Who is the top grocer in the Northwestern U.S.?

TOP TAKEAWAYS

The state of grocery varies considerably across regions according to the latest report by the traffic analytics platform Placer.ai. The result? Albertsons topped the list as the most popular grocery banner in three-out-of-five Northwestern states: Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. 

Safeway, also owned by Albertsons Companies, Inc., was the most-visited grocery chain in Washington. And Fred Meyer, owned by The Kroger Company, enjoyed the highest visit share in Oregon. Safeway posted 26.5% of the regional visit share to all of the analyzed chains. Albertsons, conversely, only got 8.9%, despite being the top chain in numerous states. 

WinCo Foods, which serves as an off-price grocery chain in 10 states, is a brand to watch with visits rising quickly. At WinCo stores in Washington and Oregon, for example, visits were up 4.7% during April year-over-year.

The report spans the second quarter of 2023 and focused on the Northwest — an area encompassing Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

While several big chains may dominate the nationwide grocery scene, food shopping remains a highly localized affair. The blog breaks it down: “For Texans, there’s nothing quite like H-E-B, and Northeasterners can’t get enough Stop & Shop. In the Northwest, Albertsons banners win the day, with Kroger’s Fred Meyer close behind. But the significant growth experienced by employee-owned WinCo shows that there’s plenty of room for smaller players in the grocery space — especially those that offer inflation-wary shoppers low-cost alternatives.”

Related:Safeway settles another lawsuit, this one for $8.75M