This post used Albertsons’ situation to illustrate how appreciation (”so what”) can be used to help solve problems. 

This article reports that Wal-Mart and Kroger stores gained market share year-over-year in the Dallas/Fort Worth area while Albertsons and Minyards lost market share. 

The article states that the trend seen in the Dallas/Fort Worth area mirrors the national trends from across the United States.  

Key Points

$1 of every $3 spent in groceries in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is spent at a Wal-Mart Supercenter or Neighborhood Market.

Wal-Mart has 105 stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Market.

Wal-Mart had the greatest increase in market share, up by 3.4% in the eight-county Dallas market and up 3.7% in the four-county Fort Worth market.

Dallas/Fort Worth is the first major U.S. market in which Wal-Mart dominates the market.

Other Datapoints

Here are some datapoints from the 2002 Economic Census:

339,528 stores (grocery, convenience, supermarkets, and food and beverage stores)

$1,288,170,032,000 USD in annual revenue from stores

$137,838,210,000 USD in annual payroll at the stores

7,990,785 employees

Go here to see the data from the 2002 Economic Census. 

If the numbers are correct, the average income for a person who works in the grocery industry is $17,249 per year.  (This is a bit deceptive because the industry has a disproportionate number of students and others who, by choice, work part time.)

Meaning

What is the significance of even a 1% change in market share for the grocery industry? 

Still wondering why Maryland passed the Wal-Mart Law, described in this post?

Filed by Coleen Davis at 12:43 pm under Business Acumen, Current Events