Local grocers find niche while some chains struggle

A competitive grocery store market in Springfield has begun to squeeze out some big names, while locally owned supermarkets are capitalizing on their niches.

In the course of five months, Albertson's Inc., one of the nation's larger grocery store owners, ditched nine southwest Missouri locations, and Dillons closed a 3-year-old south-side store.

The reason cited by both corporations is under-performing stores. Local grocers say it is because of a lack of flexibility.

According to David Trottier, who owns six Summer Fresh Markets in the area, the corporate bottom line often plays too large a role in the national chain operations.

"There's a set standard for what they expect. If they don't get it, they won't spin their wheels a long time in a market that's not producing for them," Trottier said.

Such was the case with the Dillons store at 220 W. Plainview Road that closed Aug. 3. Dillons parent company, Cincinnati-based Kroger Inc., built the supermarket three years ago in a rapidly developing area. For undisclosed reasons, the corporate numbers weren't met, said Dillons spokesperson Dennis Gashler.

"It was simply an under-performing store," Gashler said. "It wasn't performing according to our expectations for that store. We have certain financial criteria that we look at."

Gashler said many factors go into evaluating a store, and typically, three years is a fairly short period to determine a store's fate. Yet the decision to close was handed down from corporate headquarters.

Eye on Springfield

Trottier's decision to sell his 10 Smitty's Supermarkets to Albertson's in 1998 kept him out of the Springfield market for five years. The purchase included a noncompete clause, but that dissolved when Albertson's sold to Ramey/Price Cutter in March, Trottier said.

With the contractual reins freed, he is eyeing a return to Springfield. Trottier is looking to open two locations here and also is considering an acquisition.

Since selling Smitty's, which he started in 1977, Trottier has flourished in smaller southwest Missouri communities with Summer Fresh Markets. Summer Fresh stores are operating in Lamar, El Dorado Springs, Mount Vernon, Fair Grove, Marshfield and Kimberling City.

"Our main focus will probably be Springfield," Trottier said. "We plan on having somewhere between 10 and 15 stores over the next five years."

Finding a niche

Another growing independently owned store is Harter House Supermarket. With locations in Springfield and Kimberling City, the Bettlach family-owned company opened a third store in Strafford in June.

Owner Barbara Bettlach said the stores have survived because of Harter House's longtime niche: the deli department. That, coupled with a loyal nearby customer base, has allowed the company to grow, but it hasn't been easy, she said.

She and her late husband Jerry purchased Harter House in 1973.

"It is hard to compete against the larger stores," Bettlach said. "You have to have your niche."

She said that niche is expanding to include bakery and produce departments.

The niche for Smillie's IGA has been home delivery service, said owner Bill Smillie, who has been in business nearly 10 years.

"We have found that home delivery is a niche that only a few people do," Smillie said.

To him, the biggest difference between the independently owned stores and the national chains is the ability to adjust to customer needs on the fly.

"The independent grocer has the ability to respond very quickly," he said, compared to the larger stores that must go through a chain of command. "We have the ability to make immediate changes, immediate responses to our customers. We just have the ability to be a lot more flexible."

He feels it's the lack of flexibility that is making it difficult for the national chains to survive here. Wal-Mart is an exception, he said.

"Wal-Mart is leading the parade because of their sheer size," he said. "They're the threat to the whole industry. The only thing we can do to combat them is (offer) service."

Trottier agrees that flexibility is a benefit of the smaller stores.

He said that unlike the larger chains that base each store on percentages, the independent owners invest their livelihood in their stores.

"(National chains) expect a certain amount of money to be sent to their home office, and they expect to produce a certain bottom line," Trottier said. "We don't. We're local. We live with the market."

Ramey/Price Cutter and Wal-Mart officials did not return phone calls for this story.