Limited Assortment Stores Growing in Popularity

By George Anderson

Saving money is top of mind with a growing number of consumers and operators of limited assortment stores couldn’t be happier.

The Times-Union of Albany, NY reports that there has been a marked increase in the number of limited assortment stores in the capital region. Save-A-Lot (Supervalu), Aldi, Midland Farms and PriceRite (Wakefern) will all have at least one store operating in the area by week’s end.

Jeffrey Corcoran, a retail consultant in Ballston Lake, NY believes that the supermarket industry may have missed the market in its shift to offer greater selection and increased services for consumers. “We totally missed the boat that price was where it’s at.”

Moderator’s Comment: Two questions:

1. Will limited assortment stores gain a substantial share
   of grocery sales?


2. Does one limited assortment chain stand out from the
   rest?

Assuming you do not include the limited assortment of
products offered by Wal-Mart, for example, within the classification, limited
assortment stores account for less than 2 percent of grocery sales. [George
Anderson – Moderator]

• Selling
  food on a shoestring – Albany Times-Union