Joel Warady's RetailWire Blog

July 26, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
On Friday, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company made another change at the top. Out is Ron Marshall and in is Sam Martin, most recently COO of OfficeMax and, prior to that, COO of Wild Oats. Is Sam Martin the right person to lead A&P to a "revenue-driven turnaround?"

MY COMMENTARY:
It seems to me that the issue is not so much with the retail strategy of A&P, nor is there a severe operational problem with the chain. At this point, it is a perception problem. The brand is tired, seems out of date to most people, and the brand possesses no cache. What A&P needs is an image makeover.

Interesting that over the weekend, there was a report that The Gap has opened a test store in Chicago for their 1969 brand jeans, and in a brand strategy, made the decision not to include The Gap name anywhere. This would not be a bad strategy for A&P; create a chain within the chain (remember Plus stores), roll out the "new"chain to compete against Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Fresh Choice, etc., and in essence remake itself. It has the expertise and the talent to do this; now all it needs is the right strategy. And the patience to allow it to work!

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A&P's CEO Merry-Go-Round Continues

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