Brookshire Grocery Company, known for its commitment to excellent customer service, was established in 1938. The company began with one store in downtown Tyler, Texas under the name Brookshire Brothers. Soon after, the company changed its name to Brookshire Grocery Company and expanded to four stores in Tyler and Longview, Texas, which included the first air-conditioned store in East Texas (brookshires.com). Over the years, the Brookshire Grocery Company chain has grown to more than 150 stores throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and, most recently, Mississippi. The firm began to open “warehouse-style stores under the trade name Super 1 Foods and 1 ’superstore’ under the trade name Brookshire’s Supercenter” in the 1980’s offering people other ways to save money (tsha.utexas.edu). Brookshire Grocery Company is also currently operating grocery store in Plano, Texas under the name Ole Foods to try to appeal to the Hispanic population in the community. The company’s manufacturing facilities include a bakery plant, dairy plant, ice cream plant, ice plant and water plant near Tyler, Texas (Brookshire Briefs). Brookshire’s offers a variety of specialty departments in many of its stores. Among these are bakeries, pharmacies delicatessens, floral departments, in-store film processing departments, and video rentals (tsha.utexas.edu). “In 1977, Brookshire’s established the World of Wildlife and Country Store Museum in the corporate complex” featuring activities for children (tsha.utexas.edu). Due to recent acquisitions, employment in the company has exceeded 12,000 employees (Brookshire Briefs). Brookshire’s has placed a heavy emphasis on replacing, expanding, and modernizing stores where needed in order to meet customer demands and better serve them. The firm has recently “purchased and opened 17 former Winn-Dixie stores in North-central, Texas and four former Albertsons stores in the Jackson, Mississippi area” (Tribune Business News). Brookshire Grocery Company also introduced a low-carbohydrate, low-sugar frozen dessert called LeCarb in 2001 proving the firm to contribute to creativity and innovation as well as providing options to health-conscious consumers. By May of 2002, the product was distributed nationwide as the first product available of its kind (Tribune Business News). The grocery market is highly competitive. Brookshire’s has found that superior customer service is the key to success. Consumers who are familiar with the Brookshire’s personnel know that they will be greeted with a friendly smile and helpful attitude. Employee meetings and up-beat newsletters from the corporate office are excellent ways of reminding the employees of the significance of making customer satisfaction the most important part of their jobs.
The Wendy’s corporation and Bob Evans Farms are both restaurant companies based out of Ohio. Wendy’s was founded in 1969 and now has over 6,000 restaurants worldwide. On the other hand, Bob Evans has over 600 stores located solely within the United States. Both of these companies will be evaluated in terms of their financial ratios. In order to compare the financial success between the two companies we looked at their 2014 year-end 10-k reports.
In the early 2000’s Lowe’s was rapidly intensifying its presence nationwide. The company carried a varied assortment of home improvement products and catered to the needs of retail as well as commercial business customers. Lowe’s expanded their reach by acquiring a 41-store chain, Eagle Hardware and Garden, and engaging in a strategic alliance with HGTV to obtain a more profound existence in their market (Rouse, 2005). By 2004, Lowe’s operated almost 1,000 stores with plans to continue expansion across the nation (Rouse, 2005). The company has a core competency in helping customers meet their home improvement needs at a low price. In order to use this core competency to gain a competitive advantage, the company has focused on key functional strategies. To continue their success, Lowe’s must specifically focus on marketing, logistics, and human resource management strategies.
To begin with, some store history may be helpful. In 1914, Anna Albrecht opened a small store, Albrecht Discount, in the town of Essen, Germany. By 1948, her sons had taken over the business and had expanded it to four locations. In 1962, the store’s name changed from Albrecht Discount to Aldi. In 1976, Aldi makes their debut in the United States, opening a store in Southwestern Iowa. Today, in 2014, Aldi has 1,300 locations in the United States and 4,000 locations worldwide (Aldiuscareers.com). In 1962, Wal-Mart opens in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1983, Sam Walton opened the first Sam’s Club in Midwest City, Oklahoma. By 1988, Walton had opened the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. Wal-Mart went global in 1991, opening a Sam’s Club in Mexico City, Mexico. Today, in 2014, Wal-Mart employs 2.2 million associates, serves 200 million customers, with 11,000 stores in twenty-seven countries (Corporate.walmart.com).
In a market that is so dependent on nature and agriculture, it is reassuring to see a company that values the recompensing of materials back to the natural world. In order for Publix to remain successful, the company must carry the momentum that founder George “Mr.George” Jenkins originally started in 1930. The morals and philosophies that lie at the center of Publix Super Markets are integral to their success. Mr. George believed that customers and employees should be treated like family, and if their business model continues to accurately portray their core values, then they will continue to be successful. The question that looms over Publix is not “What can we change?” it is “What can we elaborate on?” Publix needs to use their positive image to expand into other communities. Publix is well-received in the public eye to the point that they are considered beneficial to a community. A marketing campaign that focused on bringing positive change to a struggling community through Publix and their charitable campaigns would create a want/need for the super market in new, untapped territory. Publix is lesser known in the Northern regions of the U.S., a nationwide marketing campaign would result in well-received
Publix Super Markets have a fast developing and quickly motivated group of competitors. This allows for the market to have interesting trends and advances rapidly. According to the Food Marketing Institute’s website, in the year 2012 there were thirty-seven thousand and fifty-three companies in this trade which puts Publix very high on shopper’s lists. Being employee owned is one of the characteristics current workers contribute to the firm’s success. Focusing on the well-being and progress of their team members has given them a sought after job pool.
This company was founded by Tom Monaghan and his brother, James, in 1960, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, near Eastern Michigan University. By 1965, Tom Monaghan had purchased two additional small stores; he now had a total of three locations in the same county. Monaghan wanted the stores to share the same branding - thus the company logo originally had three dots, representing the three stores in 1965. Monaghan planned to add a new dot with the addition of every new store, but this idea quickly faded, as the company experienced rapid growth. It opened its first franchise location in 1967 and by 1978 the company expanded to 200 stores. Which
Albertsons was transformed in to a Public Company and it was later bought by Cerberus Capital Management. Albertsons distribution centers provides wide ranges of job opportunities in advance levels depending upon the education, talents history and other factors of the candidate.
...ization with a solid infrastructure. Since 1930 it has consistently expanded and is among the most prosperous supermarkets in the U.S. Through its research, employee programs, technological incorporations, adaptations to consumer preference and psychographics as well as its marketing strategy with respect to competition, Publix has successfully created an environment “where working is a pleasure” and where shopping is a pleasure.” With competition constantly growing, it is essential to keep on top of the global business community and market environment to have a leg up on competition and provide the highest customer value.
The founhder of the company, Godfrey Keebler, started with jus a small bakery in Philadelphia, PA in 1853. During the next two generations, local bakeries popped up around the country, including Strietmann, Hekman, Supreme and Bowman. With the introduction of cars and trucks (carrying the Keebler logo), bakery goods could be distributed beyond the neighborhood and regional distribution began.
Meijer, Inc. was established in 1934 by founder Hendrik Meijer opened his first store in Greenville, Michigan, he opened his first grocery store in Michigan during the great depression. Meijer currently has 200 stores located in 6 Midwest states; with headquarters in Walker, Michigan. Starting as a simple grocery store, the company has grown into a big box superstore that combines grocery shopping with department store shopping in the same facility. Supercenters are becoming more popular, but Hendrik Meijer had the first of its kind. Transitioning from grocery to a supercenter was the ideal step, and the first in the industry to expand on the concept.
..., John E., Strickland, A.J. Thompson, Arthur “Whole Foods Market In 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy”, Crafting & Executing Strategy 15th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007
The purpose of this memo is to show the affects of how Albertson’s is trying to implement many strategies in order to try, and compete with its powerhouse competitor Wal-Mart. This memo will contain information on steps Albertson’s is taking to gain back some of the market share that Wal-Mart has swallowed up. It will also describe Albertson’s planned innovations that will be what determines their success. Lastly it will discuss how through IT as well as a successful implementation of satisfying consumers demands, will possibly allow them to compete with the ever so powerful Wal-Mart.
will determine if a customer wants to become a repeat shopper. Publix is well known for superior
The human resource services at Albertsons appears to be much better than their chief competitor Wal-Mart’s .It is mentioned that the average Albertsons employee earns more than a Wal-Mart ‘s employee. Also employees at Albertsons enjoy benefits like health insurance and retirement packages
Challenges in Today's U.S. Supermarket Industry. 2014. Challenges in Today's U.S. Supermarket Industry. [ONLINE] Available at:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479076.aspx. [Accessed 31 March 2014].