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The article that caught my attention in an email was “Meijer to open smaller, grocery-focused store in Chicago suburb”. Chicago has been generally opposed to large retailers locating in the city limits. Both Walmart and Target have generally been opposed when they sought entry to the Chicago retail market.

Apparently Meijer will be making a much smaller store, “102,000 square feet,” then their typical supercenter. Meijer is a mostly unionized company and they may find it easier to cut red tape as a result. The Wikipedia entry for Meijer notes that they have nonunion employees in several states as well as in Traverse City, MI.

KROGER PRIVATE LABEL PUBLICATION

Mail Call via the United States Post Office

In today's mail was a publication from the Kroger Company. Kroger is our main supermarket. The publication is called "mymagazine™", "exclusive extras for our best customers"

What is so remarkable about this?

• All products are private label [available exclusively at Kroger]
• 12 coupons
• 20 pages including front and back cover.
  

Main themes

• Indulgence [vanilla cream puffs / Chocolate Oranges]
  
• Holiday [stuffed olives / Black Tiger Shrimp Ring / spiral sliced ham]
• Commodity products [frozen fruits / cheese]

Takeaway

• These private label brands are only available at Kroger
• Kroger wants to drive traffic to their stores. To drive occasion sales would increase sales at competing retailers. Using products and brands only available at Kroger accomplishes the former rather than the later.
• Calling something "exclusive" increases the consumer interest [consumers like to be on the inside / special]

What are your thoughts?