Company Blog

Ponder This

by Adam Zack — May 17, 2017

Interaction is mutually satisfying.

PONDER: to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeplyI’m thinking about how hard it is to be a good listener. I can kind of relate it to the person who wants to eat healthier. You do it for a while, focus and start to see results. Conversations are clearer and more meaningful. Interaction is mutually satisfying. The weight of having to speak and anticipate what your answer should be starts to drop off. You’re feeling good about yourself and those you interact with daily. You’re getting to be a good listener. That’s not so hard, right? Then when you’re getting comfortable, the unexpected double cheeseburger is before you. Just one, right? You listen to the guy explain what’s in the smoothie for breakfast, then you add ice cream (because it’s so delicious). A bag of chips here, Fettuccine Alfredo instead of grilled chicken and salad. Two cookies and a Bailey’s instead of no dessert. Your good intentions, initial success and great feelings are back the way they were not long ago. It’s the same with listening. You make that effort, see results, and then gradually (or sometimes suddenly) slip back into old habits. Becoming a Listening reverts to interrupting, finishing sen...

by Adam Zack — May 10, 2017

Christmas in July

We all know that gift cards sell during the Christmas holiday season. In fact, they sell like crazy, especially if you’re doing Cyber Monday, which if you aren’t then maybe there’s something else that’s crazy. Grocers have done a good job getting into the gift card business with their own gift cards and also selling national brand gift cards. The idea is that you are now a gift choice. And it helps when customers have an incentive to purchase a gift from you. Which is why Cyber Monday is so successful: It’s an incredible incentive to buy your gift cards. $100 gift card for $75 that I can use for groceries? I’d be a damn fool to say no to that, and my momma didn’t raise no fools, except for my brother Frankie, who has always been a little off. So while we’ve got our participating in the holiday season gift mélange, we have totally ignored the rest of the holidays. Graduation, weddings, birthdays, Mother’s Day… I don’t know of one grocer that promotes their gift cards as an alternative to the standard gift. How about Christmas in July for a one day Cyber Monday like sale? Or how about promoting gift cards to the parents of college freshman who are attending that nearby college for the first time? The oppo...

by Adam Zack — May 3, 2017

At the top is a pile of money

So tonight I was talking to my youngest daughter Alyssa, who lives in Los Angeles, and she asked, “What should I have for dinner?” I remember that this is a frequent topic in our conversations (A couple weeks ago my suggestion was crispy chicken tacos – a rotisserie chicken, tortillas, cheese, onion, lettuce tomato – so delicious). Tonight she asked, “What about those pork cutlets you used to make, with a squeeze of lemon?” (And a nice, simple arugula salad, I added). Do you use panko breadcrumbs? Is the order flour-egg-breadcrumbs? Being a lifelong grocer and food (and wine, let’s not forget that) aficionado, we cooked dinner pretty much every night. The older daughter Holly, despite an early love of McDonalds (DeeDonalds!! DeeDonalds!!!!) quickly became anti-fast food, which was comforting to me because I knew most high school boys would not know how to handle that. So we cooked and they learned and grew to be talented and instinctive in the kitchen. What triggered tonight’s conversation into a blog topic (Me: I’m going to write my blog about you. Alyssa: Noooooooo!!!!) was that millennial are mostly beyond fast food for dinner but still are searching for what to eat. And, more frequently, wha...

by Adam Zack — April 26, 2017

Become personally involved

A lot of hullabaloo has been made about “local” in the last 5 years. Buy local, be local, eat local, shop local, don’t hassle me I’m local, locally grown, locally raised, locally sourced, come on baby, do the local motion. Whole Foods has been a big proponent of local, with photos and stories of local farmers and producers in their stores, even though their headquarters are in Austin, Texas, so their only real local stores are in and around there. It’s a great way to brand your store, feature the little producer, and connect with your community in a way the big chains can’t. But there is an aspect of local branding that goes far beyond signs and products and social media. It’s the aspect of actually, personally being involved with local events and causes. You may not want to attend the PTA fundraiser personally. Just writing them a check or donating food is good enough, right? After all, your name is in the program and on the banner and everyone sees it. Well, almost everyone. Well, some people. But actually attend the event and see how much further your $100 donation goes. Customers will be ardently thankful and vocal about your attendance. They won’t bitch about prices or problems they have had. Th...

by Adam Zack — April 19, 2017

Be proud of your accomplishments

I harp seemingly incessantly about trying new things. New products, services, personnel relations, advertising methods, blah, blah, blah. And while I’ll go to my grave believing the only constant in the grocery industry is change, very little has been mentioned about how to cope with the results of failed attempted change. I used to work with this know-it-all blowhard that attacked every change I made to the organization. No matter what it was, it was a bad idea that he could do better. Turned out he just had an inferiority complex, but it still resulted in many struggles and battles that were counterproductive at best. Like all wars, there were battles won and lost. Not being a very good loser – actually just hating to lose, not being a bad loser – it affected me personally when one of my new programs failed. I was asked why it bothered me so much. Why did I take every defeat like it was the end of the war? It was business, right? And in the course of business there are dozens of setbacks every single week. The strong leader learns from them and moves forward. But still, that’s the easier said than done part because when we are fully invested in our company, in our project, in our team, every failure t...

by Adam Zack — April 12, 2017

“OK, I’m bored with my store’s sandwiches anyway.”

A few years back I worked with a guy who frequently said “It is what it is.” Always kind of bugged me the way he said it, as it implied “Those idiots running the company are going to do what they want, and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I am resigned to just passively make generalized, broad comments about my inability to affect any type of positive change.” And since I was one of those idiots running the company, I took some offense to it. It’s a pretty stupid comment anyway. Of course it is what it is. That’s the definition of it. It IS what IT is. It’s NOT what IT is not.” Duh. It made me think of a much more meaningful, actionable and thoughtful saying: “If we keep on doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep on getting what we’re getting.” Yes there is the need for consistency in most of our procedures, services and operations. Consistency in producing uniform quality. Consistency on operations that positively differentiate you from competition. But consistency of mediocre quality and so-so operations and products results in consistent mediocrity. And your competitors love pouncing on mediocrity.“How’s their deli?”“It’s...

by Adam Zack — April 5, 2017

“My grocery store sucks!”

I was talking with DW the other day and he said “How are new business prospects looking? We are finishing up the major website work and the designers and programmers will be ready for new work.” I had to admit that there was nothing major in the pipeline and I would re-examine my contact list and push ahead with making new ones. The difficulty in attracting new business – any new business – is that the prospective customer has to have at least a little feeling that he has a need for change. And that is particularly difficult in the food business where change is resisted like trips to the dentist and purse strings are pulled so tight. So how do you attract new customers to your store? They need to have a need. (“I’m hungry” or “My grocery store sucks, I need to find a new place to shop.”) They need convenience, a sense of value, appreciation of their new patronage, quality that doesn’t disappoint. What makes it more difficult is that new customers don’t identify themselves usually —they come in unannounced and experience your store and if they have a bad experience then they just don’t come back. You never even knew they were there. It’s one of the reasons great operators use a first rate Myster...

by Adam Zack — March 29, 2017

Personal preferences, not business reasons…

I was talking to this guy who is a grocery manager today and I told him that I found a distributor who would supply him with these tortilla chips that I thought would really sell. He said “But I thought you didn’t like those chips. They changed the type of tortilla they use for them.” I said “Hey guy, it’s true that I don’t like them.” (and I really used to until they changed recipes), “But it’s not about what I like, it’s what the customer wants.” Sounds pretty damn wise and insightful, doesn’t it? Nothing to make you feel old like being wise. Anyway, it struck me that so many of our business decisions are based on what we like, and not what might best suit the needs of the customer. Wine guys are notorious for it. “I don’t like buttery chardonnays.” So no displays are built around buttery Chardonnays, even though it’s the most popular style, and most consumers are not into the “no-oak, minerally” chardonnays. They want something that is like the profile of their Kendall Jackson or Rombauer. It’s good business. But “Those wines are terrible!” whines the wine clerk snob. “I want to educate them on something better!” Well, buddy boy, they just want some...

by Adam Zack — March 22, 2017

Black Grapeless Grapes $1.48

The three most important keys to great sales are: 1. Presentation 2. Presentation 3. Presentation. Customers buy with their eyes. If food doesn’t look great, no matter how it tastes, they are far less likely to buy. You can always let them taste the delicious Ugly Rice Salad and get them to purchase it, but with hundreds of choices of fresh foods you can’t even sample 10% of the delicious but hideous items that may be put out. Fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, salads, hot foods – they all need to look tempting. That’s why packaging and signage is a billion dollar industry. It tells the story of the beautiful food. But how about what is written on the packaging and signage? Because so much of our commerce is food, everyone can relate to it. And since it’s so widespread, nowhere is the misuse of grammar and punctuation more prevalent. These are real signs seen in our grocery stores:

Banana’s 59¢
Open Sunday’s 11:00-4:00
Jam’s and Jellies
Black Grapeless Grapes $1.48
Pop Tards 2.69
Yumbo Jams 3 lbs/$1
Rot Chicken 7.99...
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Can I be honest with you?

by Adam Zack — March 15, 2017

“Does this dress make me look fat?”

I’ve been obsessed with speech phrases, responses and habits lately. Someone finishing my sentence before I finish drives me nuts. Responding with “I know” makes me crazy. “Perfect” – really? Contradicting every statement with “No” and a correcting comment: Put me in a straight jacket. It’s me, I know. I’m a grammar and speech lunatic. So the latest one that I keep hearing over and over is “Can I be honest with you?” Think about it. What’s the right response? “Um, no. I really prefer to be lied to.” Or “Why would you, I’m never honest with you.” I suppose if I asked “How does this shirt look on me?” or “Does this dress make me look fat?” when answered with “Can I just be honest with you?” might be appropriate – and at the same time make me (or someone, I don’t wear dresses) feel sad. But in the course of everyday conversation it’s a waste of words – one of those automatic responses like “perfect”. I think it came from some guy who was always a yes man. “Yessir” and “I just do what I’m told.”, who one day got sick of it and said to the boss “Can I just be honest with you?” The boss, thinking this guy had always been honest in the p...
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