May 7, 2007
Giant Eagle Opens First Express Store
Giant Eagle has a "neighborhood grocery store" of its own and the supermarket chain opened its very first one last week in Harmar, Penn.
At 14,000 square-feet, the new Giant Eagle Express is much smaller than the typical 80,000 square-foot Giant Eagle but larger than the company’s GetGo convenience store concept (1,700 to 4,500 square-feet).
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the new store combines the product offerings of a GetGo with fresh meats, produce, bakery, prepared foods, a DVD rental kiosk and photo center. The Giant Eagle Express will also offer a gas station and drive-through pharmacy. Pricing at the 24/7 store will be the same as in the larger Giant Eagle locations.
"Giant Eagle Express is the contemporary neighborhood grocery store that provides fresh, convenient and affordable groceries and meal solutions to customers with on-the-go lifestyles," Brett Merrell, marketing vice president at Giant Eagle, said in a company statement.
Bill Bishop, chairman of Willard Bishop and a member of the RetailWire BrainTrust, told the Tribune-Review, "People are aware there is a place between the evolving supermarket and the evolving conveniences store. Our lifestyle is driving us toward more fresh food and more prepared foods."
"It’s a brilliant, strategic initiative by Giant Eagle," Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, told the paper. "It’s a great roadblock, to the deep discounters like Wal-Mart and Target, to pharmacies like Rite-Aid, Walgreen and CVS, and to other supermarkets. It also preempts Sheetz from doing this."
Discussion Questions: What are your thoughts on Giant Eagle’s development of a "neighborhood grocery store?" Will this in-between format become the next new thing in the grocery business?
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Sounds like they want to be the Tesco of the rustbelt. I don’t see these as being wide spread but there are some opportunities, such as in the Cleveland Flats area with all the new condo and office growth. I expect them to do well because from what I hear, they are going in areas with limited competition, dense population, they are on their home field, and their small size will allow them to get the sales per square foot needed.
I applaud Giant Eagle on this bold strategic move. Trends within the grocery sector clearly show a growing consumer preference for healthier, fresh and more convenient prepared meal solutions. It appears this creative extension of the Giant Eagle brand is focused on meeting all three important needs. In being first to market with the concept, Giant Eagle will position itself both to gain traction as the preferred brand in those markets it serves, while gaining a foothold on competing brands looking to create a similar retail offering.
The Eagle has landed! Good for them. This extended express format is the wave of the future–teeing up Giant Eagle for success. Ubiquity, speed and (local) assortment are the keys to winning at retail for grocery, ready-to-eat and increasingly, household replenishment categories.
Emerging Extended Express Formats: Tesco, Wal-Mart neighborhood markets, some temporary pop-up stores, and now Giant Eagle. Stay tuned, we may see this trend spill into apparel.
Giant Eagle is being brave. They’re opening an in-betweener. It isn’t easy being an in-betweener in retailing. It’s much easier being an extreme (the biggest, the cheapest, the most convenient, the most upscale, etc.). Let’s see if America is willing to pay for something with a better assortment than a convenience store, but more convenient than a full-size supermarket. If Giant Eagle is smart, they’ll test Giant Eagle Express before a major rollout.
Certain formats are refelective of the changing patterns of daily life. The best convenience chains have larger and larger stores with more fresh and prepared foods. This slightly smaller format from this western Pennsylvania based chain is another indicator of how flexible and able to adjust Giant Eagle is.
This is the next big wave and it’s being driven by the need the consumer has to find more time. This move is only the start as every retailer will be developing smaller formats in the next 2 – 5 years. Some of this is in response to Tesco’s move into the U.S. and, of course, Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Market and a desire to keep up. In any case it’s a response to the consumer’s growing reluctance to visit the 80,000 – 200,000 square foot store any more than they have to due to the time it takes to complete a shopping visit. The smaller footprint store is the single best solution a grocery retailer has to compete against restaurants and food away from home for the week-night meal. When the retailer is able to capture the evening meal then they will be in a position to capture other add-on non-food items.
Giant Eagle’s attempt at this new format should be applauded. Since consumers are dynamic and fast changing, retailers are smart to do the same; especially now! At this time in the human experience, the lifestyles of most working people continues to evolve. More and more women are in the workforce but remain responsible for taking care of their families.
I read recently that the percentage of university admissions and the number of graduates continues to favor women. This might predict a trend of even more professional women in the workforce. These graduates will be in high profile, energy consuming jobs that carry great responsibility. The obvious result is that these professionals will have even less time to shop that big 80,000 square foot store. Solutions are needed that fit their lifestyle.
It would be easy here to offer statistics to support this hypothesis. However, suffice it to say that Giant Eagle is smart to give the “in between” solution a try. Others should take note.
Yes, it is a bold move to target the ‘twilight area’ between large supermarkets and small C-stores, but as someone else mentioned here, the catalyst may be TESCO’s impending market entry, and the confidence with which they are targeting the in-between space. If TESCO is going to herald in a format revolution, there will be a lot of players that will ‘join them’ rather than trying to beat them.
I’ve advocated this concept for quite a while but I also combined it with a sophisticated internet presence to fill out the assortment. But maybe I have been wrong. By that I mean, my definition of “neighborhood” may have been wrong. Much of my recent office career was spent in a suburban corporate complex, where I got used to cafeteria service. I have now been exposed to smaller organizations who often go out to lunch and use local retail outlets for food service.
What if the neighborhood Giant picked office areas instead of residential neighborhoods? What if the new stores provided takeout and eat-in facilities along with the grocery assortment? What if office workers could stop on their way out of the office complex to “grab something on the way home,” before they got on the interstate? What if the location only needed to operate 8 hours a day, opening at 11:00 and closing at 6:00 PM? What if the cold-chain facilities existed for workers to pre-order on the internet and pick up their week’s groceries? What if the evening’s special was promoted to the lunch crowd?
What if?….
I doubt this is in any way the next new trend for store development. What it does show is that the talented Giant Eagle team is flexible enough to understand that there are a number of niches in which they can not only protect their core market, but also expand into other selling opportunities rather than play defense. Why not create a smaller footprint and compete head-on instead of trying to tailor a 80,000 square foot box and never be quite right? Good move on their part.
I think Giant Eagle has one of the most visionary marketing teams around. I believe they will be successful with their convenience stores. Consumers already trust their deli and food products. In addition, if they tie it to their gasoline program, it’s sure to be a success. I switched from my long time grocery store because of the gasoline benefits that Giant Eagle offered. I know it’s funny money because I think my other grocer was less expensive. But gas is so expensive that it just makes me feel better when I can fill my tank for $20. I have a lot of respect for their executive team and only wish Giant Eagle was a public company so that I could buy into their creativity.
The Giant Eagle Opens First Express Store concept is right on the money to help this retailer grow and to increase its regional market share, while helping to hinder the growth of national chain competition from other channels inside its own marketplace, and to give today’s incredibly busy consumers what they want and need in certain situations. I do not see the express store concept as replacing the superstores or the larger supermarket channel; however, it does provide a neighborhood store concept that serves the basics quite well, presuming that Giant Eagle or any other player effectively executes the plan.
Of course it’s the “next big thing”–for one simple reason. Tesco is coming! TESCO IS COMING!
OK, let’s give it to our domestic operators that they are plenty smart enough to see this opportunity on their own. And some like Wal-Mart have even made a nod in this direction already. But as we alluded in the discussion thread about “globalization” last month, Tesco rang the wake-up bell for U.S. retailers in this arena.
As for how well various competitors, including Giant Eagle, will do with the concept–it will come down to how well they internalize and execute the notion that this is a lifestyle store–not a convenient supermarket.
Throwing up something that has all the operational elements one needs to solve the on-the-go lifestyle is a start. If they want to complete this exercise in innovation, they’ve got to observe, understand, adjust and tweak this beta. They need to understand how/why shoppers are reconfiguring their lives and making the choice to go with this concept. They’ll need to have an early sense for who their top 20 percent are and start to adjust and conform.
Recruiting power shoppers (not focus groups) and doing activity analysis and shop alongs and other design techniques will be key.
Suggestion to GE execs: work in the store, recruit active shoppers, pay them for their thoughts, and work that beta.
This is a great idea, but the new key to success for this concept will be in the implementation. This and the product mix will determine how efficient the implementation will be as well as their success in each of the markets that they test this in. Location, product mix, and implementation are important, but overall their attention to customer service will be the key ingredient to developing success in this retail space.
Funny, what’s old is new again. A&P ran a number of small sized supermarkets well into the 1970s. These centennial stores had convenient in and out side doors and were right sized for the times.
Now Giant Eagle and Tesco are trying to reintroduce this format. Yes, there is something to say about right-sized stores.
That is why smaller neighborhood formats like Giant Eagle’s competitor, Foodland, is also quite successful.
It proves that you don’t have to settle for limited selection, dull formats such as Save-a-Lot and Aldi, when you can have fresh selection and convenience in a smaller format.
To see this at its best, the Charles Center A&P/Super Fresh Market in downtown Baltimore is the perfect example. It offers 14,000 square feet of fresh food in a very appealing footprint. People value convenience and not being ripped off by high convenience store prices. Raven’s and Orioles tailgaters especially love the quality, value and convenience of this store.
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Sounds like they want to be the Tesco of the rustbelt. I don’t see these as being wide spread but there are some opportunities, such as in the Cleveland Flats area with all the new condo and office growth. I expect them to do well because from what I hear, they are going in areas with limited competition, dense population, they are on their home field, and their small size will allow them to get the sales per square foot needed.
I applaud Giant Eagle on this bold strategic move. Trends within the grocery sector clearly show a growing consumer preference for healthier, fresh and more convenient prepared meal solutions. It appears this creative extension of the Giant Eagle brand is focused on meeting all three important needs. In being first to market with the concept, Giant Eagle will position itself both to gain traction as the preferred brand in those markets it serves, while gaining a foothold on competing brands looking to create a similar retail offering.
The Eagle has landed! Good for them. This extended express format is the wave of the future–teeing up Giant Eagle for success. Ubiquity, speed and (local) assortment are the keys to winning at retail for grocery, ready-to-eat and increasingly, household replenishment categories.
Emerging Extended Express Formats: Tesco, Wal-Mart neighborhood markets, some temporary pop-up stores, and now Giant Eagle. Stay tuned, we may see this trend spill into apparel.
Giant Eagle is being brave. They’re opening an in-betweener. It isn’t easy being an in-betweener in retailing. It’s much easier being an extreme (the biggest, the cheapest, the most convenient, the most upscale, etc.). Let’s see if America is willing to pay for something with a better assortment than a convenience store, but more convenient than a full-size supermarket. If Giant Eagle is smart, they’ll test Giant Eagle Express before a major rollout.
Certain formats are refelective of the changing patterns of daily life. The best convenience chains have larger and larger stores with more fresh and prepared foods. This slightly smaller format from this western Pennsylvania based chain is another indicator of how flexible and able to adjust Giant Eagle is.
This is the next big wave and it’s being driven by the need the consumer has to find more time. This move is only the start as every retailer will be developing smaller formats in the next 2 – 5 years. Some of this is in response to Tesco’s move into the U.S. and, of course, Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Market and a desire to keep up. In any case it’s a response to the consumer’s growing reluctance to visit the 80,000 – 200,000 square foot store any more than they have to due to the time it takes to complete a shopping visit. The smaller footprint store is the single best solution a grocery retailer has to compete against restaurants and food away from home for the week-night meal. When the retailer is able to capture the evening meal then they will be in a position to capture other add-on non-food items.
Giant Eagle’s attempt at this new format should be applauded. Since consumers are dynamic and fast changing, retailers are smart to do the same; especially now! At this time in the human experience, the lifestyles of most working people continues to evolve. More and more women are in the workforce but remain responsible for taking care of their families.
I read recently that the percentage of university admissions and the number of graduates continues to favor women. This might predict a trend of even more professional women in the workforce. These graduates will be in high profile, energy consuming jobs that carry great responsibility. The obvious result is that these professionals will have even less time to shop that big 80,000 square foot store. Solutions are needed that fit their lifestyle.
It would be easy here to offer statistics to support this hypothesis. However, suffice it to say that Giant Eagle is smart to give the “in between” solution a try. Others should take note.
Yes, it is a bold move to target the ‘twilight area’ between large supermarkets and small C-stores, but as someone else mentioned here, the catalyst may be TESCO’s impending market entry, and the confidence with which they are targeting the in-between space. If TESCO is going to herald in a format revolution, there will be a lot of players that will ‘join them’ rather than trying to beat them.
I’ve advocated this concept for quite a while but I also combined it with a sophisticated internet presence to fill out the assortment. But maybe I have been wrong. By that I mean, my definition of “neighborhood” may have been wrong. Much of my recent office career was spent in a suburban corporate complex, where I got used to cafeteria service. I have now been exposed to smaller organizations who often go out to lunch and use local retail outlets for food service.
What if the neighborhood Giant picked office areas instead of residential neighborhoods? What if the new stores provided takeout and eat-in facilities along with the grocery assortment? What if office workers could stop on their way out of the office complex to “grab something on the way home,” before they got on the interstate? What if the location only needed to operate 8 hours a day, opening at 11:00 and closing at 6:00 PM? What if the cold-chain facilities existed for workers to pre-order on the internet and pick up their week’s groceries? What if the evening’s special was promoted to the lunch crowd?
What if?….
I doubt this is in any way the next new trend for store development. What it does show is that the talented Giant Eagle team is flexible enough to understand that there are a number of niches in which they can not only protect their core market, but also expand into other selling opportunities rather than play defense. Why not create a smaller footprint and compete head-on instead of trying to tailor a 80,000 square foot box and never be quite right? Good move on their part.
I think Giant Eagle has one of the most visionary marketing teams around. I believe they will be successful with their convenience stores. Consumers already trust their deli and food products. In addition, if they tie it to their gasoline program, it’s sure to be a success. I switched from my long time grocery store because of the gasoline benefits that Giant Eagle offered. I know it’s funny money because I think my other grocer was less expensive. But gas is so expensive that it just makes me feel better when I can fill my tank for $20. I have a lot of respect for their executive team and only wish Giant Eagle was a public company so that I could buy into their creativity.
The Giant Eagle Opens First Express Store concept is right on the money to help this retailer grow and to increase its regional market share, while helping to hinder the growth of national chain competition from other channels inside its own marketplace, and to give today’s incredibly busy consumers what they want and need in certain situations. I do not see the express store concept as replacing the superstores or the larger supermarket channel; however, it does provide a neighborhood store concept that serves the basics quite well, presuming that Giant Eagle or any other player effectively executes the plan.
Of course it’s the “next big thing”–for one simple reason. Tesco is coming! TESCO IS COMING!
OK, let’s give it to our domestic operators that they are plenty smart enough to see this opportunity on their own. And some like Wal-Mart have even made a nod in this direction already. But as we alluded in the discussion thread about “globalization” last month, Tesco rang the wake-up bell for U.S. retailers in this arena.
As for how well various competitors, including Giant Eagle, will do with the concept–it will come down to how well they internalize and execute the notion that this is a lifestyle store–not a convenient supermarket.
Throwing up something that has all the operational elements one needs to solve the on-the-go lifestyle is a start. If they want to complete this exercise in innovation, they’ve got to observe, understand, adjust and tweak this beta. They need to understand how/why shoppers are reconfiguring their lives and making the choice to go with this concept. They’ll need to have an early sense for who their top 20 percent are and start to adjust and conform.
Recruiting power shoppers (not focus groups) and doing activity analysis and shop alongs and other design techniques will be key.
Suggestion to GE execs: work in the store, recruit active shoppers, pay them for their thoughts, and work that beta.
This is a great idea, but the new key to success for this concept will be in the implementation. This and the product mix will determine how efficient the implementation will be as well as their success in each of the markets that they test this in. Location, product mix, and implementation are important, but overall their attention to customer service will be the key ingredient to developing success in this retail space.
Funny, what’s old is new again. A&P ran a number of small sized supermarkets well into the 1970s. These centennial stores had convenient in and out side doors and were right sized for the times.
Now Giant Eagle and Tesco are trying to reintroduce this format. Yes, there is something to say about right-sized stores.
That is why smaller neighborhood formats like Giant Eagle’s competitor, Foodland, is also quite successful.
It proves that you don’t have to settle for limited selection, dull formats such as Save-a-Lot and Aldi, when you can have fresh selection and convenience in a smaller format.
To see this at its best, the Charles Center A&P/Super Fresh Market in downtown Baltimore is the perfect example. It offers 14,000 square feet of fresh food in a very appealing footprint. People value convenience and not being ripped off by high convenience store prices. Raven’s and Orioles tailgaters especially love the quality, value and convenience of this store.