Alabama Grocer 2023 Issue 3.indd

In contrast, the Journal said, the center store aisles in supermarkets seem barely unchanged through the decades and the report placed a significant share of the blame on the industry’s continued reliance on deals and allowances to provide profits. As the Journal opined, those funds might help the bottom line but they prevent stores from making major change in center store aisles, which might lead to the erosion of sales, profits and customer loyalty. To tie this back to football, as any casual fan of the game at the pro or collegiate level knows, the tactics on the field have shifted greatly in recent years. More than ever, football teams rely on passing plays to gain yardage and score. Not surprisingly, that means the highest paid players are now the quarterbacks who throw the ball, the receivers who catch it and the blockers who keep them all upright. Running backs who gain yardage on the ground are, in contrast, devalued.

Like those football coaches, leaders in the supermarket industry need evaluate their tactics to examine what is and is not working. Beyond your advertising methods, how have you changed to deal with the growing reliance on internet based shopping and services like delivery or curbside pick up? How have you changed to reflect the shifting demographics and growing diversity in your communities? How has your product mix shifted to serve the population of people following popular dietary trends from keto to veganism? Remaining relevant in the supermarket industry has never been easy as it’s always been a constantly moving and achieved target. In decades past, supermarkets added an array of products and services to make their stores that much more attractive than the competition. The question remains: what are you doing now? For an example of successful reinvention, consider the career path of singer Tony Bennett, who recently passed away. Bennett burst into stardom in the 1950s, singing the songs now viewed as American standards.

Incredibly, he managed to stay a hit maker into his 90s by partnering with singers from rocker Elvis Costello to most recently and, prominently, pop performer Lady Gaga. In the process, Bennett kept finding ways to modernize his songs and approach and reach a constantly changing audience. And by partnering with singers well outside his peers, he managed to maintain a successful career long after many of his contemporaries from the 1950s faded into memory. Reinvention isn’t simple, but then again, most things that matter aren’t simple. Hopefully the products you make and sell and the services you offer are still incredibly important to the audiences you serve and hopefully they reward you with healthy sales and profits. But don’t risk complacency and the irrelevancy that could follow. You need to constantly look for ways to chance to make your business as relevant and important today as it was when Tony Bennett was leaving his heart in San Francisco or when running backs were carrying their teams to championships.