Jewel Expands Local Focus, Private Label To Stem Same-Store Sales Declines

Jewel-Osco and Save-A-Lot owner Supervalu Inc. is continuing to cut prices while tailoring its stores to neighborhoods, launching new private-label products and revamping its website as it seeks to reverse sagging sales, company executives said Tuesday.

"We know we must get our everyday base pricing in line with our competition," Chief Executive Craig Herkert said at an investors conference in Chicago. He cautioned that the improvements won't take place overnight, but that an eight-pronged transformation plan launched last year is putting the company on the right path.

Supervalu has seen 12 straight quarters of declining same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year. In the the most recent quarter, same-store sales dropped 5 percent. Herkert told analysts in an April earnings call that Chicago results fell below the corporate average but did not provide a specific figure.

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