The one thing you can say for certain about the Michigan grocery business is it certainly isn't boring. In fact, if it gets any less boring it may take a scorecard to keep up.
Farmer Jack is continuing to tank and its stores (the current count stands at 66) have been put up for sale by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P), although the chain has refused to comment. Among those listed as possible suitors for individual locations is Grand Rapids-based Spartan Stores.
Speaking of Spartan Stores, the wholesaler/retailer announced yesterday it has entered into an agreement to buy 20 retail grocery stores, two fuel centers and three convenience stores, from G&R Felpausch Company, another Michigan-based chain.
Spartan's acquisition, which the company expects to close in the first quarter of 2008, comes on the heels of it buying 16 D&W Food Centers last year.
Craig Sturken, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Spartan Stores, said in a press release, "Sustained profitable growth through prudent retail acquisitions is a component of our ongoing and core business strategy... The Felpausch stores serve many communities where we currently have no retail presence. They also provide an outstanding geographic fit with our current retail store footprint, while providing expansion into central Michigan."
While Spartan is busy getting bigger and Farmer Jack is looking to start getting busy, Meijer has been actively looking to differentiate itself from grocery competitors, including the number one perceived threat - Wal-Mart's Supercenters. Among the company's recent initiatives are the introduction of the U.S.D.A. certified Meijer Organics line, its "Outside the Mainstream" local musical artist promotion program, a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to point consumers to non-invasive plant varieties, a "price drop" program on 5,000 items last July, and a test of RFID-tagged shopping carts to better understand, for example, how to move consumers more quickly through the checkout.
Discussion Questions: What's your take on the goings on in Michigan's grocery industry? What chain story do you find most interesting and why?