FBFC’s Plan for 2016 By Bobby Sullivan, General Manager
In many ways, our strategy for 2016 remains the same as it has been for the last few years. We are acutely focused on maximizing our sales per square foot in the current space, while planning for a major expansion. Although, now that we’ve had a few years of success to build on and as we attempt to position ourselves for a successful expansion, some priorities are changing, as far as which elements will help us get to the next level. Primary among the initiatives becoming more important, is our community’s perception of our affordability and accessibility. Data from all the market research I’ve done for the 2016 plan, shows that more and more stores will be adapting to the newly competitive retail grocery marketplace by doing things more like co-ops, or at least appearing to. We will have to hone our skills and do a better job broadcasting the value of this model, but because trends are going our way, we will be able to leverage our strengths as key reasons more and more consumers should come our way. And you can help us do this! Spread the word about the Co-op and how when you shop here, your dollars stay in the local economy.
Our competitors will be driven by data, as it’s never been more available before, but we can be driven by experience and data. Meanwhile, our relationships with our community must continue to be authentically driven by the grass roots – that’s you. “Overall, retailers will have the opportunity to store and manage massive data sets derived from point of sale, supply chain, and consumer input via loyalty cards or social media interactions. The ability to provide this level of analytical insight and to use it to manage all other parts of the business, including the shopper, will, we anticipate, determine which retailers will thrive and succeed through 2020.”1 Retailing 2020: Winning in a Polarized World (quoted above) is the continuation of the main source for last year’s plan Retailing 2015: New Frontiers. These market forecasts not only give us a window into what we might want to adopt as strategies for the future, they also tell us what directions the big players in the industry are taking, or at least considering. Again, what is striking is how much these bigger companies continued on page 3