Warren Thayer

Giant Eagle Tests In-Store Wellness Areas

January 26, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Giant Eagle, is testing dedicated health and beauty areas featuring a wider selection of dietary supplements, a premium cosmetics counter, a pharmacy with a drive-through window, a dietitian, and a licensed skin specialist. What do you think of Giant Eagle's in-store wellness shops?      [more...]

In general I like it. Done right, with a lot of promotion, I think it can still differentiate the offering. I'm wondering if the organic foods in this store-within-a-store will also be stocked in the main store. The debate on that still rages I know, although I've noticed a lot of aging boomers are increasingly shopping at stores where the items are separated, since they've become rabid label readers and are turned off by big-brand processed foods.

Forgive the aside, but I've noticed a great many organic and natural items in supermarkets have absolutely horrible nutritional profiles, loaded with sugar, fats, sodium, etc. Perhaps if Giant Eagle can do an honest job with this section and really educate shoppers, they'll be making a good contribution. Whole Foods has already paved the path on this.