5 things: Independent grocers are dwindling5 things: Independent grocers are dwindling

What happens to the small guys? What happens when you’re the last grocery store in town? The New York Times took a look at one such grocer, in northern Michigan, in the small town of Honor. The only remaining grocery store is Honor Family Market, which was put up for sale in 2021 for $1.1 million, but the owners have since struggled to find a buyer. The grocer is one of a dwindling number of independent grocers left in the U.S. From 1990 to 2015, the number of U.S. independents dropped 39%, to 2,648, with an average of 30 store closings a year, according to a 2021 government report. And all are operating on tight margins in an industry where a significant portion of all grocery sales goes to the big four: Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Albertsons. The grocery store in honor says it’s staying put until it sells. But what then? —Chloe Riley

New jargon from the NRF show: Among the latest buzzwords flying around the National Retail Federation show earlier this week in New York were “agentic AI” and “digital twins.” Agentic AI autonomously takes actions and solves complex problems based on directed objectives. In retail, it can do things like create highly personalized shopping experiences and remove friction from supply chains. A digital twin is a virtual replica of the physical store, mimicking everything from product locations to storage. Retailers can use digital twins to visualize a store’s layout then test new ideas and shopping patterns to improve layout and inventory placement before moving a product or fixture. Both technologies bring us one step closer to a Star Trek future of speaking into a computer and having groceries teleported to our pantries and refrigerators. The future is now. —Ron Margulis

Kroger’s plastic bag backtrack: In 2018, Kroger announced it would eliminate single-use plastic bags from its stores by 2025. But as of Kroger’s latest ESG report, the retailer said “more than 700” of its stores had switched to reusable bags but didn’t commit to a deadline for the bags to be fully removed. Other retailers, like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, have implemented similar bag bans, either to reduce plastic or meet local requirements. So when will Kroger get on board? Only time will tell. —Bill Wilson

A refresh in need of a refresh: There’s nothing quite like the sight of a giant getting hit between the eyes. Walmart, the Godzilla of the grocery marketplace, is taking flak for its roll out of a refreshed logo…with not much of a refresh. The Walmart font and sunburst logo may be a bit chunkier, but otherwise it’s pretty subtle. Aldi and Kwik Trip were among retailers who took to social media to fire a shot. Both posted their own “logo refresh,” which was essentially their current logos side by side with no change. Oooo snap! I have a feeling other competitors will follow Walmart in the logo refresh revolution. Who’s next? —BW

A wolf in the henhouse: A coyote recently ended up inside of a Chicago Aldi and the internet went wild. The coyote somehow made its way into the store, located in the city’s northwest Humboldt Park neighborhood, and ended up being dramatically pulled from behind a cold food shelf. “I was prepared to see him pull out a opossum or a raccoon. Did NOT expect that,” said a user on X. According to reporting from a Chicago NBC affiliate, the coyote was taken in by a wildlife rehabilitation center and is unharmed but “scared.” May he (or she?) recover soon and hopefully too many eggs weren’t gobbled up in the process. —CR