Alive And Kicking

Center store isn’t dead — but it does need a creative boost.

- Randy Hofbauer

Many have claimed center store to be “dead” or “dying.” But grocers need not fret: Such news appears to be, for the most part, a lot of doom and gloom. Although the perimeter of many retail stores is starting to account for larger sales, center store is still contributing to overall growth, Schaumburg, Ill.-based research firm Nielsen notes. Looking at the 52 weeks ending Aug. 22, 2015, center store accounted for $709.4 billion in sales across the United States, up $56.7 billion from 2011.

“In fact, center store sales have benefited from many of the same trends driving growth in the perimeter,” says Jordan Rost, VP of consumer insights at Nielsen. For instance, while bread sales have been flat over the past four years, those of tortilla wraps have grown at nearly 8 percent. Vinegars and liquid coffee and tea also have experienced rising sales.

The bad news, however, is that Millennials, an incredibly large generation that’s gaining spending power, aren’t making center store purchases as much in the supermarket channel as they are elsewhere, such as mass merchandisers or dollar stores, says John Owen, senior food and drink analyst with Chicago based market research firm Mintel. This could spell trouble for many traditional grocers, which now need to come up with new ways to attract this increasingly valuable demographic to center store.

So, in time for 2017, here are five things grocers can consider doing to “spruce up” center store:

1 Deliver solutions, not just products: