Supermarket & Retail News July 2021

Contact Us! Chris Martin, CPA Member of the Firm [email protected] John Mellage, CPA Member of the Firm [email protected] SobelCo Livingston, NJ | Paoli, PA | Woodcliff Lake, NJ SobelCoLLC.com/industries/retail-services

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Loan Necessity Questionnaire Loan Necessity Questionnaire No Longer a Necessity! No Longer a Necessity! ….....……………….…...1 By: Chris Martin, CPA, SobelCo The Fresh Grocer Goes Live With New Digital Storefront ...……………….…...1 • On July 9, 2021, the SBA issued a formal

Top 25 Operators by Sales ..…….....2 announcement saying that it would no longer request either version of the Lan Necessity Ushers In Questionnaire: SBA Form 3509 for for-profit Checkoutless Grocery Era .…....………….……...2 borrowers and SBA Form 3510 for nonprofit A Discount Supermarket Will Replace borrowers. One of N.J.’s Shuttered Kmart Stores ...…..…....2

Grocery Store Employment Continues to • Loan Necessity Questionnaires previously Decline as Pandemic Fades ……..………...... 3 requested by the SBA are no longer required to be submitted. How Independent Retailers Can Attract the Best Young Talent to the Grocery Industry ..…..3 Click Here for the Full Article Supermarket Coming to Holmdel? Green and Black Stripes Might Tell the Tale .……………….4 The Fresh Grocer Goes Live

ShopRite to Donate Up to With New Digital Storefront $1 Million to Schools …………………………..….4 • Miami-based ThryveAl said Wednesday that “Our ultimate goal is to create a simple, smooth and intuitive online The Fresh Grocer has gone live on Thryve shopping experience for our customers, and that’s what we Commerce at all of its 11 stores in New Jersey achieved by using ThryveAl to power The Fresh Grocer’s digital storefront. The site is modern, easy to use and clean. We made and , including seven in the improvements to our customer experience, including enhanced area. search functionality, improved navigation features to make it easier to locate specific items, a simplified checkout and time-slot • Thryve multi-site solution allows Wakefern to reservation process, as well as enhanced product landing pages manage the online storefronts of grocery retail that help customers make informed purchasing decisions.” banners from one administration console. Elizabeth Goodbread Director of Digital Commerce, Wakefern Click Here for the Full Article Supermarket & Page 2 Retail News

Top 25 Supermarket Amazon Ushers In Operators by Sales Checkoutless Grocery Era

• While the overall Supermarket News Top • The company has revealed to Progressive 50 Retailers list includes all channels that Grocer that it is bringing its autonomous sell food and grocery—including mass, checkout technology to its Amazon Fresh convenience, drug and dollar, as well as grocery chain, which currently has a footprint grocery wholesalers—this year they also of 13 stores. broken out the traditional supermarket • No other company has launched similar operators from that list for the ranking of technology in a full-size supermarket. the Top 25 by sales. • While customers can come in, shop for the • , and Anhold Delhaize groceries they want, and skip the checkout USA rounds up the top 3 line using Just Walk Out technology, they will • Wakefern Food Corporation comes in at also have the option to use traditional number 9 checkout lanes, staffed by Amazon employees, who will be available throughout the store for assistance.

Click Here for the Full Article Click Here for the Full Article

A Discount Supermarket Will Replace One of N.J.’s Shuttered Kmart Stores

• , a California-based discount supermarket chain, is planning to expand to New Jersey. • The grocer will open its first Garden State store in Hamilton Township, according to Jersey Digs, occupying the space of a former Kmart in Hamilton Plaza at the corner of White Horse Ave. and Kuser Rd.

• The chain, which is based in San Francisco, offers shoppers deals on brand-name groceries. Click Here for the Full Article Supermarket & Page 3 Retail News

Grocery Store Employment Continues to Decline as Pandemic Fades

• Employment at food and beverage stores in the United States fell by 13,000 in June compared with May, extending a steady drop in the number of people working in the sector that began earlier this year. • Grocers are seeing employment in their stores decline as the industry battles intense competition for workers from sectors that had been sidelined by the pandemic.

• Some grocers have turned to signing bonuses to bring potential employees in the door. For example, a recent Google search brought up positions carrying $500 sign-on payments for jobs at stores operated by , Buehler’s Grocery, and . Click Here for the Full Article

How Independent Retailers Can Attract the Best Young Talent to the Grocery Industry

• The challenge is that independent grocers don’t always know the best way to tell the industry’s story in a way that attracts bright young talent. • In reality, there are several aspects of a career in grocery that are attractive to this younger generation that nearly makes up the majority of American’s workforce. 1. Sell them on your vision 2. Signal openness and willingness to change 3. Strengthen your leadership development pipeline Click Here for the Full Article Supermarket & Page 4 Retail News

Amazon Fresh Supermarket Coming to Holmdel? Green and Black Stripes Might Tell the Tale

• A decoration with green and black stripes, which is a part of the façade for Amazon Fresh, has gone up outside the store’s entrance. • Amazon Fresh, which is entering the New Jersey market with stores in Paramus and Woodland Park, declined to comment. “Amazon doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation,” an Amazon spokesperson wrote in an email to What’s Going There. Click Here for the Full Article

ShopRite to Donate Up to $1 Million to Schools

• ShopRite has pledged to donate up to $1 million to the more than 7,000 schools participating in its ShopRite For My School Program, an education rewards program powered by Box Tops for Education. • The program provides incentives to designated schools from ShopRite customers who purchase select General Mills, Wholesome Pantry Organic, Bowl & Basket, Paperbird and Paperbird Premium products. • ShopRite For My School is a year-round program and earnings never expire. The funds are paid to schools by check twice a year during the school year, and earnings received after the close for the spring payout are rolled over in the next year. Click Here for the Full Article

SobelCo Livingston, NJ | Paoli, PA | Woodcliff Lake, NJ SobelCoLLC.com

Auditing & Accounting | Taxation | Client Accounting & Advisory Services | Advisory | Forensic & Valuation Services