Shop Talk

Heading to the dollar store for groceries?

Ahead of the recession, dollar stores thought it would be a good idea to try to lure shoppers into their stores more frequently by stocking an increased selection of food. Many of them began installing refrigerated coolers in their stores so they could sell things like eggs, milk and dairy.

More recently Family Dollar added 200 more food products — including a bigger selection of pasta and Kraft salad dressings — to its shelves.

As the economic downturn persists, that decision to focus on food appears to be paying off as more shoppers seek low prices on food.

With many consumers losing jobs or seeing their hours cut to part time, shoppers also have more time and greater incentive to compare prices and scour a variety of stores for deals.

The average household made 13 trips to a dollar store in 2008, up from an average of 11 in 2001, the Nielsen Co said. But the average household made 59 trips to supermarkets in 2008 — 13 fewer visits than in 2001.

Shopper Juan Bugueno told Reuters that he shops the Albertsons, Ralphs and Whole Foods grocery stores in his Venice, California, neighborhood — but prefers the dollar store for staples like vegetables and eggs.

“It’s cheap and it’s good,” he said as he purchased bagged spinach and garlic at a busy 99 Cents Only Store.

Show must go on for Organics…

This year’s All Things Organic conference and expo showcased necessity as the mother of invention.  Slumping sales and a weak economy have forced the industry to innovate just to hold onto customers.

In a 2009 briefing on the organic packaged food market, Euromonitor International said the largest threat to the future growth of organic products is price sensitivity among U.S. consumers in the current economic climate.

“In previous years, many consumers were willing to trade up to premium products,” the briefing said. “However, more consumers are looking to trade down, as they can no longer afford to even try some premium products, much less purchase them on a regular basis.”

The response has been for some companies to expand their product offerings, such as Clorox’s Green Works laundry detergent, hitting store shelves this summer, and Rain Organic Vodka’s new lavender flavor.

Others are expanding their reach as they try to drive sales. Safeway’s O Organics line, for example, is now in other grocery chains, such as Albertsons.

Still, people were all smiles, saying that while their sales were down, their companies had still experienced growth.  In their eyes, weathering the economic storm means that they’re just that much more prepared for the recovery.

Watch the audio slide show below:

It’s 4:15 – do you know what your dinner is?

If you’re broke and in a hurry, Supervalu — the owner of grocery chains like Lucky, Albertsons,  Shop ‘n Save and Shaw’s – has your number and it’s 4:15.

The third-largest U.S. supermarket operator is setting up stations in its produce, meat and deli departments that feature the fixings for fast, easy, home-cooked meals that can feed a family of four for less than $15.

“Research shows that most people don’t know at 4 o’clock what they are having for dinner that night, and in many cases, these hurry-up meals result in less-than-balanced and more expensive food choices,” said Jim Smits, Supervalu’s group vice president of fresh foods merchandising.

“We wanted to make it easier for our customers to answer that inevitable ‘what’s for dinner’ question by providing them with simple, convenient, affordable ideas for creating a real home-cooked meal,” Smits said.

The 4:15 program is part of the company’s “Simply Good Meals” campaign, which targets shoppers who are looking to save money on food by cooking at home.

(Photo\Supervalu)