Thursday, April 05, 2007

"Mang Ling prepares sushi at the sushi bar in the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Plano"

It's not just the most poetic photo caption ever; it's our clue that Wal-Mart and Target are taking over: "the Dallas region continues to be a microcosm of the nationwide grocery business as supercenters continue to gain market share."

We're a microcosm! So exciting. Better yet, this means a chain I hate is at last realizing the error of its ways. "Albertson's didn't react to trends in the industry, such as stocking stores right for a neighborhood demographic....'Unlike Kroger and Safeway, the company did not have a clear focus on improving its merchandise and only concentrated on cost-cutting efforts, such as exiting from unprofitable markets and improving its supply chain.'"

Hard to believe all that effort put into self-checkout and the Shop'n'Scan didn't pay off for Albertson's. You'd think any gadget with two apostrophes would be a hit. And honestly, who could have predicted that grocery shoppers would care more about food than technology? Oh that's right -- Albertson's competitors could! "The conventional supermarket operators are also challenged by the expansion of specialty food chains....Kroger spent more than $2 million to remodel its Mockingbird Lane and Greenville Avenue store, one it considers strategic in the Dallas battle. The project included an expanded wine department with a walk-in wine cooler." A walk-in? See? Everything is better in a microcosm.

5 comments:

James-H said...

First they put wine in a box. Now they make wine coolers big enough for you to walk into them. I like this trend. I'm ready for an actual bourbon street.

Irene Done said...

A bourbon street > a barley house.

Wheeee -- Dallas humor! Love it, live it.

Anonymous said...

You may be overlooking the hyphenation factor:

“self-checkout” and “walk-in.”

Jason Fox said...

My mom (who lives in Kansas City with, fortunately, my dad), calls the Plano Wal-Mart the "fancy Wal-Mart." Granted, the first time we went there on one of their visits, I was greeted by two exceedingly obese sisters in inappropriate spandex chasing after a snotty tot.

Which is what's great about Wal-Mart: Consistency.

Irene Done said...

My mom calls it that too. But the first time I went there, I was greeted by Kinky Friedman campaign workers -- so the fancy Wal-Mart really can have some surprises.