LAS VEGAS-They say that one way to “sell” rising food prices is to reduce the size of the box. Is that also true of the box that the box is in? Panelists weighed in on the very topic during a session titled “Not Your Grandma’s Grocery Store,” run by moderator Larry Casey, president and COO of Donahue Schriber, based in Costa Mesa, CA. But according to panelists, all are in expansion mode and are generally sticking to their current box structure, which is a huge step up from where they were in years past.
Donald Wright, senior vice president of real estate and engineering at Safeway Inc., who says he is “seeing big efforts into health and wellness going forward,” tells attendees at ICSC RECon2012 that the firm plans to have many projects in the pipeline this year. Wright explained that the new store model includes open space, good neighborhoods, simple layouts, range of items, ample parking, open pharmacy, and an “inviting bakery” among others, all “designed to fit the way you live.”
Wright said that the company plans many “redevelopments of its existing facilities,” this year. He also said that although the company doesn’t want to become “the world’s biggest developer,” the company has taken the approach over the past few years to “do it ourselves rather than relying on outside developers.” The reason for this, he said, is because many of the developers they had to rely upon had disappeared over the past few years, and haven’t come forward. “But we are seeing them start to come now,” he said.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Globe St.
