Superior Supermarkets Bilal Khan 101647863
Marketing - Master of Management 78-614
Odette School of Business, University of Windsor
Title of case: Superior Supermarkets. "Everyday Low Pricing"
Key person and his / her position in the organization:
James Ellis Senior V.P at Hall Consolidated and President of Superior Markets
Key issue or decision that must be made: Should Superior Supermarkets implement the everyday low pricing strategy? If so, should this strategy be adopted across-the-board for all products or just certain categories?
Basic facts of the case:
Superior Markets is a division of Hall Consolidated, a privately owned wholesale and retail food distributor. Hall Consolidated was formed in 1959 and initially included a number of wholesale food operations and produce companies. The Superior Supermaket chain was acquired in 1975. Superior operates conventional supermarkets in trade areas that serve small cities and towns in the South Central United States.
Centralia is the primary trade area in Scott County, which is located in central Missouri.
Centralia Map 1
Centralia, PA
English: Figure 22: Pricing strategies matrix (Sou...Four grocery chain stores accounted for 85% of all food sales in Centralia in 2002. Three of the chains - Harrison's, Grand American, and Missouri Mart - operated one store in Centralia, and Superior Supermakets operated three.
Sales in the three Superior stores were divided as follows: grocery (50%), fresh meat, poultry and seafood (20%), produce (18%), seasonal and general merchandise (7%), bakery and deli (5%). Company officials believed that Superior stores offered a more limited variety of merchandise than the major competitors but that Superior carried high-quality merchandise, particularly in grocery items and produce.
In mid-2002, Hall commissioned an independent marketing research firm to conduct a series of studies for the Superior stores in Centralia. The first study consisted of a telephone survey of 400 Centralia residents, who were asked to comment on the principal...