Company Blog

Kale Is For Eating

by Adam Zack — August 2, 2016

Look at the case like you’re painting a picture

I love stores that have maintained their commitment to full service meat and deli departments. The large chains have cut back labor to increase profits in the face of rising wages, but high quality independents have kept, and even increased service in those key perishable departments. It’s a key point of differentiation that helps cement loyalty. Old-fashioned service is one fashion that has not gone out of style. If anything, it’s more in-style than ever. Old-fashioned service is one thing, but old fashioned merchandising is a hindrance to growth. Kale and plastic greens (including fake flowers, rubber grapes and plastic plants) are part of that old fashioned merchandising. I’ve always hated kale. Not just the taste (disgusting), but also the waxy, fake look of it. Even as we used it in our stores in the 80’s and 90’s, it just never did it for me. Now that it’s the super-food of the past few years, its cost has gone up considerably, making it also an expensive garnish. It is not cool. It is definitely not sexy. The abundant use of it actually detracts the eye from the foods in the case. And with the variety of colors added by new and exciting value added meats ...

by Adam Zack — July 27, 2016

BAM!

The following is a true story. No names were changed to protect the innocent. Reader discretion advised. On June 7th, I was driving home from the gym at about 7:45 a.m. It was a Tuesday and I took a different route than normal because I had to go to the post office to mail some important documents. Now I am sure those of you who know me are thinking “You go to the gym? Really?? I wouldn’t have guessed.” So OK, I walk a mile on the treadmill while watching Sports Center on the big TVs and then listen to some punk rock while I do some reps on the weight machines. I don’t really work up much of a sweat, but some workout is better than no workout, right? So I’m driving home with the windows down (I worked up a light glistening, but not exactly sweat) and I’m driving down Carlsbad Village Drive. As I crest the hill, I can see the ocean. Very nice. I approach the stop light behind this white Ford Ranger truck with a camper shell on it. It’s going kind of slow. Then it starts veering to the right towards the curb and I think “What the hell is that guy doing?” as he goes up the curb and BAM!, right into the stop light pole! He swerves back to the road and makes a right on the next street. Mind you, this is a slow motion collision. Like wa...

by Adam Zack — July 20, 2016

Have you ever been in a Target store early in the morning or late at night? The first thing I noticed was how eerily quiet it is without the crowds of customers talking, kids crying, employees interacting and parents yelling. It’s really kind of creepy, and for me it’s more like a morgue atmosphere that makes me want to get the hell out of there. So why doesn’t Target play music in their stores? I can’t find an explanation other than conjecture. But it did make me think about the music that’s played in our grocery stores. Seems like what is playing is generally decided by one of the following:

People perceive a shorter wait time when they hear music they like.

What the owner wants to hear
What the employees want to hear
It’s what we’ve always played
It changes every time management changes
We have music?

Turns out that the music you choose really can influence how customers shop. One owner in Florida plays classical music, which aligns well with his customer base and was done after a lot of trial. One owner wants his store to have a hip vibe so he plays the “Hipster Cocktail Party” on ...

by Adam Zack — July 13, 2016

Supermarket sexy is about the food, not the garnish.

Food Porn. You see it all over the TV, internet, magazines. Food that looks so unbelievably sexy that you are filled with lust and desire to have it. About half of the photos on my phone are of food. That perfect sandwich I made to show my brother. The Prime steak on the grill tantalizingly licked by flames. Produce wet rack so perfectly merchandised that the colors seem to shout “Farm Fresh!” The charcuterie board with impossibly thin sliced prosciutto and artisan salamis. And so, so many more. But the last thing anyone has ever associated with a grocery store is sexy. And by sexy I don’t mean the boom-chicka-bowm-bowm kind. I mean it in the baby-you-look-so good! way. Food can be like that. Watch an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network and you’ll know what I mean.So the point is, can grocery store food be sexy? Can the monotony of russet potatoes and yellow onions be forgotten by the bright colors of store made fresh fruit salad (and anyone whose fruit salad is cantaloupe, honeydew and green grapes does not count.) Grilled Chicken breasts with thin slices of fresh lemon on them are sexy. Curried chicken salad looks hot. Kale is hot right no...

by Adam Zack — July 6, 2016

The Golden Rule or Law of Reciprocity

I got some great feedback on last weeks blog, most notably from the great Bob LaBonne, Jr., President of LaBonne’s Markets in Connecticut.“To me it’s more than karma, it’s about respecting others. They are only trying to do their job. When I return phone calls to sales people that I don’t know or never heard of, very often I hear them say, “I can’t believe you called me back. Normally I have to keep calling people to reach them.” Respect is one of my core values and our company’s. It’s following the golden rule “Treat others they way you want to be treated” which I was taught as a young child by my parents and grandparents. I guess it just stuck for me and sadly I think the world seems to have forgotten this rule, especially now that everyone is so busy.”— Bob Labonne, Jr.Respect is such a wide-ranging thing on many levels. From the military mantra of “Respect the rank, not the person, soldier.” to being a kid and being forced to “respect your elders.” when we really didn’t know what respect was. I think in both those contexts what is really meant is to just be polite. Manners (please, thank you, excuse me) are hugely important to ...

by Adam Zack — June 29, 2016

Common courtesy is telling the truth.

Believe it or not, we frequently (DW might think too frequently) make proposals for business that are not accepted. It’s part of the deal. Rejection is part of the process. Like getting estimates on fixing your car or shopping for a new plasma TV. No matter how nice the salesperson is, you only need your car fixed once. Sometimes the sales person will be the decider, but more often it comes down to money and how you feel your needs will be met for those dollars. I always try and look at any proposal or transaction from the customers’ view. If I think they are wasting their money, I’ll tell them. The grocery business has a lot of karma in it, and you just never know when the opportunity to do business will come around again – for vendors and customers.A couple weeks ago we made a proposal to a 30+ store retailer in the Midwest for a very customized website and follow up program. We spent a lot of time on it, had lots of conference calls and email correspondence. We were not chosen. I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing it was to be told directly “Unless something drastic changes, we are going with another proposal.” Yes, it felt good to hear that reje...

by Adam Zack — June 22, 2016

Watermelon is a fruit & a vegetable.

I love trivia and trivial facts. In fact, my favorite saying is “Really!!???”

Fredric Baur invented the Pringles can. When he passed away in 2008, some of his ashes were buried in one.

Ben & Jerry learned how to make ice cream by taking a $5 correspondence course offered by Penn State. (They decided to split one course.)

Twinkies originally had banana-flavored filling. Hostess switched to vanilla after bananas were rationed during World War II.

Oklahoma’s official state vegetable is the watermelon.

Kool-Aid was originally a liquid concentrate and marketed as “Fruit Smack.”

Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch. His ship is the USS Guppy.

In 1989, Walmart pulled Listerine off shelves after a woman claimed it burned her mouth. After testing, they restocked it. Turns out that’s just how Listerine tastes.

There is an ice skating rink on top of the flagship Whole Foods Austin, TX location.

The world record for e
...
read more

Idea of the month: Have your cake and extra sales too.

by Adam Zack — June 15, 2016

Cake Parfaits with fresh fruit.

Grocers have had to find ways to turn spoils into something sellable pretty much since the beginning of our industry. Damaged tomatoes, over-ripe avocados and past-their-prime tomatoes become guacamole. Dark steaks become “Our secret marinade”. Stale baguettes transform into garlic crisps and croutons. Bruised melons morph into ready-to-eat cut fruit. It goes on and on. Without managing our shrink (also known as spoils, but spoils doesn’t sound like anything you’d want to eat, no matter what the form, so let’s call it shrink), prices would have to rise and profits would become even smaller. It’s one of the basic tenets of retailing. So leave it to the genius of the grocer to utilize bakery shrink in a way that blew me away. Karen McMullen, Human Resource Manager/Bakery Director of Jensen’s Foods www.jensensfoods.com (how’s that for a wide swath of job responsibilities?) takes her retail bakery managers to see other store bakeries and brainstorm ideas every six months. On one recent trip one of the managers came up with the idea of “Cake Cups” or “Cake Parfaits”. The idea was to utilize leftover cakes scraps and t...

by Adam Zack — June 8, 2016

It’s definitely not all about the money.

I was thinking about how many times I’ve said, or it’s been said to me “It’s not about the money.” Yeah, it is. Think about the barrage of messages that are conveyed every single day: Sale! Save! Buy! Earn! Reward! Redeem! Payday! Pay now! Pay later! Low payments! No interest! Value! Shop now! Bottom line! Profit’s up! Profits down! Cash flow. Cash cow. And the list goes on and on. So our free market economy and nearly every part of our business interactions really is about the money. It’s why we work. It’s why we start a business. We have to have it to live. It kind of depressed me when I thought about it, because it sounds oppressive and one-dimensional. But then I started of thinking of things I do, and people I know do, that really are not all about the money. A better way to say it would be “It’s not all about the money.” The little kindnesses, encouraging words, expressions of gratitude and appreciation, monetary sacrifices made in the name of love, family and friendship. I started to feel a lot better. And while I know it’s all of our jobs to produce results that profit for our companies and our bosses, it’s reassuring to know that for many business leaders, in fact the ...

by Adam Zack — June 1, 2016

“Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself” – Harriet Nelson

Last week the subject came up about how many families have fights that go on for months, years – even lifetimes. We discussed how many times the wronged are completely justified in their feelings of betrayal and hurt. There is often no justifying what someone has done to you. It’s just plain wrong – hence you are the wronged. But once the deed is done, how can it be put in the past and forgotten. Most wrongs are never forgotten. Sure, they dull with time and the details become fuzzy with the help of good wine and better times, but deep hurt and resentment still lie deep. The common belief we have is that to forgive someone, we have to somehow reconcile the circumstances that what they did to us was somehow okay, that it was forgivable. I thought that for about 50 years. But even a stubborn old dude can learn, because forgiveness isn’t about making the wrong-er feel better, it’s about making me feel better. The anger and negativity I may feel towards someone else (or towards myself if I have deep feelings of guilt) are like one of those old fashioned barbells that weigh me down. Sure, I may get stronger, but that 50 pounds of hate that I refuse to let go of st...