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Article: Glass sees possibilities in food. (Expanding Horizons).(includes projected market size, market share data for grocery industry )
- Article from:
- Mass Market Retailers
- Article date:
- December 9, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Racher Press, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NEW YORK -- In the late 1980s, when Wal-Mart was undergoing a key executive transition and contemplating its future growth prospects, the American food retailing industry dwarfed the discount general merchandise market that had nurtured Wal-Mart's rise.
In 1987, for example, discount store sales totaled $101 billion, while supermarket volume--part of a larger grocery industry--topped $250 billion. The supermarket sector was also highly fragmented: The top 10 supermarket chains accounted for only about 36% of the total $250 billion in supermarket sales.
Moreover, the food/drug combination format, which had been around since the 1960s, was flourishing, and ...