s Q2 results.
On the other hand, Walmart once again posted strong second quarter results with overall sales increasing 4.8 percent and global e-commerce revenue jumping 25 percent. U.S. comp store sales rose an impressive 4.8 percent (excluding fuel) and its Sam’s Club unit posted an even bigger comp store gain of 5.9 percent. And even with higher tariffs looming (a point CEO Doug McMillan acknowledged), Walmart raised its full-year net sales growth forecast to a range of 3.75 percent to 4.75 percent up from a prior 3.0 percent to 4 percent.
Kroger said that it has laid off nearly 1,000 corporate administrative staffers, in a move intended to “simplify its organization.” Simplify? That’s c-suite double-talk for tightening their belts while expecting challenging times ahead. That Kroger is struggling on several levels isn’t in doubt, but it needs to find a new permanent chief executive. It’s been six months since Rodney McMullen was forced out due to ethical issues and interim chief executive Ron Sargent isn’t the long-answer solution to lead the nation’s largest pure-play supermarket chain. And speaking of the aforementioned Mr. McMullen, he was spared from having his testimony revealed in a case involving Kroger and pop singer Jewel Kilcher.
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners last month completed its $10 billion acquisition of troubled drug chain Walgreens and the first move it made was to replace CEO Tim Wentworth (who will remain a director) with retail veteran Mike Motz (ex-Loblaw, ex-Staples, which is also controlled by Sycamore). We wish the new ownership and Motz the best, but I can’t stop wondering how a PE firm is going to improve a sagging enterprise with major culture problems.
Local Notes
On a personal note, I’m going to miss Tom Lofland, who recently was named president of Albertsons Jewel-Osco division in Chicagoland. I’ve known Tom from the time he first came to the Mid-Atlantic in 2014, heading up merchandising and marketing for Safeway’s eastern division. He later became president of that Lanham, MD unit and when Albertsons elected to combine its Safeway and Acme stores into one division, Tom dutifully moved to suburban Philadelphia to oversee merch and marketing for more than 300 stores. When the great Jim Perkins (now with Save Mart) was recruited by the parent firm to run SpinCo (or as it has been called -“JokeCo”) in 2023, Tom was promoted to lead the Mid-Atlantic division. Tom’s a real pro whose loyalty to Albertsons should be saluted. As for Sean Thompson, who replaced Lofland as president of the Malvern, PA division, he’s got a big task in front of him. Even though most of the stores have been “touched up” over the past seven years, major remods and new stores have been few and far between. Everyday retails are the very top of the competitive spectrum and despite great locations in Baltimore-Washington and the Delaware Valley, both banners are losing share to a diverse group of retailers in overstored marketing areas. New CEO Susan Morris is keenly aware of this and clearly is taking action. Thompson should be prepared to bring his helmet and mouthguard.
At Giant Food, there are several changes to report in its merchandising department led by the talented Tonya Douglas. Iana Fulayer has been promoted to director of deli and bakery. Other changes include Cindy Volk’s move to director of grocery and general merchandise; Jason Bidert’s new role as director of grocery and frozen; and Lisa Guinther’s new assignment as director of meat and seafood.
When the Boar’s Head deli plant opens in Jarratt, VA in the next few months, it will do so under the supervision of the USDA which will be closely monitoring and inspecting product produced by the plant which was responsible for the deaths of 11 people from listeria. The intensive scrutiny will last at least 90 days (it should be permanent) and calls for stricter enforcement if lapses occur.
From our obituary desk, we report the passing of the highly underrated but extremely talented musician Bobby Whitlock, 77. The Memphis-born keyboard player and singer, who in addition to his solo career, played in bands with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and the Rolling Stones. Whitlock’s career highlight was with Clapton’s band – Derek and the Dominos – where he played piano, provided background vocals and co-wrote six songs on that seminal album including “Bell Bottom Blues.” His four solo albums from the 1970s, which highlight Whitlock’s soulful voice and excellent keyboard playing, are worth listening too.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the dozens of messages and phone calls I received about the sale of Best-Met Publishing last month. I am truly touched by thoughtful and gracious comments about me and my long career. Thank you so very much!
Jeff Metzger is publisher emeritus of Food World and Food Trade News and founder of Taking Stock LLC, a grocery industry advisory and consulting firm.
