You're Only as Green and Eco as Legal Will Let You Be

A few months ago, I was in the in the habit of getting the day's groceries on a bike. Now that the worst of summer is behind us, I might take it up again. On one of my trips, I came up with an idea: (Well, it wasn't an original idea, since people have been delivering groceries on bicycles since the early 1900s.) But why not have a chain store offer localized delivery? I thought, "Surely, the average carbon-footprint-obsessed corporation could get behind this and sell it to their equally concerned canvas bag-toting customers." So, in my never-ending quest to do many things not-very-well instead of sticking to one thing and doing it well, I contacted Publix headquarters in Lakeland with what I thought was a cool pitch (delivered in a Dynamic Powerpoint Presentation, since corporate guys like that shit). I laid out the costs and benefits, the strategies and logistics, offering to oversee the pilot program at my local Publix, with me being the first delivery guy.

It got some attention and even a phone call from a guy with a big title that had "VP" in it. He actually thought it was cool, but in the end, legal would trump cool, and the potential liabilities of bicycle delivery (accidents, spoiled food, etc.) would outweigh the convenience to Publix customers. Too bad. He suggested going it independent. Maybe.

Here's a Minnesota company doing it, although they only do produce.

I still think it's a cool idea.

The Evacuation Has Begun

Here's the local Albertson's as the dismantling of the store begins. It will soon be a Publix. The purchase of 49 Albertson's by Publix cost the Florida-based chain $500 million. Many fear that less competition will mean higher prices. As far as I could tell, Albertson's always had the higher prices anyway.
In typical Albertson's rip-off fashion, they advertised an "everything must go" sale where all merchandise would be discounted up to 60% off. Only greeting cards were marked down 60%. Everything else was marked up before they marked it down.

Get out of my neighborhood, Albertson's. And don't come back.

Defiant Grocery Chain Says, "Ignore The Facts! Shop Here!"

Despite the fact that Publix is buying half of what remain of Albertson's Florida stores, Albertson's persists with desperate flyers (or is that "fliers?") like this, where "Angela" poses happily with a bouquet of (funeral?) flowers and the copywriter has done everything except underline the word "still."


On a recent trip to a soon-to-be-closed Albertson's store, I encountered such poor service that I abandoned my goods in the cart in an aisle and burned rubber to the nearest Publix.

Good riddance, Albertson's. You could not suck more.

In-Store Ingenuity

My grocery store of choice, Publix, (hated by Greenpeace) has created a display in the foyer/entryway of my local store that says it all for the shopper looking to save a buck.

Two carts, filled with identical items. The cart on the left is filled with the store's brands while the cart on the right is filled with name-brand and identical national items. (The contents of each are wrapped in cellophane lest passers-by grab stuff from either cart and mess with the integrity of the comparison.) You can't make it out in this cell-phone photo, but the difference in price, written on the cards at top of the two carts, is about $45 in favor of Publix store brands.

As a student of in-store packaging and the lack of creativity in that packaging, Publix steps it up compared to say, Wal-Mart. Creative, witty copy. Nice photography. Good work, all in all. Publix's creative director, Tim Cox, has revolutionized the in-house creative department.

I don't care what Greenpeace says about Central Florida-based Publix. This chain is smart as hell.

We Interrupt This Broadcast

Usually all I do on this blog is make fun of stuff and bitch about things that suck. While that's fun, I'm going to change hats now and offer up genuine praise (again) for a brand that simply kicks ass. Publix Supermarkets.
This Florida-based, employee owned market has as its slogan, "Where shopping is a pleasure." While that is a pretty lame, old-school slogan, it is in fact true. Happy, helpful employees. Clean stores. Even their generic store-labeled products are creatively packaged. They do the best TV of any supermarket chain out there. Even their circulars in the Sunday paper are creative, and I throw those away instantly. "No matter," says Publix, "We keep them online for you." They even try to make their stores look cool. They don't cookie-cutter build them and rarely will you see the same architecture.

I may be blinded by the fact that I just discovered a sushi vendor at a local Publix who simply blows the doors off those uncaring sushi slobs at my local Albertson's. I would follow this lady on tour if she took her act on the road. Restaurant grade. Premium. Inventive. And she smiles and offers a genuine "thank you" when you snatch up her creations.

I may never have to shop at Albertson's again.

Grab Can, Lift Arm, Stack Can, Turn Around

In this area, there are basically two options for grocery shopping (three if you count Winn-Dixie, but nobody counts Winn-Dixie anymore, as they are dying a slow and painful death). We've got Publix and Albertson's.

The local Albertson's has a "fresh" fish counter in the back that tends to make the entire store smell like something rotting, the always rotating employees and managers are generally in bad moods, and they keep rearranging the aisles so no one can find anything.

By comparison, the local Publix is a veritable Disneyland. It's clean, the employees this week are the same ones from last month, and they always seem to be in good moods. The only area where Albertson's trumps Publix (locally, anyway) is fresh sushi, which I will go to Albertson's for when the sushi jones kicks in.

I'm pretty sure what makes Publix the better store is that Publix is employee owned. These people have a stake and therefore, they care.

It might also be the music. I think they just switched their music, or the manager's away for the holiday and the employees are having fun. Used to be all you'd hear were 70s classics from the likes of Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Gladys Knight. On a recent trip I heard Big Audio Dynamite and U2. Then yesterday it was Billy Idol and Joe Jackson. If I say, "Supermarket music," your top-of-mind song isn't going to be "Look Sharp."

And damnit if I didn't find myself, like a sucker, enjoying it. I have become the targeted demo supermarket shopper.

Previously in Supermarket Marketing:
Don't Wander From Your Brat as He Dances in the Cart