Posts Tagged “H-E-B”
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is creating hundreds of management positions as part of a new program aimed at improving the fresh food sections at its U.S. stores retailer.
Wal-Mart, the largest grocer in the United States, has already hired dozens of field managers and plans to hire hundreds more over the next three years. Their job is to train workers and take other steps to improve the fresh food offering in stores.
The move was initially disclosed at an annual private meeting of suppliers recently in Indianapolis.
Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said,”to help ensure quality and consistency in our fresh operations,” managers are being hired.
Wal-Mart has placed a renewed emphasis on fresh food under the strategy of Greg Foran, head of the company’s U.S. operations. Foran sees a better fresh food offering as key to reviving sales growth.
The move to install a new layer of managers comes as Wal-Mart faces growing competition for grocery shoppers from national and regional supermarket chains like Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc and Texas-based H-E-B.
The new managers will oversee the fresh food operations at about 10 stores each. Wal-Mart has about 4,600 stores across the United States.
Publix and Trader Joe’s for the third year in a row, have been ranked by shoppers as their favorite grocery stores.
A Market Force study of 7,200 shoppers conducted online in April ranked the Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe’s first, the Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets Inc., second and the Batavia, Ill.-based Aldi Inc., third, according to a Trader Joe’s news release.
The survey studied consumers’ grocery shopping habits and preferences, rating Trader Joe’s at 78% in consumer satisfaction and Publix at 74%.
Rounding out the top fiver were Aldi, Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc., West Des Moines, Iowa, and H.E.B., San Antonio. Among the top brands were Boise, Idaho-based Albertson’s and WinCo Foods and Bentonville, Ark.-based Sam’s Club who made this year’s list after failing to garner enough mentions in 2014, according to the release.
Publix and Trader Joe’s led in many areas, including cashier courtesy, fast checkouts and cleanliness, while Aldi, WinCo and Costco Wholesale Corp., Issaquah, Wash., took the top spots in the value category.
Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Edison, N.J., scored highest for sales and promotions while H.E.B, Hy-Vee and Kroger Co., Cincinnati, performed well in most areas.
Other study findings: nearly half prefer to buy organic products, 28% are buying prepared foods at least weekly, up 10% from 2014 and 39% have used a grocery app, primarily for coupons.
Louisville, Colo.-based Market Force is a global customer intelligence company that provides information for retailers, restaurants, financial institutions, entertainment studios and consumer packaged goods companies.
You buy a tasteless cantaloupe at Wal-Mart, or a sour grape sold as being sweet, just bring your receipt back to the store and they’ll refund you money, under a new police in U.S. stores selling produce. This according to a recent story by Reuters news service.
As the largest grocer and seller of produce in the United States, Wal-Mart has already lowered prices on produce as it tries to get its shoppers, many of whom are on limited budgets, to buy more healthy fare. The huge chain, which made a splash in produce nearly 20 years ago, but has since seen its produce departments lose some of their shine, says it is now working on getting fresher produce to its stores more quickly and training its staff to do a better job of selling the goods.
Walmart is buying directly from growers and relying on its own distribution centers and trucking systems to get product from the field to shelf faster. It has produce experts working with farmers in key growing regions and aims to double its sales of locally grown produce by December 2015.
Buying more local produce and cutting supply chain costs have helped Walmart keep a lid on prices, which has been key in its push to stay ahead of rivals that include traditional grocers such as Kroger Co and drugstores such as Walgreen Co. Walmart started to see sales gains in produce earlier this year after it began making improvements in produce handling.
Other chains, such as Safeway Inc and Texas’ H-E-B, have already offered guarantees on their produce, but Walmart’s push will be the biggest as it is the nation’s biggest retailer.
Walmart customers not satisfied with the produce can bring their receipt back to the store for a refund. Walmart said the shoppers will not need to bring back the produce to qualify.
To ensure that fresh produce makes it to the stores, Walmart said unnamed third-party service providers will do weekly checks in more than 3,400 of its stores selling produce. Walmart said it would benchmark itself and its competitors week over week.
Walmart also said it recently began a produce training program for 70,000 employees. Store managers, market managers and produce department managers are set to learn more about handling fruits and vegetables. Quality guides for workers will illustrate how to identify top produce, the company said.