In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, New Seasons , a local grocery store chain, is ringing up high sales in spite of highly competitive marketplace featuring major national players including Whole Foods, Safeway, Albertson's, Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's, Wild Oats, etc. New Seasons has done an excellent job staking out the position as the responsible and fun local place to shop through its innovative marketing and merchandising.
While New Seasons runs local newspaper ads, it takes an entirely different approach than that of other stores. The weekly ads for New Seasons feature a handful of product in attractive layouts. Rather than focusing on price, they romance the origin of the food sources and their high-quality. Notably absent are the screaming low price messages and cluttered pages that other grocers feature.
Over the past few months, New Seasons has been highlighting the local farmers and ranchers who supply their stores. New Seasons oftentimes features one of their producers in their weekly newspaper insert while others can be found in front of their stores on weekends talking to people about their products. In a liberal city like Portland where people like supporting the economic Davids vs. the Goliaths, it's a strategy that makes a lot of sense and creates loyal shoppers.
Recently, I've become a regular viewer of the well-produced videos on the New Seasons website featuring the locals who raise the fruit, vegetables, dairy items, and meats that they sell. What a brilliant way to sell the sizzle rather than the steak! With such savvy marketing, it's no wonder that New Seasons is able to sell its goods at a premium.
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