Gregory Morrow wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/bu...10grocery.html
>
>
> September 10, 2008
>
> Miles of Aisles for Milk? Not Here
>
> By ANDREW MARTIN
>
>
> "HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Like cars and homes, grocery stores are beginning to
> shrink.
>
> After years of building bigger stores - many larger than a football field
> and carrying 60,000 items - retailers are experimenting with radically
> smaller grocery stores that emphasize prepared meals, fresh produce and
> grab-and-go drinks.
>
> The idea is to lure time-starved shoppers who want to pick up a few items or
> a fast meal without wandering long grocery aisles or paying restaurant
> prices.
>
> Safeway has opened a smaller-format store in Southern California, and
> Jewel-Osco is building one in Chicago. Wal-Mart plans to open four
> "Marketside" stores in the Phoenix area this fall, and Whole Foods Market is
> considering opening smaller stores.
>
> And here in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, the grocery chain Giant
> Eagle opened a Giant Eagle Express last year that is about one-sixth the
> size of its regular stores. It has gas pumps, wireless Internet and
> flat-screen televisions in a small cafe, a drive-through pharmacy and an
> expansive delicatessen that offers sushi, rotisserie chickens and
> ready-to-heat dinners.
>
> "It's perfect," said Dusty McDonald, a 29-year-old bank teller who was
> buying breakfast sandwiches recently for her co-workers at the Giant Eagle
> Express. "It's on my way to work. It only takes me 10 minutes to get in and
> out."
>
> The opening of smaller stores upends a long-running trend in the grocery
> business: building ever-larger stores in the belief that consumers want
> choice above all. While the largest traditional grocery stores tend to be
> about 85,000 square feet, some cavernous warehouse-style stores and
> supercenters are two or three times that size.
>
> Statistics compiled by the Food Marketing Institute show that the average
> size of a grocery store dipped slightly in 2007 - to a median of 47,500
> square feet - after 20 years of steady growth.
>
> The biggest push in such stores is coming from the British retailer Tesco,
> which made a splashy entry into the United States last fall, opening a
> 10,000-square-foot Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Las Vegas.
>
> Since then, Tesco has opened 72 stores in Nevada, Arizona and Southern
> California.
>
> Gary Smith, founder of Encore Associates, which advises the food and
> consumer goods industry, said the smaller stores opened by other chains were
> "a loud message to Tesco that they are not going to be able to walk in and
> grab market share."
>
> Mr. Smith added: "It's also a way for them to do some testing for if and
> when Tesco comes to their market. They are better able to counter it."
>
> Besides Tesco, grocery retailers face competition on multiple fronts. Chains
> ranging from Target to CVS to dollar stores are selling more groceries, and
> some small convenience stores - long the domain of warmed-over hot dogs and
> microwave burritos - are offering higher-quality food.
>
> The big grocery chains are not thinking about closing their larger stores,
> which have been a success. But they hope to capture new business with the
> smaller stores, appealing to consumers on days when they do not have time
> for a long shopping trip.
>
> "The average person goes shopping for 22 minutes," said Phil Lempert, who
> edits Supermarketguru.com, a Web site that tracks retail trends. "You can't
> see 30,000 or 40,000 products. We are moving into an era when people want
> less assortment."
>
> Jim Hertel, managing partner at the firm Willard Bishop, which advises
> supermarkets, added, "If you've got 50 feet of ketchup and what you want is
> Hunt's 64-ounce and you can't find it, people get overwhelmed."
>
> Of course, small grocery stores have been around forever, and some old-time
> neighborhood markets still exist. Meanwhile, a handful of specialty
> retailers have proved that shoppers will flock to smaller stores if they are
> offered a novel experience.
>
> Trader Joe's, for one, has thrived by offering a limited selection of
> high-quality, relatively inexpensive products in quirky stores that are
> 15,000 square feet or less. Aldi and Save-A-Lot are drawing customers in
> droves by selling a limited assortment of aggressively discounted products.
>
> What distinguishes the new stores is that they are being built by more
> traditional retailers, and they emphasize fresh, prepared foods for busy
> consumers.
>
> Kevin Srigley, a senior vice president at Giant Eagle, whose stores are
> spread across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, said
> the express store seeks to provide customers with a "smart stop to save you
> time on the things you need most," in addition to offering fresh foods.
>
> He said the idea for the express store came from Tesco stores in Europe -
> his company has a longstanding relationship with the British retailer - and
> from research that detailed the varying needs of consumers.
>
> Mr. Srigley said he was pleased with many aspects of the company's first
> Giant Eagle Express store, in Harmar Township, like customer reaction to the
> prepared foods and baked goods. But since the store was meant as a
> laboratory, he said, Giant Eagle may tweak the concept before opening more
> of them.
>
> Will customers come to the smaller stores? Analysts said that Tesco's
> initial sales fell short of expectations and the company stopped opening new
> ones for several months this year to assess customer feedback and make
> adjustments.
>
> Still, a Tesco spokesman, Brendan Wonnacott, said that the company was
> pleased with the stores' results and that the number of customers and sales
> were increasing.
>
> "This is a format we are excited about, that our customers are excited
> about," he said.
>
> The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Laguna Hills, Calif., offers row
> after row of bagged produce and its own line of prepared meals that are
> either chilled or frozen. Customers shopping there recently said they liked
> the store, though several said they wished that Tesco carried more British
> specialties.
>
> "They have the best frozen food I've ever tasted," said Nathan Cromeenes,
> 35, who lives nearby and longed for English shortbread.
>
> He said he liked not having to choose among 50 varieties of spaghetti sauce.
> "They just have one, and it's really good."
>
> Dana Gurr, a 49-year-old saleswoman in Laguna Hills, was less enthusiastic.
> She said the store was sterile and the vegetables went bad quickly. "It's
> not that fresh, but it is easy," she said.
>
> The reviews were similarly mixed, though mostly positive, at the Giant Eagle
> Express outside Pittsburgh.
>
> Peter and Kim Maguire stopped by the store for some last-minute items en
> route to a camping trip. They ended up buying chips, strawberries,
> blueberries and hummus.
>
> "We pop in here for little things we forget," said Ms. Maguire, 39. Her
> husband, 38, added that the store has "great lunches," including sushi and
> burritos.
>
> RoseAnn Zanoli, 68, said the express store was "good when you need them."
> While she found some eggs, she said she came up empty when looking for a
> card for her 50th wedding anniversary. "They don't carry everything that you
> need," she said."
>
>
> Will Carless contributed reporting from Laguna Hills, Calif.
>
> </>
>
>
>
>

I work about 4 miles away from this place. It is actually a
glorified convienence store. Pretty much what you would find in a
7-Eleven with a much larger frozen food section and a kinda of Deli
section. Not really anything to write home about.