From the recent layoff of 700 workers at Shaw’s to the impending demise of the Johnnie’s Foodmaster chain to more Whole Foods and Wegmans stores, the Massachusetts supermarket industry is undergoing a serious makeover as it faces stagnant sales and new types of competition.
Part of it is the tenuous economy — consumers are more frugal than ever, looking for sale items and resisting snack aisle binges.
“People have generally cut back so much, and they continue to cut back,” said Brian Todd, chief executive of the New Jersey-based Food Institute, a trade group that represents the $520 billion supermarket industry.
But something else is happening, too: They’re relying less on supermarkets for groceries.
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