US: Brockton supermarket wars to heat up
Market Basket, known for low prices, is opening an 81,000-square-foot store – with 24 check-out counters – at Westgate Mall on Tuesday.
Experts predict Market Basket’s entry into Brockton will force down prices at its main competitors – two Shaw’s and two Stop & Shop supermarkets.
“For shoppers, they’re going to see price wars. You’ll see it in the circulars,” said Mike Berger, editor of the Griffin Report of Food Marketing.
“Who’s going to win? It depends on the individual shopper, what they’re looking for,” he said. “For the average shopper, they’ll win.”
The Market Basket store will feature a fresh-made sushi counter, fresh-made brick-oven pizza, bakery, prepared-food section with eat-in seating, and coffee bar.
The location will employ 500 people, 75 percent of whom will be part-time, said operations manager David McLean.
The shelves will be stocked with 50,000 to 55,000 items, McClean said, including ethnic items in demand locally, such as Cape Verdean, Haitian and Portuguese foods.
“Any time business comes in and jobs come in, it’s good for a community,” McLean said. “But if a business can also offer value to a consumer? For a family spending $150 a week on groceries, they can save $1,600 a year here.”
McLean took his information from a 2011 survey of Boston-area supermarket prices by Boston Consumers’ Checkbook. The report showed Market Basket was the lowest-cost grocer in the Boston area. Its prices for a group of 151 items were 21 percent lower than the average price at market-share leaders Stop & Shop and Shaw’s.
While Market Basket has the same prices at all of its 65 stores, Stop & Shop and Shaw’s vary prices from location to location.
Consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumer World and former assistant attorney general for consumer protection in Massachusetts, said shoppers should not assume all prices will equalize.
“That’s not going to happen,” Dworsky said. “The bottom line is, do your own comparison.” Keep in mind, he added, Market Basket isn’t going to offer double-coupons and some other frills.
Founded in 1917, Market Basket has grown to 65 stores across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Brockton will be the chain’s 66th store.
A new store opening next month near the Bourne bridge will be the chain’s 67th location, and the West Bridgewater store on Route 106 will be the 68th when it opens in the fall.
Source: www.enterprisenews.com