Kraft Foods has the ShopperInsights and Solutions to helpyou better understand and meet the needs of your Value -Seekingshoppers: how they need tosave money, but still want topurchase quality foods fortheir family, how they feelabout shopping smarter, and how you can optimize yourmerchandising and marketingprograms to make the most of the Value-Seeker mindset.

Want to get there first?WWContact your local Kraft Foodssales representative today.

Sources:

1 The 2010 American Pantry Study: The New Rules of theShopping Game, Executive Summary. Deloitte and Harrison Group, July 2010.

2 TNS Shopper 360 ® V5 Supplement Study, Wave 2(November 2010), Kraft Online Community Oct-Nov 2010,Qualitative and Directional in nature.

3 SNAP is the United States Supplemental NutritionAssistance Program.

4 IRI 2010 State of the Snack Industry Report, NPD Beforethe Store Report, Spring 2010; Nielson FDMx-2year CAGRsending year indicated.

84% OF SHOPPERSARE LOOKING CLOSELYAT EVERY SPENDINGCATEGORY TO SEEWHERE THEY CANSAVE WITH THEIR NEWSHOPPING HABITS.1

94% OF HOUSEHOLDSSHOP WITH A WRITTEN“LIST,” AND 72% NEVER/ONLY OCCASIONALLYBUY ITEMS NOT ONTHE “LIST.” 2

SNAP PARTICIPANTSTREAT THEMSELVES TOTHEIR FAVORITE NATIONALBRANDS IN THE FIRST TWOWEEKS OF THE MONTHAND STRETCH THEIRFOOD DOLLARS WITHSMALLER PACKS ANDLESS EXPENSIVE PRIVATELABEL AS FUNDSARE EXHAUSTED.3

CONSUMERS ARESHOPPING 48%LESS FREQUENTLYAND LOWER INCOMECONSUMERS ARECUTTING BACK UPTO 67%.4

© 2011 Kraft Foods www.kraftfoodscompany.com

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Lasting ImpressionsRoNetco ShopRite reinvents the front end area of its Byram Township, N.J., store.

PG 0911 074-090 PG INDY.indd 75 9/7/11 10:10 AM

My first impression when I entered Pan-Oston’s Utopia Across America Mobile Innovation Center in the parking lot of RoNetco ShopRite

in Byram Township, N.J., was that it had a lot more inside than I originally thought.

Indeed, those retailers who can’t make it to any retail technology trade events would do well to have the bus come and visit. Not only does it showcase technology from Pan-Oston’s five key partners, but it also exhibits useful technologies that the Bowling Green, Ky.-based com-pany doesn’t sell, but that it views as best in class for the industry. “We want to bring the retailers those technolo-gies we feel are the best in the business, even if we don’t sell them ourselves,” Todd Stokes, director of business development at Pan-Oston, told visitors from seven-store RoNetco ShopRite, including D.J. Romano, owner; Hank Ramberger, general manager; and several of the company’s store managers.

The RoNetco crew was surprised by the number of solutions on the bus, and happy to see LaneHawk as one of the best-in-class technologies — Wakefern Food Corp., the Keasbey, N.J.-based retail co-op to which ShopRite operators belong, is a customer of Evolution Robotics Re-tail (ERR), and every RoNetco store has seen great results from using the vendor’s LaneHawk Bottom of the Basket loss prevention system.

On this leg of the tour, Jeff Robinson, the Mobile Inno-vation Center’s operator, and I weren’t the only ones with a camera, as the folks from RoNetco took many pictures of the solutions they found interesting.

For me, this leg of the tour was an opportunity to meet Hank and D.J. in person. I had just interviewed them the week prior for a feature about their recent front end rede-sign, which just happens to be the cover story in this issue.

Following the RoNetco visit, we made our way to Ma-

nahawkin, N.J., where the folks from Perlmart ShopRite came on board, among them Richard Borkowski, store systems supervisor; Richard Lima, director of risk man-agement; and Dave Pelletier, grocery manager. While they didn’t have a camera with them, they certainly took a lot of notes, and were particularly interested in the Corporate Safe Services cash control system as a way to reduce labor from counting tills and automating cash control. They were also interested in a simple solution to a common problem: a fixture designed to prevent reusable shopping bags from collapsing while being filled.

The main technology partners showcased on the bus include MEI, a provider of cash-handling automation; IT Retail, a POS system with a true SQL-based, plug-and-play platform; Corporate Safe Services (CSS), with solu-tions developed to help retailers control cash from the front of the store all the way to the bank, reducing till shortages; ERR, which has developed a system that reduces sweet-hearting and front end loss; Clarity Consulting, a provider of software programming solutions; and Cost Seg Associ-ates (CSA), a provider of cost segregation studies, helping grocers find funds to reinvest into their businesses.

All of the wonderful technology notwithstanding, what I found to be the greatest advantage to the bus visits was the discussion that took place between the retailers and the Pan-Oston folks inside. While the official “tour” of the technology solutions took from 15 to 20 minutes, it was during the following dialogue that strategies and solutions were brainstormed, and ideas thrown around in a produc-tive way, so that those retailers who got on the bus, even if they had no intention of deploying the various technology and fixture solutions, still reaped tremendous benefits from the visit.

For more information on tour stops and dates, call 800-569-5742. PG

The Magic BusEditor’s Note by Joseph Tarnowski

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631711Ad Name: What We Do

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Nobody understandsyour business and brings the

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Lasting Impressions

RoNetco Supermarkets

reinvents its front end design

so that every customer leaves

with a smile.

By Joseph Tarnowski

Dominick J. Romano, owner of RoNetco Supermarkets Inc. of Ledgewood, N.J., is confident

that when a customer walks out of one of his seven ShopRite stores with a smile on her face, he’ll see her again.

So when the folks from Cadbury (now a subsidiary of Kraft Foods Inc.) told him that the findings of an in-depth research study could help trans-form his customers’ front end experi-ence from that of a “cattle cart” to that of a comfy living room, he was all ears. “The front end is the last impression

FLOOR SHOWThe flooring around the front end area was designed to guide shoppers from the main thoroughfare (wood paneling) to the front end zone (light tiles) to the individual checkout lanes.

Cover Story

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© 2011 Tyson Foods, Inc. Trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by Tyson Foods, Inc. or its subsidiaries.

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Laura Liras, Lipari Foods, on tysondeli.com…“Fact-based, direct and relevant.”

80 | Progressive Grocer | Ahead of What’s Next | September 2011

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we give our customer,” says Romano. “If there was anything we could do to make their checkout experience more appealing and comfortable, it was worth exploring.”

Now the front end area of his Byram Township, N.J., store is a model others in the industry would do well to replicate.

The research Kraft referred to was the basis of a three-part front end special report published in Progres-sive Grocer under the title “Lasting Impressions: Rethinking the Front End,” which concluded with recom-mendations for optimizing the front end experience.

Produced with research partners Meridian Consulting and Shook Kel-ley, the Kraft-sponsored project aimed to understand the motivations and emotions of shoppers as they approach the front end zone, and to use that knowledge to design a more positive experience.

The study differed from most of the current front end research in that it didn’t focus on assortment, or examine only issues such as rack space or cost sharing. Rather, it was a comprehen-sive effort that employed new research techniques to deeply understand the shopper experience and to recommend changes to the front end that will leave a more positive last impression of the store, which in turn will drive major improvements in front end conversion and higher shopper loyalty.

The research revealed six key ac-tions retailers can take to successfully transform their stores’ front ends:

1. Physically delineate the front end as its own “zone” and de-partment

2. Clearly separate “shopping” from “checking out”

3. Create a compelling and unify-ing appearance at the front end

4. Control traffic flow5. Communicate with customers6. Excite, delight, surprise

Kraft and Shook Kelley used these recommendations as a guide to rede-signing the Byram Township store’s front end.

“The goal for this project was to develop a front end concept that would drive shopper satisfaction so they return to the store and ultimately grow sales at the front end,” says Craig Simon, customer VP, sales plan-ning for Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft. “While the first phase sought to create a radically better front end experience

through futuristic concepts, this sec-ond phase of the project was to drive front end conversion through design elements in a closer-in fashion. Our customers are looking for solutions for the here and now, so we made sure the concepts were executable in the current store environment,” continues Simon, noting that the concept “focused on providing a more interesting, engaging and pleasurable front end experience that puts shoppers in a relaxed state of mind and keeps them in a shop-

MORE PRODUCT, FEWER FIXTURESWire racks were eliminated and wood shelving was used to better highlight the various candies and gums. Less space is devoted to magazines.

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ping mindset throughout the checkout process.”

Creating the Zone

Just as most departments have their own look and feel, Shook Kelley sought to give the store’s front end its own unifying characteristics. “You want to make the front end a zone, in the way meat is a zone and bakery is a zone,” says Kevin Kelley, found-ing partner and principal of the Los Angeles-based design firm. “Most front ends today are just large open areas with checkout stations in them.”

The zone designation was achieved by developing décor in the perimeter walls, including signage, colors and materials that were unique to the front end area, relating to the overall store while clearly marking a threshold. This included employing a consistent language in the materials and graphics of the fixtures that tied to the rest of the front end décor; changing the floor finish to delineate the front end zone generally, as well as around each indi-vidual checkout; developing a lighting plan specific to the front end; and clearly defining the customer path.

“You want to differentiate the front end from the rest of the store, as well as from the self-checkout area,” explains Kelley. “To do this, you have to visually separate them. We ac-complished this by highlighting the customer path using different floor finishes and adding a higher element in the form of canopies, and both work together to define the front end area. We also developed various levels of communication such as navigational signs, merchandising information and exploration, and retailer messages.”

Indeed, upon entering the checkout area, one is struck by how completely different it feels from the rest of the store. “When the customer gets to that shopping area, she knows that something must be happening here, because we have the different-color

floor tiles below and the canopies above,” says Hank Ramberger, general manager of the Byram Township store.”We have additional canopies across the front wall that give the area a marketplace feel.”

The mini end caps at the begin-ning of each lane also emphasize the front end zone while providing an additional sales opportunity. “Often, the shoppers will find items at the end caps that they wanted but forgot about, like ketchup,” says Beverly Ruddick, customer service manager. “It’s an impulse item, but different than the traditional front end items like candy and gum. And it’s found money, because they were already on their way out.”

This differentiation continues within the front end itself. To visu-ally and perceptually break up the monotony and repetition of the store’s 15 rows of regular checkouts, as well as to create visual order and rhythm, Shook Kelley developed a sequence of alternating A and B fixture formats. While each format was merchan-

dised with the same product based on Kraft’s recommended practices, each had slightly different layouts. Additionally, the B fixtures have an open-face cooler, while the A fixtures have a stair-stepped promotional end cap for cross-merchandising.

“Keeping the fixtures below eye level was important to us,” says Kelley. “We grouped the checkouts in groups of three, with one lower checkout in the middle, surrounded by two taller checkouts with canopies to the left and right. We then used floor graphics to accentuate these groupings.”

To accommodate the high volume of this particular store, promotional merchandising fixtures for large quan-tities of single products were placed outside of the front end zone in the middle of the thoroughfare.

In the same way that the front end was designed to reduce chaos and im-prove each shopper’s experience in the physical space, all of the fixtures and merchandising within each checkout unit were designed to avoid the visual chaos often accompanying a clutter

At Kellogg, we understand that keeping our top brands performing up to your expectations means keeping up with the shifting demands of your customers.

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140-10032_Innovation_Ad_Krispies_PGI_Sept.indd 1 8/22/11 4:15 PM

MINI END CAPSSmall end caps at the head of each checkout provide an opportunity for impulse sales of larger items.

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of small-sized front end products, a problem often exacerbated by tradi-tional wire racks, on which, according to Kelley, products can often seem to disappear.

Instead of using wire racks, Kelley installed shelving made of natural materials to create a thicker frame that organizes the product the way a book-shelf does. Products were grouped in sections per shopper mindset, and each category was framed in a differ-ent style or with a different material, and used a different graphic mes-saging. Under-shelf lighting was installed to accent certain products.

“One of the key aspects of the fixture design was to try and get all of the candy to the right of the cus-tomer, all the gum and mints over the belts, and reducing the number of magazines we displayed,” says Ramberger. “The impulse sales opportunities were much greater by doing that. Magazines sell less and less each year because of online and social media. So we thought it was more important to get a larger assortment of gum flavors and mints in front of the customer. We also wanted to get the gum and the candy displayed the way they are at a traditional candy shop, which is why we eliminated the wire and instead use wood and Plexiglas for greater visibility. That added a lot of ‘pop’ to the design as well, because now you saw packages instead of cardboard boxes.”

Upping the Self-checkout Ante

The self-checkout area underwent the most dramatic change of all of the front end elements, as the research revealed that this was a major area of frustration for shoppers.

“In our studies, we found that the two main reasons people are not shop-ping the self-checkout area is because of the anxiety of the poor line delinea-tion, and the need to concentrate on

the technology once in front of the machine,” says Kelley. “Therefore, besides creating a very well-delineated area, we decided to pull the product outside of the actual checkout area, where people are mostly preoccupied with the technology.”

This area, which Kelley refers to as an “ante-room,” is a pre-checkout shopping zone where grab-and-go products are merchandised, including quick prepared foods in an open-face cooler. This area was designed to feel like a small convenience shopping

area, centered by a set of nesting tables and decorative pendant fixtures. A series of floor and wall graphics directs shoppers to the self-checkout area, and to enter it, they must walk through this zone.

“The self-checkout was probably the most exciting part of this proj-ect, because no one has attempted to rethink what the potential of this zone could be,” says Simon. “Most self-checkouts today tend to blend into the rest of the front end. We know this checkout attracts a differ-ent kind of shopper: younger, on the go, more comfortable with technol-

ogy, someone who likes control. We wanted to clearly distinguish this area from regular checkout to cater to this unique shopper.”

In addition to the prepared food offerings, a small selection of impulse merchandising is displayed to the side of each checkout machine. At the center of the self-checkout zone is a concierge podium, placed in a promi-nent area to help calm shopper anxiety over queuing, and also for an associate to make him- or herself available to help with the technology if needed.

“What the redesign brings, especially in the self-checkout area, is order,” says Mike Boeger, store manager. “Whenever there is heavy traffic, when a store can provide some kind of order, it calms people down a bit. We have directional arrows [and] a ‘You are Next’ floor graphic at the head of the self-checkout line.”

The layout also helps the staff create that order as well. “For quite a while, we have been encourag-ing all of our front end attendants and customer service managers to make sure that they are visible and out there in front of the customer,” says Ramberger. “When people are waiting in line, they really don’t mind as long as they feel that somebody is aware of it. So we

put a podium out in front of the cash registers that is manned by a customer service associate, and it’s easily visible to customers waiting in line. It’s made a huge difference.”

What it all adds up to is shoppers enjoying their final experience in the store. “Simply put, environment affects behavior,” says Simon. “There’s little attempt right now to affect shopper behavior at the front end, resulting in a very functional, transactional space. The end goal was to drive greater sales by simplifying shopping decisions at the front, and making it easier and more enjoyable to shop.” PG

LESS CHAOSThe self-checkout area has a clearly defined queuing area to minimize confusion among shoppers lining up to use them.

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P rice Chopper executives recently held audience to several groups proposing various strategic ini-

tiatives, among them, one for increas-ing checkout capacity during peak times, another for encouraging healthy eating among college students, a third that was a convenience offering around price Chopper’s Central Market store brand, and a fourth that centered on a flexible spending program for college students.

While each idea is being con-sidered for implementation at Price Chopper, what’s so surprising about the above strategies is that they were developed and presented by college students — as part of Price Chopper’s third annual Ultimate Innovation Competition.

“The student’s ideas really hit the mark with what we at Price Chopper are trying to deliver every day and what is important to our customers,” says Mark Chandler, SVP of supply chain for Price Chopper, who runs the competition. “And that is stay-ing healthy, having a great shopping experience, feeling appreciated and receiving a great value.”

Price Chopper developed the competition as a way to offer students the opportunity to showcase innova-tive ideas to a panel of the grocer’s executives. Through this competi-tion, students are presented with the

opportunity to develop an original, creative, and innovative concept that would be relevant and meaningful to Price Chopper.

This year, Price Chopper expanded the competition by inviting both undergraduate and graduate students in all colleges and universities located across its entire six-state trading area to participate. More than 75 initial one-page submissions were submit-ted for the initial round. These were narrowed down to 21 teams for the semifinal round, in which the student teams were asked to develop their ideas into well-developed proposals for Price Chopper’s executive judging panel to review. Of these, six teams

were invited to the grocer’s Schenect-ady, N.Y., headquarters to profession-ally present their ideas to its executive team.

“The competition is about more than just generating innovative ideas,” says Chandler. “It’s also about expos-ing some of the brightest students in our six-state region to the fact that the grocery retail industry is dynamic, exciting and challenging. The students learn through the competition that they can have a great, rewarding career and we need them in this industry. The students’ view of Price Chopper evolves from a place to buy groceries to that of a major corporation where their talents can be put to great use, where

Ultimate InnovationsPrice Chopper’s annual college competition brings real-world experience to students and actionable ideas to the grocer.

By Joseph Tarnowski

Students develop an innovative concept that would be relevant to Price Chopper

From left to right: Jerry Golub (Price Chopper), Cody Normyle, Monika Ad-erbauer, Brendan Gerrity, Christopher Hayes, Mark Davis (Bentley Univer-sity professor) and Mark Chandler (Price Chopper)

Open Innovation

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September 2011 | progressivegrocer.com | 87

they will be challenged and can make a difference. This was the primary goal we started out with three years ago.”

Students were asked to form teams and work with a faculty advisor to focus their ideas around one of the following categories: • Retailstoreoperations• Supplychain/distributionmanagement(includingware-housingandtransportation)

• Merchandising/marketing(in-cludingadvertisingorpublicrelations)

• Humanresources(includingtrainingandrecruiting)

A total of $30,000 was awarded to the following teams:

$8,000 Winning Team: Bentley University (Increasing Checkout Capacity During Peak Periods)

n Team Members: Monika Ader-bauer, Brendan Gerrity, Christo-pher Hayes, Cody Normyle

n Faculty Advisors: Mark Davis and James Salsbury

This team focused on increasing checkout capacity during holidays and other peak periods. It conducted extensive research at one of Price Chopper’s Massachusetts stores, and according to Price Chopper, gave one of the most professional presentations it’s seen in its three years of holding the competition. Based on their research, team members made several recom-mendations about how the company can both increase checkout capacity and reduce customer wait times during these peak periods.

“Winning first prize obviously reflects very positively on both the students and Bentley University,” says Mark M. Davis, professor of operations management and one of the coaches for the Bentley team. “What made the award even more impressive was that the judges voted unanimously to award the Bentley team first place. Price Chopper should be commended for be-ing one of the leading companies in ad-vancing this emerging concept known as open innovation where companies go

outside their corporate walls in seeking innovative suggestions for improving their operations.

More importantly,” adds Davis, “Price Chopper’s Ultimate Innovation Competition focuses exclusively on academic institutions for these new ideas, which allows students the op-portunity to practice what we preach in the classroom. As one of the students on the team said to me afterwards, ‘I learned more from doing this project for Price Chopper than in any other course I took at Bentley.’”

Following are the runners-up, and summaries of their submissions:

$7,000 Winning Team: Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sci-ences (The HealthyU Challenge)

n Team Members: Zarina Jalal, Heena Patel, Laura Schmalzle, Adam Spaulding

n Faculty Advisor: Angela Domi-nelli

This team of pharmacy students developed what it called the “HealthyU Challenge,” targeting college stu-dents. By enrolling in the HealthyU Challenge, both students and their respective colleges will be rewarded for purchasing healthier foods. The goal of this innovation is to reward young shoppers for making healthy food choices and educate participants in their pursuit to eat healthy.

$6,000 Winning Team: Rensse-laer Polytechnic Institute (Central Market)

n Team Members: Linette Co-olong, Scott Kretschmann, Anne McDonough, Matthew Naza-renko, Danielle Petko

n Faculty Advisor: Jason Kuru-zovich

This team proposed that Price Chopper could benefit greatly by offer-ing a “Central Market” convenience-type offering within some of its stores. This store-within-a-store would allow busy consumers to get in and out quickly and provide more grab-and-go meal solutions.

$4,000 Winning Team: Albany

College of Pharmacy & Health Sci-ences (Chopper Change)

n Team Members: Scott Beeman, Arthur Gedal, Joel Messina, AnneMarie Nardolillo, Michael Zappone

n Faculty Advisor: Angela Domi-nelli

This group proposed that Price Chopper target Millennials through the development of a collegiate flex spending program. This would include a Chopper Change card — a prepaid card that college students could use at any Price Chopper to purchase grocer-ies. Price Chopper would team with select colleges to offer this program to students as a way of gaining loyal customers early on in life.

$3,000 Winning Team: Rensse-laer Polytechnic Institute (Chopper Shopper Idol)

n Team Members: Christopher Babie, Madhura Deshpande, Yanbin Li, Saralise Ming, Lei Zhang

n Faculty Advisor: Jason Kuru-zovich

These students suggested that Price Chopper tap into the growing social gaming industry. The concept behind the Chopper Shopper Idol social game is for customers to engage with Price Chopper in a fun way on both Face-book and their smartphones. Based in-store, the game would require the player to navigate through the aisles and departments during a given chal-lenge.

$2,000 Winning Team: Utica Col-lege (Campus Choppers)

n Team Members: Matthew Gonyea, Zack Siegel, Michael Sullivan, Megan Suwek

n Faculty Advisor: Pamela HurleyThis team focused on developing

a Price Chopper store that would be located on college campuses. The mini Choppers would provide both better food choices for college students and real-life retail management experience for students managing the stores for course credit. PG

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88 | Progressive Grocer | Ahead of What’s Next | September 2011

In traditional checkout program models, retailers have typically focused on reward and entertainment. Reward has been reflected in confectionery items and

beverages, and entertainment has been reflected in peri-odicals. While there may be some other category display considerations, they have typically been minimized.

Redundancy of the product mix across checkout lanes is a key feature of the traditional model. Thus, the average retailer will have most of its checkout lanes displaying 30 to 50 magazines. Though beverage coolers may be interspersed, publications will still be a dominant feature, enveloping the coolers and wrapping the checkout area. A block of confec-tionery products may also be seen across all lanes.

Within this traditional scenario, major marketing forces are at play. Magazine companies use the metrics of single-copy distribution to establish their advertising revenue and, therefore, won’t necessarily seek to promote SKU rationalization based on sales. In most instances, magazine agencies and distributors promote their mar-keting relationships by favoring the magazine titles that pay for representation. In addition, those publishers that produce a stable of magazines with their own market-ing arms seek to promote their interests above the other titles that may, in fact, have greater sales potential. This complex competition for space has also been historically skewed by the payment of rebates established by the publishing industry to incentivize the retailer to abandon an actively managed retail location.

Today, there are many reasons for decreased magazine sales, but shifts in technology are at the core of this issue.

With a national annual trend of double-digit declines in the sales and profitability of magazines, the significant allocation of space to fill a checkout program is extremely unproductive. Though there are magazine titles in the category that could justify their continuity based on sales velocity, the continued allocation of space for titles that don’t sell is dangerous to the financial health of an organization, since it requires a retailer to assign working capital to inventory that doesn’t turn.

In relation to the confectionery category, retailers have also typically not leveraged or maximized the returns available from this area. The primary issue is similar to the situation in publications as it relates to SKU justi-

fication. More often than not, a “category captain” is a gatekeeping entity. Evidence of this is the typically unbalanced distribution of SKUs to one vendor or the suppression of optimal product placement in a planogram array. In extreme instances, some vendors seek to com-pletely isolate their SKUs from the aggregated planogram of confectionery products they compete with. The effect of this manipulation creates a self-fulfilling sales model in which a vendor may appear to outrank or outsell other products with less advantageous placement. However, for the retailer, the impact is actually a catastrophic erosion of the growth of the consumer’s basket. The lack of a balanced, cross-merchandised planogram in any category, especially confectionery, impedes growth.

Redundancy of declining categories and unbalanced pla-nograms aren’t the faults of the vendor community. They’re simply the endpoints of a declining business model. Just as

Front End Leadership

Checkout Strategies by Edward Novick

Running a successful front end often requires a departure from the norm.

Onlythroughchangesincorporatecultureandkeyleadership valuescanthecheckoutareaevolve.

Front End Focus

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the checkout is a micro-economic model of the store, so, too, is it a micro-economic model of leadership in the corpo-rate culture. Only through changes in corporate culture and key leadership values can the checkout area evolve.

A leader’s vision can steward the motivational and collaborative effort needed to succeed. It’s paramount for management to leverage all tools in and out of the organization, to move the organization to new levels of performance. Five essential principles can serve as guides to navigate this complex environment:1) Winning is Better Than Losing. The front end team

must collaborate and embrace a process that encour-ages experimentation and open information exchange. The network effect rewards the organization that shares and encourages success.

2) Success is Hard Work. The history of the tradi-tional checkout program is built on complacency and perceived entitlement. Fear of failure and a lack of ac-countability lead to complacency. A large organization shouldn’t be insular; it needs to be confident and think outside the box. Entrepreneurial spirit and account-ability must be fostered to create an environment of continual reinvestment to build success.

3) The Talent of Management Enhances the Tal-ent of the Team. Inspirational leadership creates a sense of unity and collaboration. Declining orga-nizations have individuals scrambling for their own success instead of the success of the team. Thus, in many instances, leadership must come from outside the existing corporate structure to invite openness, transparency and timely communication. The leader is the mentor, striving to build the support systems that build the confidence to win.

4) Winners Think Small as Well as Big. The small incremental changes in the area of the checkout, such as cutting unproductive items, better planogramming and broadened category inclusion, require the micro-management of a detailed marketing plan. This acute attention to detail in the checkout program can lead to a 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent of total overall gross com-pany revenue, with profit margins up to 20 times higher than the store’s average profit. Small leads to big.

5) The Secret of Winning is how you Handle Losing. If the traditional checkout model isn’t trending toward growth, it’s a loser. The sooner the organization de-parts from its past and reinvents its future, the sooner the organization can decisively win. PG The author is president of Albertson, N.Y.-based

Dorset Industries Inc., a vertically integrated company that leverages its intellectual property to fulfill its mis-sion statement to maximize the overall velocity of sales for its retail customers. He may be reached at Edward-Novick@dorsetindustries.com.

PG IndependentFront End Focus

RIP: Don HaggenD on Haggen, who led the growth of a family grocery

business from one store to as many as 34, died Aug. 25, in Bellingham, Wash., after a brief illness. He

was 80.Haggen, along with his brother Rick, grew their parents’

family business, Haggen Inc., to be the largest independent grocer in the Pacific Northwest. His parents, Ben and Doro-thy Haggen, operated a single grocery store in Bellingham when he joined the business in 1957.

In 1973, Don and Rick Haggen became the primary stockholders of Haggen Inc. Don Haggen became president in 1973 and in 1989 was promoted to chairman/CEO. The Haggen brothers were also co-chairmen of Haggen Inc. until earlier this year. The company now operates 13 Haggen Food & Pharmacy stores and 16 TOP Food & Drug stores in Washington and Oregon.

Haggen held leadership positions in numerous organiza-tions, including the Coca-Cola Chairman’s Council and the Western Association of Food Chains.

A memorial service was held Sept. 1 at St. Paul’s Episco-pal Church in Bellingham.

— James Dudlicek

PG 0911 074-090 PG INDY.indd 89 9/7/11 10:12 AM