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 wringing their hands for months about the headwinds the supermarket industry faces as it tries to find its way in an era defined first by the COVID-19 pandemic, then by inflation and now by tariffs, investors sent an unmistakable message this week about the critical role food retailers play in keeping the economy going.
Even as the stock market suffered its worst rout since the early days of the pandemic on Thursday as traders roared their disapproval of President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a head-spinning gauntlet of levies on imported goods, shares in Kroger soared by more than 5% to hit their highest level since the company went public nearly 100 years ago. Shares in Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize also rose on Thursday.
To coin a phrase, when the going gets tough, good old-fashioned supermarket operators get going.
Kroger’s attractiveness on Wall Street as traders crush other companies’ value is emblematic of what analysts have said about the company: That it would be well-served to concentrate on its historical role in running neighborhood grocery stores that people can count on no matter what else might be going on in the world instead of trying to reinvent itself as a counterweight to Walmart, Costco and Amazon.
Just as during the pandemic, people will rely on supermarkets for the essential goods they need as tariffs unleash another period marked by fear and uncertainty — and investors are making clear that they see that.
Poetically, perhaps, Walmart’s stock price moved down yesterday. Could that be a sign that the ground is shifting in the right direction for supermarket chains?
In case you missed it
T&T continues stateside expansion
T&T, a Canadian retailer that sells Asian groceries, will open another store in the U.S. The grocery chain, which already has two stores in Washington state, announced last week plans to open a location in “the heart” of San Francisco in winter 2026. The upcoming San Francisco store will include more than 200 private label products, a fast-casual restaurant with Asian cuisine, a bakery and a sushi counter, the company said in a press release.
T&T also plans to open a previously announced location in San Jose, California, this fall.
ShopRite: We’re all in this together!
The grocery chain’s latest marketing campaign highlights its family-operated stores and “its deep-rooted ties” to the communities they serve.
The “We Are Here” campaign, which will appear on TV, radio, digital, print, social media and in-store, will show the faces of the families who run local ShopRite stores alongside scenes of grand openings, charitable events, community food drives and historic milestones like “a treasured family photo album,” the grocer said Thursday. The campaign also ties into an online sweepstakes with a grand prize of $2,500 in ShopRite gift cards and $100 gift cards to 20 second-place winners.
A not-so-sweet update
The global cocoa shortage is driving up costs, yet most consumers are unaware of the shortage. Three in four surveyed people say they haven’t noticed changes in quality or taste, Numerator noted in a new report, while nearly 71% said they don’t plan to change their chocolate purchases. The data firm said price increases are likely inevitable.
The good news for brands? Transparency around rising prices, consumer flexibility with chocolate costs and the appeal of promotions or discounts could help encourage people to buy chocolate even as costs go up, Numerator noted.
Impulse find
Grocery prices aren’t what they used to be!
A Reddit post from late March calls out the fact that grocery prices are a far cry from what they used to be nearly 30 years ago. Reddit user SmokinStrange91’s photo of an H-E-B receipt from 1998 shows 23 items purchased for a whopping $30.82.
The most expensive item was “value pack pork butts” for $5.30. Other items on the receipt included a pound of green bell peppers for 34 cents, Kraft macaroni and cheese for 50 cents and Bush’s baked beans for 67 cents.
As consumers have recently grappled with out of stocks and high prices for eggs, they will probably be jealous that the receipt lists a carton of 18 large Grade A eggs under the H-E-B brand for $1.45.
The Reddit post has more than 500 comments and wound up getting a spotlight in a San Antonio Express-News story. One commenter on the Reddit post claimed buying the items on the vintage grocery list would cost $91.75 today. Oh, how the grocery prices have changed.
