University at Buffalo School of Management

12 Buffalo Business Spring 2018 It's all part of a competitive shakeup, with more retailers than ever trying to get a slice of the highly coveted grocery market. Debabrata Talukdar, professor of mar- keting, says that while the market may be huge, growth is slow. "Growth in the grocery market is tied to population size, not income," says Talukdar. "Just because someone gets rich doesn't mean they eat twice as much." Increased competition has put pressure on traditional grocers to find ways to understand their cus- tomers and provide value. John Persons, EMBA '00, is president and COO of Tops Friendly Markets, a supermarket chain with nearly 180 stores in New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He says grocers need to figure out where they want to be in the mar- ket to stay competitive. "At Tops, we pride ourselves on hav- ing the largest national brand va- riety," says Persons. "We also h ave m o re l o c a t i o n s because it's important to be in the neighborhoods where our consumers are and tailor those stores to the area — that's an important competitive advantage for us." On the organic food front, consumers are de- manding products that are healthier and more sus- tainable. This is one segment of the market that is growing, and the growth is a big reason online retail giant Amazon recently purchased Whole Foods. "Amazon wants to be one of the top five grocery retailers," says Talukdar. "Even if they pick up 8 per- cent of the market, that's an additional $50 billion in revenue." Paul Cimmerer, MBA '76, served as vice presi- dent of human resources for the distribution food business at SuperValu for eight years. SuperValu has operated its wholesale network for nearly 150 years, as well as five supermarket retail chains across seven states and the District of Columbia. Many of these brands hold No. 1 or No. 2 market share po- sitions under the names Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbackers, Shop 'n Save and Shoppers. Cimmerer says that despite the company's suc- cess in retail, SuperValu has a renewed focus on its roots in wholesale. "None of the retail banners are growing very rapidly," says Cimmerer. "You've got Target here, Wal-Mart, other independent, high-end retailers, and the whole online experience going against all that, so it's a pretty competitive marketplace." " We pride ourselves on having the largest national brand variety. We also have more locations because it's important to be in the neighborhoods where our consumers are and tailor those stores to the area — that's an important competitive advantage for us." John Persons, eMBa '00 President and COO Tops Friendly Markets

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