100-829: Tops Friendly Markets is an American supermarket chain based in Amherst, New York , that operates stores in Upstate New York , Vermont , and Northern Pennsylvania . The chain operates full-scale supermarkets. Tops is a subsidiary of Northeast Grocery , which also owns the Price Chopper and Market 32 supermarkets based in Schenectady, New York . As of June 2024, the company operated 148 stores and 59 gas station/convenience stores. The chain formerly operated stores in Ohio and Massachusetts . Tops Friendly Markets
200-409: A greengrocer , butcher , bakery , fishmonger and dry goods store, in addition to a general store . Milk and other items of short shelf life were delivered by a milkman . These small retailers were the final links in a "long and tortuous food chain," as they were far too small to deal directly with most of the persons who actually harvested, processed, and distributed all that food. During
300-403: A $ 196 million leveraged buyout of the company was engineered between a group of Tops Friendly Markets executives and private equity firm Riordan, Freeman & Spogli . In 1987, Tops installed electronic scanners , one of the last supermarkets to do so. A new era began March 27, 1991 as Tops Friendly Markets, which had grown to 145 total stores and 11,000 associates, was acquired by Ahold ,
400-655: A 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m) store on Portage Road in Niagara Falls. Alfonse DiMino, a Bells franchisee, suggested the name "Tops" and the team chose that name because they were determined to give customers the best shopping experience. The company then changed its name to Niagara Frontier Services (NFS). In 1962, franchise systems were established for supermarkets, under the Tops Friendly Markets name, and for smaller stores as B-Kwik. In February of that year, Tops signs went up on seven stores, and
500-562: A cooperative agreement with other small stores to build the foundation of what was to become the Tops Friendly Markets chain. As the local economy boomed in the mid-to-late 1950s, the company's operations expanded to include building construction principally devoted to supermarkets. During this time, Savino Nanula, a meat department manager, became an integral part of the company's management team. By 1958, they had set up headquarters in Buffalo, and in 1962 opened their first modern supermarket:
600-841: A former Wegmans location, named by Wegmans as the Pond Street store (which closed in June 2012) on the north side of Syracuse. The store opened on January 15, 2013. On December 6, 2012 Tops Markets announced the acquisition of three Big M supermarkets in Jordan, New York , Elbridge, New York , and Mexico, New York , from the Farrugia family. The Jordan and Elbridge locations held grand reopening ceremonies on April 24, 2013 after renovations and rebannering. The Jordan location closed in October, 2017. In March 2013, Tops Markets announced plans to open
700-516: A franchised International-style store, which operates as a Tops Friendly Market, was opened in Lockport . The International stores feature additional floor space and a product mix of many foods from different world cultures which up until then had not been widely available in the Buffalo area. With many Canadians at the time regularly crossing the border due to relaxed duties after the recently concluded Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement and
800-410: A high degree of convenience to the consumer to make the shopping experience pleasant and increase customer spending. This is done through the character of merchandising and product placement. There are many different ideas and theories in relation to layout and how product layout can influence the purchases made. One theory suggests that certain products are placed together or near one another that are of
900-542: A high volume of sales, and with of higher-margin items bought by the customers. Self-service with shopping carts (trolleys) or baskets reduces labor costs, and many supermarket chains are attempting further reduction by shifting to self-service check-outs . Historically, the earliest retailers were peddlers who marketed their wares in the streets, but by the 1920s, retail food sales in the United States had mostly shifted to small corner grocery stores. In that era,
1000-519: A hundred A&P stores. By 1937, 44 percent of A&P stores were losing money. By February 1940, A&P had closed 5,950 stores and cut the percentage of money-losing stores to 18 percent. The numbers driving this process were unassailable: in A&;P's traditional grocery stores, "wages and overhead expenses" had consumed 18 percent of sales, while in A&P's newly opened supermarkets, those same numbers were less than 12 percent of sales. Once
1100-595: A level never experienced before. Kroger took the idea one step further and pioneered the first supermarket surrounded on all four sides by a parking lot . For A&P, the conversion from traditional grocery stores to supermarkets came as a terrible shock for the thousands of retail employees whose lives were changed forever. But A&P had no choice but to plunge ahead. One of King Kullen's earliest imitators, Big Bear, opened its first supermarket in 1933 in New Jersey and collected more revenue in one year than over
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#17327809567171200-670: A major international food retailer based in the Netherlands. The same year, the first Tops Friendly Markets International Super Center opened in Amherst . At that time, the 112,000 sq ft (10,400 m) store was the largest in Western New York, and boasted the biggest in-store bakery in the entire U.S. In the next few years additional Tops Friendly Markets International stores opened in Niagara Falls , West Seneca , Greece , and Perinton , New York. Also,
1300-575: A much wider range of non-food products: DVDs , sporting equipment, board games, and seasonal items (e.g., Christmas wrapping paper , Easter eggs , school uniforms, Valentine's Day themed gifts, Mother's Day gifts, Father's Day gifts and Halloween ). A larger full-service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket . Other services may include those of banks, cafés, childcare centers/creches, insurance (and other financial services), mobile phone sales, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies, and gas stations . If
1400-570: A new 36,000 sq ft store in Corning, New York . The store opened June 24, 2014 in the former P&C Foods location which closed down and relocated in 2002. On May 23, 2013 Tops Markets announced the acquisition of four Big M supermarkets in Boonville, New York , Adams, New York , Sandy Creek, New York , and Watertown, New York from the Bonisteel family. Supermarket A supermarket
1500-531: A new store on Harlem Road ( NY 240 ) in Cheektowaga, New York , in a former Jubilee Foods store. On September 1, 2011, Tops acquired Furnal's Fresh Market in Hilton, New York . It reopened as a Tops on September 29, 2011 On July 19, 2012 it was announced that Tops Friendly Markets will acquire 21 Grand Union stores in October 2012. On May 28, 2013 nine Grand Union stores held grand reopening ceremonies under
1600-411: A number of markets within this one supermarket. Marketers use well-researched techniques to try to control purchasing behavior. The layout of a supermarket is considered by some to consist of a few rules of thumb and three layout principles. The high-draw products are placed in separate areas of the store to keep drawing the consumer through the store. High impulse and high margin products are placed in
1700-401: A position to promote circulation. In most supermarkets, the entrance will be on the right-hand side because some research suggests that consumers who travel in a counter-clockwise direction spend more. However, other researchers have argued that consumers moving in a clockwise direction can form better mental maps of the store leading to higher sales in turn. The second principle of the layout
1800-569: A result of the acquisition, all 585 employees were retained, and renovations totalling more than $ 8 million were announced for the Lockport, Depew, and Buffalo stores. After the acquisition of these stores, only one franchise location remains, in Lewiston . In 2004, Tops Friendly Markets fully remodeled a store in Perinton , and rebranded it Martin's Super Food Store in an effort to revitalize
1900-450: A similar or complementary nature to increase the average customer spend. This strategy is used to create cross-category sales similarity. In other words, the toothpaste is next to or adjacent the toothbrushes and the tea and coffee are down the same aisle as the sweet biscuits. These products complement one another and placing them near is one-way marketers try to increase purchases. For vertical placement, cheap generic brands tend to be on
2000-585: A snap purchase and to also entice them to shop down the aisle. The most obvious place supermarket layout influences consumers are at the checkout. Small displays of candy, magazines, and drinks are located at each checkout to tempt shoppers while they wait to be served. The large scale of supermarkets, while often improving cost and efficiency for customers, can place significant economic pressure on suppliers and smaller shopkeepers. Supermarkets often generate considerable food waste , although modern technologies such as biomethanation units may be able to process
2100-545: A strong anti-chain rhetorical device. With public backlash came political pressure to even the playing field for smaller vendors lacking the luxury of economies of scale. In 1936, the Robinson-Patman Act was implemented as a way of preventing such large chains from using their buying power to reap advantages over small stores, although the act was not well enforced and did not have much impact on such chains. Supermarkets rapidly proliferated across both Canada and
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#17327809567172200-402: A supermarket is a visual merchandising project that plays a major role. Stores can creatively use a layout to alter customers' perceptions of the atmosphere. Alternatively, they can enhance the store's atmospherics through visual communications (signs and graphics), lighting, colors, and scents. For example, to give a sense of the supermarket being healthy, fresh produce is deliberately located at
2300-471: Is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food , beverages and household products , organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores , but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market . In everyday United States usage, however, " grocery store " is often used to mean "supermarket". The supermarket store format first appeared around 1930 in
2400-536: Is a higher risk of shoplifting , the costs of appropriate security measures ideally will be outweighed by reduced labor costs. Historically, there has been much debate about the origin of the supermarket. For example, Southern California grocery store chains Alpha Beta and Ralphs both have strong claims to being the first supermarket. By 1930, both chains were already operating multiple 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m ) self-service grocery stores. However, as of 1930, both chains were not yet true supermarkets in
2500-419: Is coordination. Coordination is the organized arrangement of product that promotes sales. Products such as fast-selling and slow-selling lines are placed in strategic positions in aid of the overall sales plan. Managers sometimes place different items in fast-selling places to increase turnover or to promote a new line. The third principle is consumer convenience. The layout of a supermarket is designed to create
2600-524: Is expected over the next four to five years. On November 18, 2009, it was announced that the chain would open a new store in Spencerport, New York . This was the first time since the Morgan Stanley acquisition that the chain had opened a new store. It opened on August 18, 2010. The 38,000 sq ft (3,500 m) location took over space that had previously been occupied by an IGA. Tops
2700-428: Is non- union and operates with better buying power. Other competition exists from warehouse clubs such as Costco that offer savings to customers buying in bulk quantities. Superstores , such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a wide range of goods and services in addition to foods. In Australia, Aldi, Woolworths and Coles are the major players running the industry with fierce competition among all
2800-507: Is part of a group of investors interested in purchasing the Tops Markets chain. Flickinger's family co-financed the first 60 Tops Friendly Markets stores that opened, and stated that he hopes to restore the local focus that Tops was originally known for. On June 1, 2007, it was reported that Tops Friendly Markets agreed to repurchase its Lancaster warehouse from C&S Wholesale Grocers , while C&S will continue to operate and manage
2900-694: The Adirondacks region and in Central New York , further east than its market had traditionally been. They also introduced the Tops Xpress convenience store format. By the end of the year, the company celebrated another landmark with the opening of its 150th Tops store, located in Madison, Ohio . This aggressive growth was fueled in part by deliberate understatements of Ahold's debt to the financial markets. When this came to light in 2003, Tops
3000-583: The American Stock Exchange . Subsequently, the company began construction on a perishable warehouse and acquired general merchandise distributor G&G Sales and Service. The following year, 1969, NFS entered the convenience store market by opening the first Wilson Farms Neighborhood Food store in Tonawanda, New York . The same year, Tops Friendly Markets was named Retailer of the Year by
3100-551: The Army in 1941. He attained the rank of captain after five years' service. After World War II , Castellani returned to the family business. In 1951, he set out on his own and opened the Great Bear Market in Niagara Falls. Shortly thereafter, he partnered with Buscaglia, owner of a grocery equipment firm, T.A. Buscaglia Equipment Co. Throughout the 1950s, Buscaglia, as CEO, and Castellani worked together, entering into
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3200-809: The Canadian dollar at 90% of the value to its American counterpart, the new stores were in the right place at the right time and did even better business than expected. The 1990s were marked by a new growth in operations, including the 1996 merger with Finast in Northeast Ohio , expansion across New York, the construction of a new headquarters in Amherst, New York, and the opening of an 848,000 sq ft (78,800 m) distribution center in Lancaster . By 1998, Tops Friendly Markets' market area stretched from Sandusky, Ohio , to Utica . In January 1999,
3300-692: The Northeast Ohio market, which consisted of 46 locations. The 46 stores were located in Greater Cleveland , Akron and Norwalk and at the time employed approximately 3,800 full and part-time employees. Tops announced on October 10, 2006 that 18 of its Ohio stores were sold to rival Giant Eagle . The store in Youngstown which closed prior to 2006, was sold, expanded, and converted to Target . An additional store in Sheffield, Ohio ,
3400-608: The "mountains of food". In the United Kingdom, self-service shopping took longer to become established. Even in 1947, there were just ten self-service shops in the country. In 1951, ex-US Navy sailor Patrick Galvani, son-in-law of Express Dairies chairman, made a pitch to the board to open a chain of supermarkets across the country. The UK's first supermarket under the new Premier Supermarkets brand opened in Streatham , South London , taking ten times as much per week as
3500-459: The 1920s, the highly inefficient nature of the American food distribution system meant that the "average urban family spent fully one-third of its budget on food". One of the most important defining features of the supermarket is cheap food. The vast abundance of cheap, wholesome food which modern consumers take for granted today was simply unimaginable before the middle of the 20th century, to
3600-423: The American grocery landscape with their low overhead and low prices (while crushing numerous independent small stores along the way), a backlash to this radical alteration of food distribution infrastructure appeared in the form of numerous anti-chain campaigns. The idea of " monopsony ", proposed by Cambridge economist Joan Robinson in 1933, that a single buyer could outmaneuver a market of multiple sellers, became
3700-458: The American supermarket stood at the pinnacle of a food production and distribution system so efficient that less than three percent of the U.S. population produced more than enough food to feed everyone. The average American adult "will spend 2 percent of their life inside" supermarkets. In the 21st century, traditional supermarkets in many countries face intense competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart, Aldi and Lidl , which typically
3800-723: The BonusCard, its customer loyalty program, debuted. In May 1999, all 45 Northeast Ohio Finast stores adopted the Tops Friendly Markets banner. Tops Friendly Markets entered into the new millennium by acquiring the Sugarcreek Stores chain, adding 87 stores to its Wilson Farms division. That summer, Tops installed self-scanning checkouts at 11 stores in Ohio and in late August, the first Tops fueling station premiered in Akron . In 2001, Tops acquired 22 former Grand Union stores in
3900-562: The Brand Names Foundation, an honor it would again earn in 1974. The 1970s saw Tops Friendly Markets, under the leadership of Castellani and Nanula, continue to grow in Western New York, and thrive where competitors struggled. Early in the decade, Tops began to build more company-owned stores. By the mid-70s, the company had expanded into the Rochester area, and over time, it became the only real competitor to Wegmans in
4000-653: The Frontier Commons Plaza. As a result, the store is now 55,000 square feet instead of the previous 76,000 square feet it formerly occupied. The new location also contains departments and a gas station which were not found in the former location. In 2014, Tops downsized a store in Perinton and an Irondequoit, New York store on East Ridge Road. The Irondequoit store was relocated to the Depot Plaza, which used to be anchored by Kmart . On February 21, 2018, Tops filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. None of
4100-698: The Geneva Town Centre in November 2012. This new store is a 51,364 sq ft (4,771.9 m) location and has upgraded departments, along with a gas station, that were not in the formerly larger location. Both of these stores had been 84,000 sq ft (7,800 m) superstores that Tops built in the early 1990s. In 2013, Tops downsized another store in the Rochester suburbs. The Jefferson Rd location in Henrietta, New York , relocated to
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4200-606: The Lake Flower Plaza). Tops Markets announced they emerged from bankruptcy on November 19, 2018. On February 8, 2021, Price Chopper Supermarkets/Market 32 and Tops Market announced plans to merge. The new parent company will be headquartered in Schenectady, New York. The Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets businesses will retain main offices in Schenectady and Williamsville and will continue to be managed locally by their respective leaders. Nine months later,
4300-572: The Martin's Super Food Store in Amherst reverted to a Tops Market due to customer feedback, and the company announced it would no longer pursue the Martin's brand in New York. As of February 28, 2008, the remaining Martin's locations were all returned to the Tops Friendly Markets brand as part of the sale to Morgan Stanley Private Equity. The decision was made to operate the company under one banner going forward. Ahold announced on November 6, 2006 that
4400-544: The Tops banner. The remaining 12 locations were rebannered and held grand reopening ceremonies on July 2, 2013. Note that a large number of these were in the Adirondacks, and were in fact the same stores that had operated as Tops for a few years back in the early 2000s after Grand Union's bankruptcy, as noted above. The Saranac Lake location at Lake Flower Plaza closed in November 2018. On June 27, 2012 Tops Markets announced
4500-630: The Tops store in Cleveland Heights became a Dave's. All Northeast Ohio stores closed by 3 pm on December 8, 2006 and some remain unoccupied. In October and November 2012, Tops closed one store and downsized a second store. The first was the Elmridge Center store in Greece, New York which closed in October 2012. Employees and customers were absorbed into other nearby locations. The Geneva, New York , store downsized and moved into
4600-627: The United States as the culmination of about two decades of retail innovations, and began to spread to other countries after extensive worldwide publicity in 1956. The supermarket typically has places for fresh meat, fresh produce , dairy , deli items, baked goods, and similar foodstuffs. Shelf space is also reserved for canned and packaged goods and for various non-food items such as kitchenware , household cleaners , pharmacy products and pet supplies. Some supermarkets also sell other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), medicine, and clothing , and some sell
4700-542: The United States with the growth of automobile ownership and suburban development after World War II. Most North American supermarkets are located in suburban strip shopping centers as an anchor store along with other smaller retailers. They are generally regional rather than national in their company branding. Kroger is the most nationally oriented supermarket chain in the United States, but it has preserved most of its regional brands, including Ralphs , City Market , King Soopers , Fry's , Smith's , and QFC . In Canada,
4800-429: The United States". The exhibit was a rather "modest staging", not a truly comprehensive duplicate of a typical full-size U.S. supermarket, and yet it was much larger than anything the world had ever seen. Just like the American consumers who had entered the first supermarkets two decades earlier, conference attendees, local Italian visitors, and the international news media were all astonished, bewildered, and stunned by
4900-782: The acquisition of the North Boston Market Place in Boston, New York (originally a B-Kwik). On July 11, 2012 Tops Markets announced plans to open its first new store in the City of Syracuse since acquiring the Penn Traffic chain. The store opened in Valley Plaza on the cities south side on October 30, 2012 in a former P&C location although the new Tops was considerably smaller. This location closed in November 2018. In October 2012, Tops Markets began renovations at
5000-522: The average British general store of the time. Other chains caught on, and after Galvani lost out to Tesco's Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the 212 Irwin's chain, the sector underwent a large amount of consolidation, resulting in 'the big four' dominant UK of today: Tesco , Asda , Sainsbury's and Morrisons . In the 1950s, supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives to customers. Today, most chains issue store-specific "membership cards", "club cards", or " loyalty cards ". These typically enable
5100-637: The banner Steinberg's . By the 1950s, supermarkets had become part of the everyday lives of American consumers, but were still extremely rare outside of the United States. Most persons outside the United States had never seen a supermarket or even heard of the term. That began to change after 1956, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture presented an "American Way exhibit" at the International Food Congress in Rome, Italy. The exhibit included "the first fully stocked supermarket outside of
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#17327809567175200-418: The cardholder to receive special members-only discounts on certain items when the credit card-like device is scanned at the checkout. Sales of selected data generated by club cards is becoming a significant revenue stream for some supermarkets. As of 2018, there were approximately 38,000 supermarkets in the supermarket's birthplace, the United States; Americans spent $ 701 billion at supermarkets that year; and
5300-408: The chain was born. By the end of the year, NFS was composed of 15 franchised stores throughout Western New York, employing a total of 300 associates . Throughout the 1960s, NFS implemented warehousing and centralized purchasing to allow the company to grow efficiently. In 1967, Buscaglia died and Armand Castellani took over as chief executive officer . The next year, NFS went public , trading on
5400-557: The chain. The Baytowne Plaza store in Penfield, New York , known to Tops associates as the "Webster store", was not part of the transaction. The owners of the Baytowne Plaza notified all of their tenants that they would not be allowed to renew their lease upon expiration, and Tops Markets closed the doors of their store to the public on October 27, 2007. At 12:01 am on December 2, 2007, Morgan Stanley Private Equity became
5500-433: The chains' common practice of selling loss leaders to be anti-competitive. They are also wary of the negotiating power that large, often multinationals have with suppliers around the world. During the dot-com boom , Webvan , an online-only supermarket, was formed and went bankrupt after three years and was acquired by Amazon. The British online supermarket Ocado , which uses a high degree of automation in its warehouses,
5600-501: The clerk had to measure out and wrap the precise amount desired. Merchants did not post prices, which forced customers to haggle and bargain with clerks to reach fair prices for their purchases. This business model had already been established in Europe for several centuries. It offered extensive opportunities for social interaction: many regarded this style of shopping as "a social occasion" and would often "pause for conversations with
5700-433: The combination store. This was a grocery store which combined several departments under one roof, but generally maintained the traditional system of clerks pulling products from shelves on request. By 1929, only one in three U.S. grocery stores was a combination store. The concept of a self-service grocery store predates the supermarket; it was developed by entrepreneur Clarence Saunders at his Piggly Wiggly stores,
5800-437: The consumer . Along with this path, there will be high-draw, high-impulse items that will influence the consumer to make purchases which they did not originally intend. Service areas such as restrooms are placed in a location which draws the consumer past certain products to create extra buys. Necessity items such as bread and milk are found at the rear of the store to increase the start of circulation. Cashiers' desks are placed in
5900-941: The convenience of shopping hours that extend into the evening or even 24 hours of the day. Supermarkets usually allocate large budgets to advertising, typically through newspapers and television. They also present elaborate in-shop displays of products. Supermarkets typically are chain stores , supplied by the distribution centers of their parent companies , thus increasing opportunities for economies of scale . Supermarkets usually offer products at relatively low prices by using their buying power to buy goods from manufacturers at lower prices than smaller stores can. They also minimize financing costs by paying for goods at least 30 days after receipt and some extract credit terms of 90 days or more from vendors. Certain products (typically staple foods such as bread, milk and sugar) are very occasionally sold as loss leaders so as to attract shoppers to their store. Supermarkets make up for their low margins by
6000-495: The eatery in a supermarket is substantial enough, the facility may be called a "grocerant", a portmanteau of "grocery" and "restaurant". The traditional supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level. It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently
6100-591: The entrance to the left-hand side as the consumer will likely turn right upon entry, and this allows the consumer to do a full counter-clockwise circle around the store before returning to the checkouts. This suggests that supermarket marketers should use this theory to their advantage by placing their temporary displays of products on the right-hand side to entice you to make an unplanned purchase. Furthermore, aisle ends are extremely popular with product manufacturers, who pay top dollar to have their products located there. These aisle ends are used to lure customers into making
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#17327809567176200-698: The expansion of supermarkets in these countries has important repercussions for small farmers, particularly those growing perishable crops. New supply chains have developed involving cluster formation; development of specialized wholesalers; leading farmers organizing supply, and farmer associations or cooperatives. In some cases supermarkets have organized their own procurement from small farmers; in others wholesale markets have adapted to meet supermarket needs. Larger supermarkets in North America and in Europe typically sell many items among many brands, sizes and varieties. U.S. publisher Supermarket News lists
6300-600: The first CarryOut Café. It was also the year that Tops won the first of eight Golden Penguin Award from the National Frozen Food Association. In 1985, Castellani was named chairman of the board and Nanula succeeded him as CEO. The following spring, SB Investors became known as Tops Friendly Markets, Inc., as the company went public for the second time, this time on NASDAQ . The following year, as Tops Friendly Markets celebrated its 25th anniversary,
6400-403: The first of which opened in 1916. Saunders was awarded several patents for the ideas he incorporated into his stores. The stores were a financial success and Saunders began to offer franchises. The general trend since then has been to stock shelves at night so that customers, the following day, can obtain their own goods and bring them to the front of the store to pay for them. Although there
6500-548: The following categories, for example: Hypermarkets have a larger range of non-food categories such as clothing, electronics, household decoration and appliances. Most merchandise is already packaged when it arrives at the supermarket. Packages are placed on shelves, arranged in aisles and sections according to type of item. Some items, such as fresh produce, are stored in bins. Those requiring an intact cold chain are in temperature-controlled display cases. While branding and store advertising will differ from company to company,
6600-410: The following formats (store types) that sell groceries: ( commissaries ) Some supermarkets are focusing on selling more (or even exclusively) organically certified produce. Others are trying to differentiate themselves by selling fewer (or no) products containing palm oil . This as the demand of palm oil is a main driver for the destruction of rainforests. As a response to the growing concern on
6700-504: The front of the store. In terms of bakery items, supermarkets usually dedicate 30 to 40 feet of store space to the bread aisle. Supermarkets are designed to "give each product section a sense of individual difference and this is evident in the design of what is called the anchor departments; fresh produce, dairy, delicatessen, meat and the bakery". Each section has different floor coverings, style, lighting and sometimes even individual services counters to allow shoppers to feel as if there are
6800-524: The heavy use of petroleum-based plastics for food packaging , so-called " zero waste " and "plastic-free" supermarkets and groceries are on the rise. Beginning in the 1990s, the food sector in developing countries has rapidly transformed, particularly in Latin America, South-East Asia, India, China and South Africa. With growth, has come considerable competition and some amount of consolidation. The growth has been driven by increasing affluence and
6900-557: The issue. They defined the attributes of a supermarket as "self-service, separate product departments, discount pricing, marketing and volume selling". They determined that the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee, Michael J. Cullen , on 4 August 1930, inside a 6,000-square-foot (560 m ) former garage in Jamaica, Queens in New York City. The store King Kullen , operated under
7000-593: The large chains joined the supermarket trend, the new retail format exploded across the country like a wildfire. The number of American supermarkets almost tripled from 1,200 in 32 states in 1936 to over 3,000 in 47 states in 1937. It was well over 15,000 by 1950. One sign of the supermarket format's success in slashing labor costs, overhead, and food prices was that the percentage of disposable income spent by American consumers on food plunged "from 21 percent in 1930 to 16 percent in 1940". The modern era of "cheap food" had begun. As large chain stores began to dominate
7100-633: The largest such company is Loblaw , which operates stores under a variety of banners targeted to different segments and regions, including Fortinos , Zehrs , No Frills , the Real Canadian Superstore, and Loblaws, the foundation of the company. Sobeys is Canada's second largest supermarket with locations across the country, operating under many banners (Sobeys IGA in Quebec ). Québec's first supermarket opened in 1934 in Montréal, under
7200-420: The layout of a supermarket remains virtually unchanged. Although big companies spend time giving consumers a pleasant shopping experience, the design of a supermarket is directly connected to the in-store marketing that supermarkets must conduct to get shoppers to spend more money while there. Every aspect of the store is mapped out and attention is paid to color, wording and surface texture. The overall layout of
7300-418: The logic of "pile it high and sell it cheap". The store layout was designed by Joseph Unger, who originated the concept of customers using baskets to collect groceries before checking out at a counter. Everything displayed for sale in the store "had prices clearly marked", meaning that consumers would no longer need to haggle over prices. Cullen described his store as "the world's greatest price wrecker". At
7400-425: The lowest shelves, products appealing to children are placed at the mid-thigh level, and the most profitable brands are placed at eye level. The fourth principle is the use of color psychology , and the locations of the food, similar to its use in fast food branding. Consumer psychologists suggest that most buyers tend to enter the store and shop to their right first. Some supermarkets, therefore, choose to place
7500-449: The market. Initial development of supermarkets has now been followed by hypermarket growth. In addition there were investments by companies such as Makro and Metro Cash and Carry in large-scale Cash-and-Carry operations. While the growth in sales of processed foods in these countries has been much more rapid than the growth in fresh food sales, the imperative nature of supermarkets to achieve economies of scale in purchasing means that
7600-586: The marketplace. Martin's Food Markets is a brand owned by Tops Friendly Markets' then-parent company, Ahold , via their subsidiary Giant-Carlisle . The stores were designed in a colorful manner in order to attract both new and old customers. The format worked well for the company, which prompted them to remodel another location in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst into the Martin's Super Food Store format, and then later three other stores in Dunkirk-Fredonia , Derby , and Batavia . As of April 16, 2006,
7700-596: The merger was completed. The stores will now be owned and overseen by Northeast Grocery , with current President and CEO of Price Chopper/Market 32 managing the merger & Tops Friendly Markets CEO Frank Curci taking over in February 2022. The FTC required the combined company to divest from 12 of the combined companies’ stores. On April 29, 2024, Tops Markets announced the acquisition of five locations that were operated by Supermarket Management, Inc. The franchise partner had operated Tops locations for more than 60 years. As
7800-640: The modern sense because their prices remained quite high; as noted above, one of the most important defining features of the supermarket is cheap food. Their main selling point was free parking . Other strong contenders in Texas included Weingarten's and Henke & Pillot . To end the debate, the Food Marketing Institute in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and with funding from H.J. Heinz , researched
7900-418: The most predominant areas to grab attention. Power products are placed on both sides of the aisle to create increased product awareness, and end caps are used to receive a high exposure of a certain product whether on special, promotion or in a campaign, or a new line. The first principle of the layout is circulation. Circulation is created by arranging product so the supermarket can control the traffic flow of
8000-835: The new owner of Tops Markets. Ahold 's subsidiary Giant Food of Carlisle provided operational and support services for up to one year after the sale. Max Henderson, Executive Vice President of Tops, resigned his position from the company, and Frank Curci, a former Tops Friendly Markets CEO, returned as CEO of the company. Tops Friendly Markets brought back approximately 100 corporate positions in marketing, merchandising and finance to Buffalo, New York. Recently, those positions had been based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania by Giant Food . Existing stores resumed upgrades and remodeling, and plans for new stores continue. Tim Hortons full-service restaurants or self-serve kiosks as well as Anchor Bar wings were added to all stores. A growth rate of more than 10%
8100-506: The order is complete, the customer will pick it up (i.e. "click-and-collect") or have it fulfilled via home delivery. Supermarkets are investing in micro-fulfillment centers with the hope that automation can help reduce the costs of online commerce and e-commerce by shortening the distances from store to home and speeding up deliveries. MFCs are said by many to be the key to profitably fulfilling online orders. The U.S. FMI food industry association, drawing on research by Willard Bishop, defines
8200-514: The point that the first American supermarket customers in the 1930s were overcome with emotion at the sight of so much cheap food. Before the 20th century, food was neither cheap, nor wholesome, nor abundant. For example, in 1812, almost 90 percent of Americans worked in food production, and they struggled to stay alive on food which was often scarce, of poor quality, and riddled with diseases which could and did often kill them. The concept of an inexpensive food market relying on economies of scale
8300-510: The region. Also during this time, Tops Friendly Markets opened its first Pennsylvania store in Bradford . In 1983, SB Investors, a private, New York-based investment group, purchased NFS. By this time, operations had grown to include 65 Tops stores, 50 Wilson Farms stores and 15 B-Kwik Food Stores, employing 7,000 associates. The next year, Tops Friendly Markets introduced Western New York shoppers to direct debit service, Instabank ATMs and
8400-451: The remaining 72 stores in the Tops chain, in New York and Pennsylvania, would be sold. Although they have been profitable, it is a strategic decision for Ahold to focus on other chains such as Giant and Stop & Shop . On November 7, 2006, it was reported that Price Chopper might buy the chain. It had previously bought six former locations. On May 25, 2007, well-known grocery industry consultant Burt P. Flickinger III announced that he
8500-612: The rise of a middle class; the entry of women into the workforce; with a consequent incentive to seek out easy-to-prepare foods; the growth in the use of refrigerators, making it possible to shop weekly instead of daily; and the growth in car ownership, facilitating journeys to distant stores and purchases of large quantities of goods. The opportunities presented by this potential have encouraged several European companies to invest in these markets (mainly in Asia) and American companies to invest in Latin America and China. Local companies also entered
8600-419: The staff or other customers". These practices were by nature slow, had high labor intensity , and were quite expensive. The number of customers who could be attended to at one time was limited by the number of staff employed in the store. Early grocery stores were "austere" and tiny by modern standards, with as few as 450 items. Shopping for groceries often involved trips to multiple specialty shops, such as
8700-415: The standard retail grocery business model was for a clerk to fetch products from shelves behind the merchant's counter while customers waited in front of the counter, indicating the items they wanted. Customers needed to ask because "most stores were designed to keep customers (and their children) away from the food". Most foods and merchandise did not come in individually wrapped consumer-sized packages, so
8800-928: The stores' day-to-day operations were to be affected. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the reason for filing was due to Tops' $ 720 million debt. This opportunity was being used to restructure financially so it could grow and be more competitive. On August 30, 2018, Tops announced they would be closing ten underperforming locations by November, including two in Syracuse, one on West Genesee Street (NY 5) at Westvale Plaza, and another on South Salina Street (US 11) at Valley Plaza, two in Rochester, one on Lake Avenue and another on North Winton Road, and one each in Perinton, Lyons, Geneva, Fulton, Elmira (the South Main Street location) and Saranac Lake (at
8900-542: The three. The rising market share of Aldi has forced the other two to cut prices and increase their private label product ranges. The proliferation of such warehouse and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller, local grocery stores, the increased dependence on the automobile , and suburban sprawl because of the necessity for large floor space and increased vehicular traffic. For example, in 2009 51% of Wal-Mart's $ 251 billion domestic sales were recorded from grocery goods. Some critics consider
9000-409: The time of his death in 1936, there were seventeen King Kullen stores in operation. Although Saunders had brought the world self-service, uniform stores, and nationwide marketing, Cullen built on this idea by adding separate food departments, selling large volumes of food at discount prices and adding a parking lot. Early supermarkets like King Kullen were called "cheapy markets" by industry experts at
9100-506: The time; this was soon replaced by the phrase "super market". The compound phrase was then closed up to become the modern term "supermarket". Other established American grocery chains in the 1930s, such as Kroger and Safeway Inc. at first resisted Cullen's ideas, but were eventually forced to build their own supermarkets as the economy sank into the Great Depression . American consumers became extraordinarily price-sensitive at
9200-405: The warehouse. Max Henderson, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Tops Markets, stated that he hoped repurchasing the warehouse would make Tops more attractive to a potential buyer. On October 11, 2007, Ahold announced the sale of Tops Friendly Markets, LLC to Morgan Stanley Private Equity in a transaction valued at $ 310 million. Morgan Stanley agreed to purchase 71 of the 72 stores in
9300-919: Was announced that an additional five stores, including one in Ithaca, New York , would close. Five in Pennsylvania were sold to Giant Eagle . The Tops name was placed on remaining stores within the next year. In August 2010, Tops was ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to sell seven stores it had acquired from Penn Traffic due to anticompetitive concerns. However, Tops was able to retain some of these locations. The former P&C location in Sayre, Pennsylvania , closed in October 2017, while another former P&C location in Westvale, Syracuse closed in November 2018. On February 28, 2011 Tops opened
9400-415: Was co-founded by Armand Castellani, who was born in 1917 in a village outside of Rome, Italy , and Thomas Buscaglia. Castellani's family came to the United States in 1920, and eventually settled in Niagara Falls , where his father, Ferrante, opened a small neighborhood grocery store . Following his mother's death in 1933, Castellani left school to help manage the store. He continued to do so until joining
9500-528: Was confirmed as the high bidder of Penn Traffic and on January 25, 2010 a federal judge signed off on an agreement in US Bankruptcy Court for the sale of same. The purchase stretched the company's footprint from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire . The Penn Traffic deal was for 79 stores, but Tops closed four stores within two months, in addition to one in Ogdensburg, New York . In March 2010, it
9600-475: Was developed by Vincent Astor . He founded the Astor Market in 1915, investing $ 750,000 of his fortune into a 165′ by 125′ (50×38-metre) corner of 95th and Broadway, Manhattan , creating, in effect, an open-air mini-mall that sold meat, fruit, produce and flowers. The expectation was that customers would come from great distances ("miles around"), but in the end, even attracting people from ten blocks away
9700-559: Was difficult, and the market folded in 1917. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which was established in 1859, was an early grocery store chain in Canada and the United States. It became common in North American cities in the 1920s. Early chains like A&P did not sell fresh meats or produce. During the 1920s, to reduce the hassle of visiting multiple stores, U.S. grocery store chains like A&P introduced
9800-629: Was forced to backtrack. By 2005 the convenience stores had been sold to WFI Acquisition Inc. , which later sold the stores to convenience store operator powerhouse 7-Eleven , and Tops Friendly Markets was also looking to sell the 31 stores it had established in the Adirondack region. P&C Foods acquired 2, Price Chopper acquired six, Hannaford acquired three, and twelve returned to the Grand Union division of C&S Wholesale Grocers . On July 6, 2006, Ahold announced its decision to exit
9900-749: Was sold on November 29, 2006. The store in Tallmadge, Ohio , was sold to local competitor Acme Fresh Market . On November 9 in a company press release, it was stated that all Tops stores in Northeast Ohio would close whether they have been sold or not. A store in Cleveland's Lee-Harvard Neighborhood and a store in Garfield Heights were converted to Dave's Markets , a small independently owned chain of grocery stores in Cleveland . In June,
10000-655: Was the first successful online-only supermarket. Ocado expanded into providing services to other supermarket firms such as Waitrose and Morrisons . Grocery stores such as Walmart employ food delivery services offered by third parties such as DoorDash . Other online food delivery services, such as Deliveroo in the United Kingdom, have begun to pay specific attention to supermarket delivery. Delivery robots are offered by various companies partnering with supermarkets. Micro-fulfillment centers (MFC) are relatively small warehouses with sophisticated automated rack-and-tote systems which prepare orders for pickup and delivery. Once
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