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.
All eyes might be on Kroger’s high-profile quest to merge with Albertsons, but the grocer is also raising its profile in the healthcare space, albeit with a bit less fanfare.
Kroger recently began offering primary care services for seniors at eight Little Clinic healthcare locations in the Atlanta area through a pilot program with medical management company Better Health Group. The facilities will adhere to a value-based model — a payment mechanism under which the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pays providers based on the quality of the care they provide instead of how many procedures and patients they handle.
The test will allow Kroger to tap into a deep well of money, and the company could benefit further if it elects to bring the senior-focused healthcare concept to more of its 225 Little Clinic locations. Spending on healthcare for seniors is growing at a brisk pace, with Medicare expenditures topping $944 billion in 2022, up 5.9% from 2021, according to the government.
Word that Kroger is moving into the senior primary healthcare market follows the grocer’s announcement earlier in December that its Koger Health unit is working with healthcare technology company Soda Health to let participants in Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid and employer benefits programs receive certain benefits at pharmacies run by Kroger.
In case you missed it
Who shops at Erewhon?
A recent Placer.ai report on the upscale Los Angeles specialty grocer showed, unsurprisingly, that store visitors came primarily from trade areas with a “significantly higher median household income,” averaging $112,900 per year, compared to those of overall grocery shoppers in California.
Erewhon foot traffic also showed that the grocer’s in-store offeirngs, which are meant to entice shoppers to linger, are effective. Despite having small store formats averaging 10,000 square feet, the grocer sees customers spend an average of 32 minutes inside. By comparison, other popular southern California grocery chains like Trader Joe’s, Albertsons and Ralphs saw a median dwell time of 26 to 27 minutes.
Meijer’s milk money
The regional grocer recently launched its “Add Milk” initiative, which offers SNAP participants 20% off any brand or size of 1% and fat free milk.
The discount offering is funded in part by the Auburn University’s Hunger Solutions Institute and is part of the company’s effort to increase access to healthy food and beverage products. Customers can use the milk discounts for online and in-store purchases at all Meijer supercenters, neighborhood markets and Express locations until March 30, 2024.
Joe V’s enters Dallas
H-E-B broke ground on its first discount store format outside Houston, according to a Wednesday announcement. Located at 4101 W. Wheatland Rd., the location is expected to open in late summer 2024.
The grocer has recently zeroed in on its discount chain as shoppers continue to closely watch their spending. H-E-B has also refreshed its c-store business and opened dedicated e-commerce facilities this year.
Number of the week: 53%
That’s the percentage of respondents to a survey conducted by retail technology company Swiftly who said they have changed their grocery budgets or shopping habits in response to rising interest rates.
What’s ahead
Happy holidays!
Grocery Dive will not publish a daily newsletter from Dec. 25 through Jan. 1, 2024, as we take a break for the holidays. We’ll run a special newsletter on Jan. 2 and will resume our regular coverage of the grocery industry on Jan. 3
Jobs report coming up
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release employment statistics for December on Jan. 5, 2024. The data will provide insight into the grocery sector’s labor picture in the later stages of 2023.
Impulse find
Fresh catch at Hannaford
The nor'easter that swept across the East Coast last weekend brought power outages, powerful winds and heavy rain. It also left two folks with a recreational pond outside of a Hannaford store.
A recent TikTok video shows two individuals paddling around a flooded Hannaford parking lot in a canoe, each with a fishing rod in hand. To them, the grocery parking lot was Maine’s newest fishing hole.
Could this be an inspiration for Hannaford’s next in-store experience?
@mps_207 ???????????? #plumber #plumbing #plumbersoftiktok #foryou #maine #hannaford ♬ original sound - Keith McGillivary
