Editor's note: Steve Patt is a part of the leadership team for Tourtellot and Co. He has worked for or with independent grocers for nearly 50 years.
It has been over 100 years since Clarence Saunders opened the first modern supermarket – a Piggly Wiggly – in downtown Memphis, Tenn. For 100 years prior, Americans purchased their fresh fruits and vegetables in local general stores or simply grew their own. Since Mr. Saunders’ successful grocery experiment in 1916, the industry has blossomed across the country and around the globe. In today’s marketplace, independent supermarkets like Piggly Wiggly have been joined by larger national and regional chains, as well as by alternative channels – mass marketers, drug stores and club stores. However, it is still the independent grocer that can best knit the fabric of community together.
Due mainly to the consolidation and growth of chains and the rapid expansion of alternative shopping channels, the notion exists that independent supermarket operators are an endangered species.
Everyone in the industry has heard the predictions: at some point in the future only a handful of large supermarket chains or mass marketers will be left standing, and independents will succumb to the pressures of online retailing, emerging channels and family succession.
Although there is no denying that the current produce retailing arena is more challenging today than ever, independents need not operate in the shadows of larger competitors or simply fade away.
How can independent owner-operators best reflect a positive, optimistic energy towards their businesses? One way is to focus on the independent advantages and work those benefits to their maximum potential. Some distinct advantages that independents have over their larger competitors include:
- Nimbleness and flexibility. Decisions are generally made within the four walls, without input from a corporate office.
- Ad lead time. Independent ad deadlines are much closer to harvest time, producing promotions that have real-time value.
- Roots. Communities have traditionally supported local markets, and local markets have traditionally supported communities. While some chains also show support, it is still the local markets whose names are emblazoned across Little League baseball uniforms.
- Wholesaler involvement. Independents possess the ability to partner with experts in procurement and distribution and can take advantage of smaller but meaningful opportunities. Oftentimes larger organizations cannot capitalize on such opportunities due to quantity and lead-time requirements.
The current landscape calls for a cultural shift in the way independent operators view their businesses.
Owners need to flip the script from believing that independents are at a disadvantage to believing that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Beyond that, independents can be, and should be, helping to set the pace of change right alongside their larger cousins. This evolution of the independent mindset is not easy to be sure – the constantly changing supermarket landscape places many obstacles in an independent’s path to success.
In addition, many independent retailers have been programmed to believe they are relegated to a second tier of retailer – operating from a position of weakness. Independents should endeavor to debunk the current myths that define them and instead focus on the strengths that should be defining them. Independents should be controlling their own narrative and not allowing others to do so for them.
The independent advantages listed above are best put into practice in the following three ways.
The first step revolves around the endless pursuit of the best – that independents must distinguish themselves with consistent high-quality produce. Quality, above all else, is what builds customer confidence and return visits.
The second centers around the absolute need for an independent to lean into a trustworthy and capable supplier.
This need is non-negotiable; a strong relationship between the retailer and the supplier will become the springboard for profitable, enduring change. The bottom line here is that all segments of the retail produce industry and their customers deserve the absolute best quality produce available. Independent retailers, unable to form FOB relationships, should demand the best from their suppliers.
The third step is the elevation of the role of the produce manager within the retail environment. Produce managers should be viewed and valued for the center-stage role that they play in the overall economic success of today’s supermarkets.
These practices are a tall order, to be sure. Owner-operators wear many hats – and it is easy to get caught up in the minutiae of daily operations. When a store is mechanically sound and running smoothly, the tendency is to believe that all is well.
But should operational efficiency be the endgame? I would argue that the industry is quite full of independent grocers whose stores operate flawlessly yet still fall far short of their potential.
The constant striving to maximize potential requires a delicate balance between two attributes – the harder, more technical concepts and the softer, people-centric ones. It isn’t enough to be proficient at one or the other; successful management that elevates performance needs to rely on equal measures of both.
Technically, understanding day-to-day store operations from the back receiving door to the cash office is key. It’s hard to teach, train and lead without detailed understanding of operation.
On the other hand, and equally important, are the people-centered components of management. If the people at the top are positive in attitude and work to build their people up, that positivity trickles down through each department and into each employee.
This emphasis on positivity is no easy feat, but leaving the inevitable troubles in the parking lot – landlord issues, refrigeration worries and personnel challenges – and creating an environment of positivity will be a giant step forward toward the needed culture change.
It is time for independents to rise up and take the challenge. There is no need to recreate the wheel. This is simply a call to bring the focus back to the basics and recapture the magic that is inherent in Independent supermarket produce departments.
It’s time to regain the legacy that Piggly Wiggly, King Kullen and all who followed left – a thriving, industry-leading, heart-of-the-community Independent supermarket.
And it starts in the produce aisle.
Steve Patt is a part of the leadership team for Tourtellot and Co., a full-line produce distributor in Rhode Island, servicing all of New England. He has worked for or with independent grocers for nearly 50 years and is the author of A Celebration of Produce.