PL Buyer’s own Steven Lichtenstein, publisher, presented the award to the Safeway private label team during the PL Buyer/Deeb MacDonald & Associates Private Label Share Group meeting that took place on April 9 in Pleasanton, Calif.

Congratulations to all involved in helping Safeway achieve recognition as this year’s PL Buyer Retailer of the Year!

The challenge began three years ago in a small number of test stores, explained Maria Brous, director of media and community relations for Publix, but was rolled out chain-wide last year as a result of positive consumer response.

“We believe in our private label products; we believe in the quality of our products, or we wouldn’t put our Publix name on them,” she said. “Our private label brand has continued to increase, and I can’t tell you that it’s directly related to this [campaign]. … We can only say that customers have responded well — they ask for it; they look for it.”

This year’s challenge paired up three to four national brand items each week with their Publix private label counterparts, Brous said. Although shoppers were limited to “one deal per item,” they were allowed to take advantage of all the items in each week’s challenge promotion.

All of Publix’ private label products meet or exceed the national brand standards, she added. The yearly challenge helps shoppers realize they can get the “best of both worlds” — lower prices and high-quality products.

“Our private label products help consumers save anywhere from 10 to 30 percent on products, so they’re really benefiting from a savings,” Brous said. “But they’re also not sacrificing quality or taste.”

The reaction from the national brand manufacturers? So far, so good, Brous said.

“In today’s competitive market, we felt it was time to take a creative approach that will give people the opportunity to shop the way they think, and have fun while doing it,” said David Schools, Piggly Wiggly CEO. “When you enter the Piggly Wiggly at The Market Common, you don’t see checkout lines. You don’t go down five aisles to get ingredients for one meal. We’ve even added interior design elements, including wood flooring, soft lighting and an open floor plan to make it feel more like home.”

A company spokesperson said that Piggly Wiggly put itself into the mindset of a shopper to accomplish the store’s makeover, grouping things together in ways people naturally would use them.

“[For example], our dairy department features milk, cheese and butter, as you might see in a traditional layout,” the spokesperson said, “but we also thought about other things that you traditionally purchase along with milk. So in the dairy department in the Piggly Wiggly at The Market Common you will also find cereal.

“It makes sense from a purchasing standpoint, but it also appeals to convenience,” she added. “Why run to several different aisles to get all the items you need for breakfast? … Bread is adjacent to dairy; now you’ve got your toast, too.”

Ice cream also gets to live in the dairy department, the spokesperson explained. And all beverages (except milk) are grouped in another area, as are all fruits and vegetables — fresh, frozen and canned. Piggly Wiggly said it relies on advanced refrigeration systems and other technologies to arrange food items in such a way.

One-stop stations offer complete meals solutions — such as ground beef, hamburger buns, chips and beer for backyard grilling, the company said. Moreover, an on-site Dream Dinners franchise allows customers to prepare as many as two months’ worth of oven-ready meals.

“Our store brand items are featured in their respective store departments alongside the national brands,” the spokesperson added. “Additionally, Piggly Wiggly works very hard to carry as much locally grown produce, locally caught seafood and locally produced products as possible.”

The store also features energy-saving measures ranging from special lighting to insulation in the walls and ceilings, Piggly Wiggly said. Such measures are expected to save more than 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity and prevent the formation of 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually. — K. Canning

Raymon Ray, writer of Tech Basics for Entrepreneur.com, recently made the connection between a company’s Web site and its ability to serve as a salesperson in an article posted on March 13.   

“If you think of your Web site as a sales person, you’ll begin to think of it as more than just a glorified brochure,” Ray said. “You’ll even want it to be better designed, since you probably want your sales reps to look good.”

To assess the performance level and look of your “online associate,” Ray suggests retailers ask themselves a series of questions developed by Local Na8ion.com, which offers free online marketing and advertising tips to retailers:

• Does your Web site know everything about your business that it should?

• Do you measure your Web site’s success (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)?

• Do you offer your Web site “training” on your business fundamentals, new trends or economic changes in your local market?

• Does your Web site have all your current products, services and pricings?  

According to Ray, a company’s Web site is one of its best — if not the best — selling tools.