Kenosha---It’s not a foregone conclusion that the recent proliferation of grocery stores in the Kenosha area will mean the closure of existing ones. That’s the view of Jim Dudlicek, editor of Progressive Grocer, an industry trade publication.
Dudlicek says most consumers these days don't confine grocery shopping to just one store. "They're looking around to different stores for different things," he says. "So we might not necessarily see stores close."
What we will see for sure is a greater number of options for shoppers, reflecting a national trend of more stores per market and a change of thinking among grocers. "The grocery industry is migrating from a big building full of ingredients that you come to buy to a provider of solutions," he said.
In recent days, Festival Foods, a relatively new entry to the market, opened a second store in the Kenosha area. Fresh Thyme—another new player-- is about to open at Southport Plaza. And Aldi’s announced plans for a second store. These moves come in the wake of recent Kenosha launches by Costco and Meijer.
While all this growth may not lead to store closures, Dudlicek says it’s a sure bet that the Pick ‘n’ Saves, Piggly Wigglys and other old line standbys either have or will be forced to change at least some of their practices.
Dudlicek says he's particularly interested in Kenosha's three Pick 'n' Save stores. They're owned by Roundy's, which was recently bought out by Kroger, which may have been motivated to act by the potential for acquiring Roundy's highly-successful Mariano stores in the Chicago area. Mariano's offers a flashy, new upscale approach to answer the age-old question of 'what's for dinner?'
It's possible that some of the Mariano concepts may migrate to Kenosha, he said.
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