Jewel-Osco launches new kosher supermarket - One-Stop Kosher Experience - Abstract

DSN Retailing Today, August 20, 2001

CHICAGO -- Jewel-Osco's first full-service kosher supermarket in Highland Park is the latest example of a plan by Albertson's to improve its stance as a competitive grocer by targeting specific demographic groups. The One-Stop Kosher Experience opened Aug. 2 at 1600 Deerfield Rd. in a retrofitted 70,000-sq.-ft. Jewel-Osco combination supermarket and drugstore.

"Our whole neighborhood marketing effort is really focused on the belief that if you give customers what they want, they'll come back," said Jewel-Osco spokeswoman Karen Ramos.

Though the Jewel-Osco division of Albertson's operates 14 stores in the same market with select kosher items, only at the Highland Park location is the selection extensive. The store has all the regular food items found in a typical Jewel-Osco plus full-service kosher deli, meat and bakery departments. The department is supervised by the Orthodox Union and has a full-time mashgiach, Rabbi Hershey Reichman. Ramos said more than 550 skus of kosher food in dry grocery, dairy and pre-packaged deli were added, plus 24 ft. of kosher frozen food items.

Ramos estimated half of the store's customer base is Jewish. She said some of these shoppers travel up to 50 miles to find kosher food in this particular market.

"Customers that keep the kosher dietary laws often go to small retailers where they purchase those kosher items, but they have to go to another store to purchase things like paper towels and detergent," she said.

With the store aptly named the One-Stop Kosher Experience, customers can now buy all the kosher food they need in addition to nonfood items. Sales have been particularly strong and haven't cannibalized regular food departments, Ramos said.

Beyond the new kosher supermarket, Ramos said Jewel-Osco and Albertson's have been moving toward increasingly tailoring their assortments to neighborhoods. Stores that have a large Latino customer base, for example, receive additional food items in demand by this group.

Whether the Kosher Experience is rolled out to other parts of the country hasn't been determined. Ramos said Jewel-Osco will evaluate the store's performance over the next few months.