Content area
Full Text
In the world of supermarket chains, the big boys are getting bigger, and the corner grocer is just about extinct. But in San Diego, a few smaller food chains are staying alive--and even growing.
These include Barons Markets, Stumps Markets Inc., Henry's Markets, Trader Joe's West and Major Markets.
Joe Shemirani, president of Barons Markets, a three-store chain based in San Diego, doesn't fret much about a recent spate of huge grocery-store mergers.
"Our operation is very different from a big grocery store," Shemirani says of his stores, which may only carry 3,000 items. A typical mega-store such as Vons or Lucky can carry 30,000 items.
The concept Barons Markets sells customers is efficiency coupled with top-of-the-line products and prices that may be much lower than the bigger chains.
"We're not going to give you the selection that a big supermarket gives you, but we'll offer you a quality product...and at lower prices," he said.
Instead of a selection of more than two dozen types of pasta sauce, Barons offers just three gourmet types to choose from. As for price, Barons and similar independent chains aren't charging manufacturers' special fees called "spotting fees" to place the product on their shelves, a fact that greatly reduces the cost customers end up paying.
For example, a jar of Swiss-made preserves popular at Barons sells for $1.99; at some of the larger chains, the same product sells between $2.99 and $4.49, Shemirani said.
"Some of the manufacturers (of the food products) have to pay between $50,000 to $70,000 just to have their product to occupy a certain shelf space," he said. "It's amazing how much of a markup is involved in all this."
Shemirani opened his first Barons Market about five years ago in Point Loma, and now has two more--in Del Mar and Encinitas. He plans on opening a new store next year somewhere in North County.
Competing more head-on with the likes of Vons and Lucky is San Diego-based Stumps Markets Inc., with five stores--in Santee, Del Cerro, Kearny Mesa, Point Loma and Rancho Santa Fe.
Dirk Stump, the company's vice president, said the chain hasn't noticed any big impact from the latest mergers but is concerned about what will happen in the future.
"They've...