2021 Stop & Shop NE ROY

The team at a Stop & Shop in Quincy, Massachusetts, from left, Front End Manager Marilyn Federico, Floral Manager Maria Alves, Store Manager Bryan Cramond, Pharmacist Hai Wu and Assistant Store Manager Luca Venterosa.

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year From innovation to omnichannel, grocer continues to ‘Feed the Moment’

The Griffin Report of the Northeast’s 2021 Retailer of the Year is Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop. An Ahold Delhaize USA company, it employs 58,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

Over the course of its storied 107-year history, Stop & Shop has become a household name in the region. It’s known for a neighborhood approach, with stores catering to their often diverse customer bases.

Despite the enormous pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grocer maintained an ambitious remodel program that is bringing a refreshed, yet familiar, look to its stores. In 2020, it completed 33 store renovations, with another 55 planned in 2021.

The company also is keeping pace with the latest innovations to

provide customers an omnichannel experience.

Stop & Shop’s new e-commerce site, also unveiled in 2020, allows shoppers to build their shopping lists and shop directly from the weekly digital circular and relevant in-app and on-site promotions. Its current campaign, “Feed the Moment,” taps into the emotional bond of groceries.

“Food plays a part in everybody’s life,” said President Gordon Reid. “And it’s a key part and every time you get together, or what you’re doing when you get together…food is involved somehow.”

And when it comes to groceries in Stop & Shop’s five-state service area, there’s a good chance the chain is involved somehow in your shopping. In this special section, we’ll explore the company’s success and plans for the future.

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Store remodels are helping tell the story

Neighborhood grocer has ‘great locations’ throughout footprint

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, The Griffin Report of the Northeast’s 2021 Retailer of the Year, has undergone several changes over the course of its history. And every so often that calls for store remodels that will help bring a refreshed, yet familiar, look to the neighborhood grocery store.

An Ahold Delhaize USA company, Stop & Shop employs 58,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

In 2020, the grocer continued to focus on enhancing the in-store experience for its customers with 33 store remodels and 55 more stores expected to be renovated in 2021.

Guests will notice improved lighting and a fresh color scheme. But perhaps just as important is how the store brings the story of Stop & Shop to life across the aisles.

In addition to a new look and feel, each remodeled store features updates such as expanded produce sections, more prepared foods and ready-made meal solutions for families on the go. Shoppers also will find more locally grown and produced items – all designed to better meet today’s demands.

More importantly, Sean Spillane, VP of brand strategy, wants to see them improve on the company’s storytelling on seafood and local products. This will include customers being able to trace the source of their seafood to the exact fishery/farm or knowing Stop & Shop is where they are going to find their favorite regional clam chowder.

Pete Poutre, SVP of fresh merchandising and procurement, said one of the things that differentiates Stop & Shop from other grocers he’s worked with is its real estate portfolio.

“Just great locations throughout our footprint. And we are the neighborhood grocer…that’s the role that we play,” Poutre said. The stores have become deeply embedded in the communities, offering value and a comfortable shopping experience. That also means continuing to serve the household brands consumers have come to love.

“We have fantastic relationships, not just with the U.S. brands, but the European brands as well. And again, we’re all faced with the same challenges. It’s not unique to the Stop & Shop brand,” Poutre said.

“How we strategize, how we think about the future, how we mitigate some of these risks has been the partnership, which has been just phenomenal.”

Another factor in ensuring a big basket for customers is picking up on the latest trends and categories of interest.

“There’s an ongoing process to continuously improve the assortment in the store. And within that continuous process, there’s a very structured annual process that the merchants use, and they have to create category plans for that year,” Spillane said.

“Then quarterly, they’ll have to do a deep review of those plans – given the trends and the change and trends potential in some quarters, some categories don’t have too much and some they have to do a lot.”

Certain sections of center store will be increased to include more plant-based products.

“That’s a great example of what’s trending up and therefore, we’ll increase the plant-based space,” Spillane said. Other healthier options are being expanded and more room for multicultural products will be available.

Stop & Shop also makes a priority of getting local products on their shelves as well.

“We have a lot of resources, including boots on the ground with our field resources that help us develop some more local partnership approach, this is probably our best example of some of the local affiliations we have,” Poutre said.

For the Stop & Shop brand, they have more than 40 local fresh suppliers that supply store locations.

“We’re thrilled to partner with them. And again, they understand our brand, they’re our neighbors, they understand our customers, because they are our customers in a lot of ways … those relationships just continue to grow

Pete Poutre

Photos by Marc Levine

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

and thrive,” Poutre said.

While a facelift for these stores puts a smile on customers, they will also continue to see familiar ones help them check out their groceries, load up shopping carts and manage the stores.

Stop & Shop is known for having several long-tenured employees Bryan Cramond. Currently manager of a store in Quincy, he has been with Stop & Shop for 16 years.

In Stoughton, Massachusetts, Jarrod Pupa has been working for the company since he was a teenager. He’s currently an assistant store manager/non-perishables manager.

The growth from entry-level posts is evident, as Stop & Shop fills 80 percent of its open positions from within.

Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid noted how several members of executive leadership began with the company at the associate level. “A number of people have started off as a bagger or pushing carts and worked their way through,” he said.

Bryan Cramond

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Company caters to every neighborhood

Process often becomes store-by-store assessment

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

Multiculturalism is a growing category for Stop & Shop. According to Sean Spillane, VP of brand strategy, that’s because of the development of exotic tastes as well as increasing neighborhood diversity.

With a multi-year initiative of store remodels, this will continue to be a priority and change with every community.

Pete Poutre, SVP of fresh merchandising and procurement, mentioned that for some stores, it’s not about adding more assortment, but rather removing certain items. What may sell well in Quincy, Massachusetts, may not be as attractive in a particular neighborhood in New York City.

“It’s not just about bringing more stuff in, it’s about taking things out that aren’t relevant, that are clogging up display space and clogging up the stores time and resources to manage through those things,” Poutre said.

New York City is full of unique neighborhoods in each of the five boroughs, which means taking a deep dive in market intelligence to ensure customers find relevant products in every department.

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Sean Spillane

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 36

“This is something we’re really committed to. It doesn’t get any more diverse than the 26 stores within those boroughs,” Poutre said.

When adding more assortment, in some cases, the stores do that by connecting with local suppliers across departments.

“It’s hard work because it’s a store-by-store assessment. In those cases, we’re going to take some of those learnings and apply it more broadly, even to the Boston Market or Hartford [Connecticut],” Poutre said.

“There’s endless opportunities for us to continue to refine. And that’s exactly what we’re doing…it’s a continuous iterative process, because our customers are changing as well. That’s our obligation is to meet their needs.”

Natilia Torres-Furtado, VP of category management, shared how Stop & Shop conducts a thorough search to find the proper distributors to cater to the audiences at its more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

“We’re digging into finding markets with Lebanese food. We found a distributor that can support us with that...if you get into some areas in New York, we found another distributor who can do Russian,” she said. “When you start peeling back the onion, it’s very interesting.”

Stop & Shop uses IRI and Spectra to research neighborhood demographics, according to Poutre.

Furtado spoke more to how those demographics determine the store displays. It can call for an extensive number of planograms.

“For one store, you may need 80 feet…and it depends on what the demographics look like in that store,” she

said. “And then in another store, you may need 300 feet. So the demographics will really drive how much space we’re dedicating to that,” she said.

Furtado also noted that there are different dietary factors to consider, particularly in Caribbean or Central and South American cultures. For example, this can be as specific as catering to a certain type of bean or rice for the Peruvian diet.

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Natilia Torres-Furtado

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 38

For Jarrod Pupa, assistant store manager in Stoughton, Massachusetts, it means offering more everyday Kosher items for the local Jewish community. Store Manager Bryan Cramond in Quincy, however, is more focused on the Asian community in his city.

Stop & Shop, values diversity and strives to ensure everyone is included as a customer and employee. As noted on its website, “When you look around our stores, you’ll see a mix of associates with unique backgrounds, lifestyles and experiences. That’s because we embrace an inclusive workplace that represents the culture of the community – after all, we’re in your neighborhood.”

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Loyalty program, warerooms among many extras

Executives herald grocery benefit system as a game changer for chain

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

From digitized weekly flyers and e-commerce warerooms to a nationally recognized rewards program, Stop & Shop is keeping pace with the latest innovations to provide customers an omnichannel experience.

Stop & Shop’s new e-commerce site, unveiled in 2020, allows shoppers to build their shopping lists and shop directly from the weekly digital circular and relevant in-app and on-site promotions. Then can complete their grocery orders online and choose to either pick up them at the nearest store or have them delivered to their doorsteps.

GO Rewards going strong

A successful component of Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop’s digital capabilities has been its GO Rewards loyalty program.

Rachel Stephens, VP of digital and loyalty, explained how the company operates it a little differently, with digital, loyalty, data and e-commerce intertwined.

Rachel Stephens

“One doesn’t run successfully without the other component...the data that Please see page 44

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 42

you get goes into a database and that database is just a vital growth engine for the business,” Stephens said. “It’s used for our digital marketing or digital media. I use all that data in our digital media to drive look-alike audiences and targeting, then it’s used as a feeder for e-commerce.”

Through the database, she can target customers

more efficiently to try out Stop & Shop’s e-commerce platform. Efficient targeting comes with personalized marketing, which is the cornerstone of the GO Rewards Loyalty program.

“What I think we’re most proud of is the fact that we actually take all of that data from a customer and it gets fed into an algorithm that actually turns out highly targeted, very personalized offers that are really relevant

to customers,” she said. “That’s what resonates most.”

As an example, if a customer buys a particular brand of chips, he or she will receive weekly offers for it and accompanying items like salsa or queso. The program even recognizes when it may be the right time to restock.

“We deliver those offers through our app, through our website and through email,” Stephens said.

Adding the grocery benefit system in store and online was a game changer. And Stephens has the results to prove it.

“We actually had above projected incremental sales in Q4,” she said. “And we ended the year 2020 significantly above, really mostly driven by that incremental sales boost that we got out of the program in Q4. But we just got [in May] our Q1 results. We actually adjusted our expectations based on Q4. And we still beat the incremental sales projection that we had in Q1.”

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2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 44

The GO Rewards loyalty program has been named to among America’s Best Loyalty Programs in 2021. It was recognized for its ease and enjoyment of use, benefits and overall satisfaction as rated by customers.

The award is presented by Newsweek and Statista, a statistics portal and industry ranking provider.

“It was really surprising. I think the most surprising thing was that it was independently voted on by our customers,” Stephens said. “We didn’t actually submit us as a potential [candidate], we didn’t even know about it.”

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2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 46

Bringing the brand to doorsteps

GO Rewards also apply to Stop & Shop’s grocery delivery. In order to continue meeting e-commerce demand as a result of COVID-19, Stop & Shop continues to add warerooms in select locations.

At the Stop & Shop in North Providence, Rhode Island, opening a side door will take visitors into a separate store just for home delivery orders, which District Director David Macchioni said has been doing “excellent” since it opened in January.

“If you think about it, it’s pretty much a full-blown supermarket, it has its own dairy department, has its own frozen department, it has all the grocery aisles,” he said.

When compared to an in-store customer, Macchioni sees online customers being more liberal in their spending decisions.

“They want it delivered and they’re not worried about that price conscious way of applying it,” said Macchioni, who has been with the company for 33 years and in e-commerce for the past two and a half.

The North Providence

location is a same-day facility, allowing customers to place an order in the morning and get their groceries in time for dinner. A strategic location near an interstate works in their favor, Macchioni confirmed. As does the fact the facility is connected to an entire store, allowing customers to select from a full variety at the location.

This is all possible with efficient in-store pickers and their hospitable ambassadors, or drivers.

“They’re the face of the company,” Macchioni said of their ambassadors. “Because that person that’s walking up to that door and making that delivery. They go to give them white glove treatment.”

And in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, customers also still have the option for contactless delivery.

David Macchioni

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Repositioning of brand has proved rewarding

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

Stop & Shop has continued to push its brand in innovative ways as the neighborhood grocer for more than 107 years.

Referring to recent company milestones, President Gordon Reid described the extensive work on the brand and its repositioning as rewarding.

One of those recent efforts resulted in a “Feed the Moment” campaign, which taps into the emotional bond of groceries.

“Food plays a part in everybody’s life,” Reid said. “And it’s a key part and every time you get together, or what you’re doing when you get together…food is involved somehow.”

And that’s an intregal aspect to the company’s more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

Feed the Moment

Lisa Martinelli, director of brand marketing for the Quincy, Massachusetts-based chain, said officials wanted to uncover their

true purpose as a company last year. “Feed the Moment” spoke to helping customers go beyond just fulfilling their shopping list.

“What I was motivated by as a brand strategist was how do you take this category – which often shows up in the world to consumers through advertising – in a

really functional way? And how do you flip it on its head, and bring some emotion to it, because people are trusting us to bring food into their lives,” she said.

This called for extensive market research and interviewing people about grocery shopping – how they behave and their emotions to a category.

Please see page 52

‘We’re authentic, we’re helpful, we’re warm, completely open’

Gordon Reid

Lisa Martinelli

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 50

“What we uncovered is this idea that ended up serving as the key insight and motivator for the campaign, which is that people aren’t just shopping for the items on their list, they’re actually shopping for the moments in their life,” she said.

Per the campaign, someone isn’t just shopping for pancake batter, they’re seeking a surprise breakfast for mom.

“I think just the insights and the work that they did… every single word was important. And it took us…over a year to work,” Reid said of the commercial.

Whatever the moment, Stop & Shop is there to help consumers be healthy or indulge. They don’t need to feel the pressure of what to buy, according to Martinelli. She said the voice of the company is one to serve customers as their food loving friend. “We’re authentic, we’re helpful, we’re warm, completely open.”

“It’s just this ability to do everything we can across our omnichannel experience to help get people what they need for their lives,” she said. “Our positioning is the ‘food you love for how you live.’ And I think it serves as our North Star for who we stand for, what sets us apart from the competition.”

As more home cooks have made their way into grocery stores due to COVID-19, Stop & Shop offers tips and inspiration through digital and social channels, its Savory magazine or in-store nutritionists.

A refreshed, yet familiar logo

As Martinelli noted, visual identity for a brand is important and can help a company build brand equity over time. This called for the company to transition back to its familiar stoplight logo.

“Research pointed out that people really view that stop light as this iconic and recognizable mark for Stop & Shop even though it had been many years later. So that was the intention to modernize it and bring it back,” Martinelli said. “And what you’ll see in our campaign is that we’re maximizing the potential of our visual identity.”

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2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 52

She further elaborated on the notion that viewers will see the logo come to life as stopping for the functional items but shopping for the moments in their lives.

Moving forward

Reid believes people are excited about Stop & Shop’s future – customers and associates.

“Every year, we do an associate engagement survey,” he said. “If you look at the office in particular, I mean, the ratings went up by about 20 percentage points in many departments.

“People can see that. And one of the biggest posters

for me was there’s a question that says, ‘Are you confident about your future?’ And that just was way up. But I guess it’s just people telling you that they’re in a good place.”

Reid was quick to recognize all employees when asked how Stop & Shop earned the 2021 Retailer of the Year from The Griffin Report of the Northeast.

“We’re delighted. Obviously, I think in terms of all the hard work and effort that we put in and teams have put in, there’s just this real acknowledgement that we’ve made some really great progress. We really couldn’t be happier,” Reid said.

“I say it’s all about our associates and 60,000 of them that come to work every day…we’ve just got some really great people out there and in the office.”

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Community involvement more than a donation

Grocer fights food insecurity, aids causes backed by its associates

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

When asked about milestones over Stop & Shop’s 107-year history, the first thing that comes to mind for President

Gordon Reid is community involvement.

Whether it’s supporting efforts to fight cancer and food insecurity or supplying meals for doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the East Coast chain doesn’t

hesitate to extend a helping hand.

As the company states on its website, “Last year, with the help of our customers, associates and vendors, we donated more than $37 million in cash and

products to our communities.”

Most local food pantries that work with Stop & Shop are registered with Feeding America. As a result, they know they’re working towards the same goal of addressing hunger.

Reid also mentioned how the company last year introduced a program whereby its 60,000 associates can apply for grants toward a mission near and dear to themselves.

“If they have their own community interest, they could apply for a grant of $500 where they can do what they want with it, so that’s something that’s just been in the news last year. And it’s really taken off,” he said.

Jennifer Brogan, director of community relations, offered more details about the program.

“We’re so focused on fighting hunger, but our associates may have other interests in the community – it’s called Beyond the Aisles grants,” she said.

One example includes an associate running her own charity for rescue dogs.

“She wanted $500 in gift cards to buy

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2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 56

our brand dog food for rescues,” Brogan said. “One associate – a pharmacist on Cape Cod – is really involved with a Cape Verdean community, and wanted to give food specifically to a cultural

center [there]. So it’s nice that they can do different things that they’re personally passionate about.”

Certain locations also will partner with organizations unique to their neighborhoods, such as local food banks, high

Associates from Stop & Shop stores in New Jersey pack local produce, including corn, into bags at a food distribution at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Stop & Shop donated 5,000 tons of locally grown produce to help residents facing food insecurity.

schools and Meals on Wheels programs. And with more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, the possibilities are plentiful.

“I think our connection to commuities in particular are things that make us pretty special…it’s not necessarily for any glory, it’s to do the right

Please see page 60

Stop & Shop stepped up to support frontline healthcare workers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing more than 5,000 fresh meals a day to nurses, doctors and staff at hospitals including Boston Medical Center and Mount Sinai in New York City.

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

From page 58

thing by the community,” Reid said.

A few examples of recent outreach include:

⚫ In honor of the recent National Nurses Week, Stop & Shop provided special indulgences for nurses at hospitals in three of the states it serves: Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, New York; Yale-New Haven in New Haven, Connecticut; and Massachusetts General in Boston, Massachusetts. From bubble bath and hand masks to an ice cream cart filled with frozen confections, Stop & Shop’s contributions were made to treat nurses working on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic;

⚫ Stop & Shop’s annual Help Cure Childhood Cancer campaign has raised a record-breaking $3.1 million for pediatric cancer research and care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Stop & Shop will donate additional funding to the campaign, bringing the total donation to the hospitals to $4.25 million;

⚫ To help offer more nutritious options to children and families at a time when food insecurity is rising because of COVID-19, Stop & Shop has donated $60,000 to local Boys & Girls Clubs in Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The donations, which took place during National Nutrition Month, are being used to help the clubs secure fresh produce and other foods that meet their members’ nutritional needs.

Stop & Shop associates prepared and served meals at Eva’s Village in Paterson, New Jersey, for 300 people struggling with poverty, addiction and mental illness.

2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

Green Energy Facility helps power distribution center

Turning food waste into electricity while also curbing carbon emissions

by Eric Pereira / staff writer

This year, Stop & Shop celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Green Energy Facility, which the company says has resulted in significant reductions in carbon emissions.

The facility, which houses an anaerobic digester, converts inedible food items that cannot be sold or donated into energy, which in turn helps to power the company’s distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts.

The digester mimics the naturally occurring process of anaerobic digestion. Carbon in food material is converted into a biogas, which is then used as a power source.

As of May, the digester has processed more than 130,000 tons of inedible food and generated 25,800 megawatt-hours of electricity. That’s enough to power 3,321 homes for one year, according to the company.

The facility also has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 28,700 metric tons, or the equivalent of

gas emissions from 6,200 passenger vehicles driven for a year.

The energy created at the facility also generates up to 40 percent of the energy needs for the 1 millionsquare-foot DC. That’s the equivalent of powering it for

four months out of the year, according to the company. Totaling about 12,000 square feet, the green energy facility was created thanks to a $400,000 grant provided by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

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2021 Northeast Retailer of the Year

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Divert Inc.’s Mike Corbett, director of applied science, said it generates about 250,000-300,000 cubic feet of biogas per day. Divert helps Stop & Shop manage the green energy facility.

The rotating staff is on site 24 hours a day seven days a week. Every day, trucks are coming in to dump food waste. At the facility, visitors can see receptacles holding up to 10 tons of food waste.

According to Corbett, the main difference to the current operation compared to when the facility opened is that it’s highly optimized from all the learning over the years.

“Over the last five years, we’ve made significant strides in material throughput, operating efficiency and

energy capture, with the net result of year of year gains in electricity production,” he said. “The facility produced 27 percent more electricity from food waste in 2020 as compared to the first full operating year.”

Corbett said he has always enjoyed chemical processing and was drawn towards sustainability, so he’s pleased to have found his niche.

“It’s sort of exactly where I wanted to end up,” he said. “Doing sustainable technology that you know where the economics pan out. Where there’s a clear measurable impact and making energy as well.”