I was unable to locate the exact numbers cited in the article, but numerous other sources, the vast majority of whom were industry-oriented, paint the same picture. Most frightening to me is the hand-rubbing glee with which these kinds of figures are reported, as if industrialization of food retailing is desirable.
In all my digging, I found one table that very helpfully broke down top retailers by market. I like specifics more than general information, so this is a good thing. I'll disregard the fact that there's a market publication dedicated to the food and beverage industry, and share that I learned that the Seattle-Tacoma area ranks 18th in the nation as a food market, and that our best performers in 2006 and 2007 (in percentage of market share) were:
Safeway 23% 25%Well, you say, at least we appear to be bucking the trend: we all know that QFC and Costco are from right here, and Fred Meyer was founded in Portland, so things look pretty local. And Safeway and Albertson's are only one state away (California and Idaho, respectively). None of this national distribution stuff for us, no sir!
Quality Food Centers 17% 19%
Costco 12% N/A
Albertsons 10% 12%
Fred Meyer 9% 10% (source: MMR)
But the school of hard knocks tells me I should at least scratch the surface of the appearance. I know that rebranding is used extensively in the food industry. All you have to do is try to chase down some Salmonella-tainted hydrolyzed vegetable protein (yum!) to illustrate the complexity of the food maze, and how naming the same product different things doesn't make anything different--except the label, and perhaps the price. I imagine most people aren't aware that branding strategies are equally applied to supermarkets. So I scratch away.
Number one on our list is Safeway, headquartered in California, which operates "1,730 stores in the Western, Southwestern, Rocky Mountain, Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States and in Western Canada." (Quote from the Safeway corporate website.) Thirty-nine of them are right here in the Puget Sound area. A very helpful graphic at the top of the web page tells me their eight store brands are Safeway, Vons, Dominick's, Genuardis, Randall's, Tom Thumb, Pavillions, Carrs/Safeway. They also own a 49% interest in Casa Ley, which operates in Mexico.
Ok, so if top gun Safeway is the big guy from out of town, how about QFC? We all know that it was founded just around the corner in Seattle--why, the original store is still operating! Alas, in 1997, QFC was sold to the Fred Meyer company in Portland, Oregon. Which explains why, when I search for QFCs in our area, they return results for both QFC and Fred Meyer, 50 stores in all. Portland is still kind of local, right?
Not quite. The history of QFC and Fred Meyer reads like a convoluted genealogy of mergers and acquisitions, and the final chapter in the story has QFC/Fred Meyer joining the Kroger family of "nearly two dozen banners, all of which share the same belief in building strong local ties and brand loyalty with our customers." (Thanks to Kroger for that marketing-speak.) At least they're clear about their goal: to sell their brand to you. Conspicuously absent is anything mentioning providing food that is good for people and the planet. But I digress.
With Freddie's now part of the Kroger family, Costco is next on our list. There are about 20 locations in the Puget Sound area, but that number is deceptive, as the word to comes to mind when describing Costco is big. They are refreshingly transparent in their corporate structure: when they aquire a business, it is rebranded; they don't carry competing brands; and their house brand (named for the suburb up the road where it was founded), often makes it clear whose product is being re-branded (or more correctly co-branded). But still, with a position as the third largest retailer in the US and ninth in the world, with stores on three continents, we can call Costco neither small nor local.
How about Albertson's then? They're from Boise, right? There are 49 stores in our area, and a visit to their website reveals that they are not immune to acquisition fever: A smilng woman with an armful of grocieries informs me the "As of June 2, 2006, your local store has joined the SUPERVALU family." To add to the confusion, a separate LLC was created to license the Albertson's name back to some (but not all) of the original stores. The Supervalu site boasts that they are number five in the US, and is emblazoned with 18 brand logos.
An aside: I start to wonder if it is purely coincidental that Kenny's in Blessington, Ireland was also dubbed Supervalu? No, in this case, my fears are unfounded: it is part of the retail franchise division of the Musgrave Group, Ireland’s largest grocery and food distributor. So Kenny's is big, but only in the Irish sense.
With online yellow pages reporting more than 800 grocery stores in the area (including gas station quick marts), it becomes impossible to determine who the fat cats are, and just where your grocery store dollars are ending up. Unless, of course, you shop at farmer's markets or at the aforementioned co-op, where food producers are readily identifiable, and the dollars you spend locally actually stay close to home.
