The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
After long insisting that its planned merger with Albertsons was on schedule to close by early 2024, Kroger suggested this week that the track to winning regulatory approval for the deal has turned out to be a lot bumpier than it had initially implied.
Kroger and Albertsons said in a Monday statement issued along with C&S Wholesale Grocers that they now expect to finalize the transaction by the middle of the year. But while the companies indicated they made provisions in their original agreement for a potential delay, they have up until now projected a much rosier assessment of their timetable than they were apparently prepared for behind the scenes.
As recently as Nov. 30, Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen told investors that the company was working “cooperatively” with the Federal Trade Commission and expected to complete its acquisition of Albertsons by early 2024 — even as politicians, labor officials and other critics continued to press the Biden administration to quash the deal.
Now Kroger and Albertsons are facing weeks of additional uncertainty as they proceed with extended talks with the FTC — along with a lawsuit Washington state’s attorney general filed this week that seeks to scuttle the transaction altogether.
Will their merger train ever reach its destination?
In case you missed it
Costco tests membership card scanners
The wholesale retailer is trying out some new technology at its entrances. Rather than have an employee check membership cards when shoppers arrive, Costco is using membership card scanners at select stores, including its hometown store in Issaquah, Washington, according to The Seattle Times.
Costco plans to bring the scanners to other locations outside of Washington state, but did not give a time frame for the duration of the experiment, according to the report.
Stew Leonard’s expands Invafresh partnership
Stew Leonard’s will now offer recipe management capabilities through its tie-up with fresh grocery platform Invafresh. The grocer’s chefs will be able to introduce new recipes to the store’s customers, ensuring consistency across all seven of its kitchens, according to a Monday announcement.
“For our Team Members, Invafresh will provide better visibility into recipe ingredients, so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time they create an item for our in-store menu. That saves time and increases the operational efficiency of our team,” Rich Dibble, vice president of culinary operations for Stew Leonard’s, said in a statement.
Why frictionless checkout is popular with some shoppers
No-checkout shopping is winning over younger customers, according to a recent report by the Avery Dennison Corporation. Findings from a survey of 4,000 shoppers across the U.S. and U.K. indicate three factors are driving consumers towards frictionless checkout: a faster shopping experience, not having to queue and less interaction with people.
Number of the week: $128,000
That’s the new average annual salary for Walmart store managers, up from $117,000, the retailer announced Thursday. Walmart also said it is redesigning its store manager bonus program so that, in addition to sales, a store’s profit will now play a bigger role in calculating the bonus. “If you hit all targets, your bonus could now be up to 200% of your base salary,” the retailer said.
Impulse find
Future-forward technology had a large presence at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show conference in New York City — and Marty the Robot took center stage.
Currently deployed at several Ahold Delhaize banners, including Stop & Shop and The Giant Company, the googly eyed and smiling bot made an appearance at the conference for a good cause — for every selfie taken with Marty and posted on social media with #MartyTheRobot, its manufacturer Badger Technologies will donate 10 meals in support of 47 New York City partner schools participating in the Stop & Shop Food Pantry Program.
Grocery Dive reporter Catherine Douglas Moran of course took a selfie and tried to interview Marty about the toil of checking for spills in aisles, which categories grapple the most with out-of-stocks and how the robot feels about becoming a local celebrity with a growing fan base, but Marty remained silent. No comment. Maybe Badger Technologies should add conversational commerce capabilities to Marty so he can spill his grocery secrets.
