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"Whether or not this new kid will go on to become the prom king or get his head stuck in a toilet is unclear," we wrote when Sunflower market first opened, "but we certainly will come back for more." But we, and others, didn't come back for enough. Minneapolis-based Supervalu will close all five Sunflower locations (there are three in Ohio, one in Indianapolis and the Chicago location.) Supervalu had at one point hoped to open 50 Sunflower stores. The five current stores employed a total of 140 people. A company spokeswoman said only that the stores did not meet the company's goals.
So what went wrong here? We can't speak for the four markets in other cities, but for us, the problem was always Sunflowers' location. While we've done our fair share of jabbing at Whole Foods, when it comes down to it, it seems a little naive to open your competitor down the street from the company's Chicago flagship. Starbucks has made this strategy a successful one, but Starbucks isn't a scrappy start-up, the way Sunflower is. Couple that with the Trader Joe's down the street and Costco around the corner, and it would seem that Sunflower had its work cut out for it.
Image via Rachelleb.
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I liked shopping at Sunflower, but mostly because it was never crowded.
I always thought the produce could have a little better selection. Great quality though.
Where was it? Elston? That's a pretty good shopping area. I don't think that the location had anything to do with it.
Ohhh cause it was near whole foods. yeah good point.
Crud, I liked that store! Couldn't get all my groceries there, but I really liked the things I could get there. I'm going to have to make a run soon and stock up on some stuff.
I liked Sunflower Market for the quick trips where I didn't want to fight parking at either Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. That said, they never had everything I wanted.
Whether or not this is a safe approach to business, I don't know, but: There is certain line of thought which suggests that stores with similar target markets / products tend to be more successful when physically close to each other - as opposed to being the only one. This is often why you see several gas stations on the same corner. I guess the theory is that the perception of competition drives consumers to that area, and it helps regulate the price for whatever goods the businesses have in common.
Again, I'm not really sure I buy that approach, but I think that's probably where Supervalu was coming from when they decided to put their store between Trader Joes and Whole Foods.
I'm not an expert on this subject... I'm not even close...
But isn't it smart to build close to your competition?
Its called the beachfront principle...
The key is to build close to competition... but yet be more convenient (in relation to parking, stop lights... etc)
I always meant to check this place out, but I hate hate hate going to that part of town. It's congested & difficult to navigate & I'm always unhappy when I'm over there.
I liked it, too, when I didn't want to deal with the nightmare that is parking around Whole Foods at North and Sheffield.
Sad to see any competitor of Whole Foods shut down. While Sunflower wasn't exactly cheap (at least compared to TJ's), it helped show you could still provide quality products without charging Whole Foods' prices.
I liked going there because of the lack of crowds, too. But I could never consistently purchase all of my groceries there. They did have a nice, fresh produce selection and a handful of staples I typically buy. But I'd find myself having to make a Whole Foods or TJ's run immediately afterwards. And Sunflower Market used to have a decent sized toiletries/vitamins area, but last time I was there (mid-December), all of that had been removed and replaced with open cardboard boxes of private label shampoos and stuff.
Sunflower, good try, but you won't be missed.
I would have patronized all three of these stores except for one thing: I'd rather rip out my eyeballs and eat them than visit this clusterfuck, nightmare of an area.
Slate recently had an interesting article on the whole competition location thing in terms of Starbucks opening near neighborhood coffee houses. The results were not what you might expect.
The Supervalu board approved the Sunflower concept BEFORE the acquisition of select assets of Albertsons, Inc, including the vast majority of the Jewel and Jewel-Osco stores.
(For those wondering which Jewel and Jewel-Osco stores that were not purchased by Supervalu, it was the locations in Springfield, Il as Supervalu already operated St. Louis-based Shop n' Save stores in Springfield. One of those little FTC things.)
Anyway, the Sunflower concept was acyually meant to be a lower-cost alternative to the now deceased Wild Oats and Whole Foods. Think of Supervalu's price-impact Save-A-Lot stores which are similar to Aldi.
Many of you know that Aldi owns Trader Joe's. Supervalu's thinking was that Save-A-Lot has been a good solid performer with low prices, can they do the same thing on the organic/higher-end food side of the equation, similar to the successful footprint of Trader Joe's.
Unfortunately, with the acquisition of Albertsons, this has changed the company's thinking in a span of less than two years.
Save-A-Lot continues in full force. The wholesale side of the business a what made Supervalu and the ability to have purchased Albertsons.
For Sunflower, why spend the capital on another fromat when you already have two other similar formats (Bristol Farms and Lazy Acres) that are performing very well (considering that some sectors of the economy are sputtering) and on a per-store basis, have a higher return on invested capital and higher than average margin.
The sad thing is for those moderate income shoppers who cannot afford Whole Foods, Sunflower was a good alternative from a pricing perspective. Bristol Farms has higher price points that are on par with Whole Foods. Yet again, in southern California, Bristol Farms has been a great performer and continues to open new loactions.
You read it here first. You can expect Supervalu to roll-out Bristol Farms to areas of the country where it already operates branded retail stores such as Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St.Paul.
I'm surpried the pr hack from Supervalu in Eden Prairie didn't mention their other successful Whole Foods-type formats. At the very least, you will see more private label organic products lining the store shelves of your neighborhood Jewel.
So it opened a year and a half ago and it's already shuttering its doors? That seems a little quick, given that this isn't some mom and pop, it's a division of a large company with what you would think would be deep enough pockets to give it at least a few years before throwing in the towel.
Oh, and +1 to the Clybourn-area clusterfuck comments.
I'm sick of people moaning about how Whole Foods is too expensive. If you shop smartly, it's not: locate the sales; use the coupons in Mambo Sprouts, Conscious Choice, etc; buy the house brands like 365 and Whole Fields; and watch out for those expensive items like Celtic sea salt or whatever.
But on the other hand, those pricier items -- Vosges chocolate, Save Your World products, Terry's Toffees, Ken's Oil, etc. -- help great causes or local companies, so remember that. If you want low, low prices, shop at Costo with the other people who could care less about what they're putting into their bodies.
Maybe if they opened one in a location that doesn't have a grocery store in walking distance, they would have done better. Idiots.
GriffinMill is right RE: the "Whole Paycheck" complaint. I generally find that for my household, which is vegetarian/vegan, the products we buy are generally cheaper than the same products at Dominicks and Jewel.
Also Sunflower never aggressively marketed its presence until late in the game. With all the competitors nearby, you'd think they would have spent more upfront coin to draw in the shoppers early on.