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The competitive pressures have increased, and the battle to retain even a slight profit margin on goods sold will never end, but Richard B. Iott can point to results from the last four quarters and say that Seaway Food Town, Inc. remains the northwest Ohio grocery market leader.
"The last four quarters--the last three of our 1994 fiscal year and the first for the 1995 fiscal year--are the best consecutive quarters we've had in about five years," said Iott
The company's shares earned 50c for the most recent quarter, and same-store sales were up 3.3% over the first quarter of 1994. The numbers can be considered important when measuring the effect of the new competition provided by the Toledo area presence of the highly-regarded Meijer, Inc. chain.
When looking back at the last two years and the entry of Michigan-based Meijer into the Toledo area with four large combination grocery and discount stores, Iott points to some positive aspects.
"In many respects it was probably something that was good. We've had Kroger as a darn good competitor for years. But having someone like Meijer coming in made us step back and do things we should have...