Recent industry reports (12 - 15 months old) on grocery stores in the
US market.  The report should be from a credible organization i.e. not
a high school or college student's paper, or a marketing report for
purposes of selling a product.  A marketing report would be acceptable
if it was an unbiased assessment of the industry.

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Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 14 Apr 2004 22:20 PDT

Hi!

What kind of report do you require? 

Any kind of report as long as it is about the grocery industry?

Would you be willing to buy the report for a separate fee?

Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by soulie-ga on 14 Apr 2004 23:03 PDT

I was looking for the sort of report that gave a  general overview of
the state of the grocery industry in the US, major issues particularly
risks and business trends, industry forecasts and industry
opportunities, some statistics including financials would also be
helpful.  Some reports available for purchase are fairly expensive and
I was hoping to avoid that by finding what was available from other
sources.  Perhaps there are government or industry bodies around who
have issued quarterly reports that look at these things?  If it is not
possible other than through purchase what sort of cost am I looking
at?

thanks

There are two particularly well known sources of information about
grocery stores online.

Supermarket News (www.supermarketnews.com) has a number of articles
about the grocery industry.  They also have a listing of the 75
largest food retailers in the United States with statistics about them
that may be of a special interest to you.

"SN's Top 75" Supermarket News http://www.supermarketnews.com/sntop752004.htm

The Food Marketing Institute (www.FMI.org) has a number of excellent
resources online.  On the "Facts & Figures" page, there are
"Frequently Asked Questions on the food retailing industry," an annual
information package called "Supermarket Facts" that "... serves as a
good introduction to basic supermarket operations and issues," "Key
Industry Facts" about food retailing and grocery stores, and a
"Glossary of Supermarket Terminology."

"Facts & Figures" Food Marketing Institute http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/

I believe the above referenced resources, particularly "Supermarket
Facts," will meet your needs.

"Please note: data for 2003 will be released starting in May of 2004."
"SUPERMARKET FACTS Industry Overview 2002"
http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/superfact.htm

Sincerely,

Wonko

The suggested references covered my needs perfectly.  Thank you.

This may be helpful:

http://www.marketresearch.com/vendors/viewvendor.asp?SID=88197284-286169584-340742484&VendorID=1187

Of course this is market reseach, but isn't all research on the
subject "market" research :P

Several very large corporations control both the wholesale and retail
to the point that small independents are being squeezed out. Likely
some price fixing and other co-operation occurs, but so far this
co-operation (in restraint of trade) is not obvious. A bright side is
Sam's Club (Walmart) where small retailers can obtain some items below
the price from usual suppliers to small retail.
 Computers allow just in time restocking at wholesale, warehouse and
retail levels. This means 1/2 the items will disappear from the
shelves in 24 hours, in event of a prolonged and extensive
transportation failure.   Neil