But there probably wasn't enough room in Wilson for both stores. Food Lion and Wal-Mart offered shoppers cheaper grocery prices, but Harris-Teeter and Farm Fresh aimed for the same customer base of more affluent and discriminating shoppers who appreciated higher quality and more extensive selections of fresh foods. Both stores also provided greater customer service. Farm Fresh's location was just a stone's throw from Harris-Teeter's old location, which remains vacant. Customers would have to pass Farm Fresh when traveling from the old H-T space to the new, larger store.
Harris-Teeter shrewdly lured its old customer base to its new location by mailing $20 coupons for any $50 purchase. Later, the coupons were for $10 off on a $40 purchase. Holders of the store's VIC cards got the coupons in the mail. The deep discounts were enough to keep shoppers coming to H-T and countered Farm Fresh's efforts to lure those customers away. Farm Fresh relied on extensive newspaper advertising and its pledge to forgo the loyal customer cards H-T, Kroger and Food Lion use. But the twice-weekly ads weren't enough to counter H-T's dollars-off coupons and customers' loyalty, so Farm Fresh will close in February, leaving a big hole in the shopping center where Home Depot is also trying to attract customers from an entrenched competitor.
Farm Fresh's closing is especially bad news for The Wilson Daily Times on two counts: The loss of substantial advertising revenue will further hurt the already-reeling newspaper's bottom line. The closing also discredits the power of newspaper advertising. The newspaper ads didn't succeed for Farm Fresh. The direct-mail worked for Harris-Teeter. Other retailers are likely to take notice.
The paper has already laid off better than 5 percent of its work force (count me as Exhibit A), and this revenue loss will put more pressure on the paper to cut costs. My contacts at the paper tell me that Farm Fresh is not the only bad news. Sears and BB&T are also cutting back their advertising in the WDT. For the WDT, hard times might be just beginning, despite the tremendous increase in Wilson's retail structure over the past five years.
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3 comments:
As sad as the subject matter is, and it is, I had to chuckle at the shaedenfreude in that piece. Of course, unintentional. (a hem).
Getting back to the demise and revolving door of Wilson's retail frenzy. Farm Fresh had a terrible lay out, horrible country music playing every time I went in there, and a clientele of mostly, how to put this... not Wilson's old and new high society matrons, et al. shopping in there. Plus, they had one of THE worst parking lots. (More bad Planning).
What I would like to know is, did they get incentives? Wilson gives out a ton of those you know. And we never hear what happens to the cash (our cash) after these companies (and stores) up and leave.
Case in point were the two industries that recently closed (without giving their employees any notice). Wilson, via those that we keep around to lure business, need to address this issue. As do the City leaders. So far, I've heard not a peep. Although Wilson in general is still stuck in a sort of "What's it to you?" mode.
You are correct about HT's coupons via direct mail. Plus, they started out bribing folks with a $50.00 gas card to switch a new prescription over to their pharmacy. All brilliant marketing ploys; especially when gas was at, or near 4 bucks a gallon. Although I am not so sure this had anything to do with Farm Fresh closing.
"The newspaper ads didn't succeed for Farm Fresh. The direct-mail worked for Harris-Teeter. Other retailers are likely to take notice."
....the problem as you pointed out was bribery. HT's success had more to do w/ the coupons they offered and the 'bogo' deals they often promote than the diff of the adv technique/methods. I always scanned FF's inserts and always came away shaking my head they would never make it. All FF had to do was match similar coupon pricing in their wdt newspaper inserts and I will guarantee it would have generated a decent customer base. Pricing is the king in luring grocery shoppers, especially in this economic environment.
FF promotional pricing to get shoppers in their store was non-existent. HT cleaned FF's clock on luring the real grocery shopper
inside to set the trap.
Ride by the Piggly Wiggly on Ward. The past few weeks it has been packed on weekday early afternoons. They must be doing something right. And it is a pretty nice store. The Pig needs to keep the promotional pricing going on their upper end products to lure that group into the store.
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