For the first time in 19 years, Giant Food Inc. has begun to feel significant pressure from competition as small as the corner convenience store and as big as Safeway.
Giant's market share against all retailers that sell groceries in the Baltimore-Washington region dropped slightly more than two percentage points, according to Food World, a Columbia- based industry trade magazine, which publishes its annual survey of regional market share today.
But make no mistake, the grocery store chain still dominates the landscape in the region and particularly in Baltimore, where it gained very slightly in relation to other grocery store chains.
"There is no doubt about it that the competition has greatly increased in the past year with so many specialty stores and chain stores entering the market," said Barry Scher, vice president of public affairs for Giant.
The survey showed Giant held its own in Baltimore, where it has fewer stores than in Washington, but it lost 1.4 points against other supermarkets in the region as a whole.
Safeway, which added three stores in the Baltimore metropolitan area, increased its share from 6.17 percent in June 1996 to 7.38 percent this year. Super Fresh added a store and gained slightly in Baltimore, going from 8.02 percent to 8.21 percent of the market. Weis Markets also edged up, moving from 1.97 percent to 2.25 percent of the market share.
"I can't remember Giant taking such a big hit," said Kurt Funderburg at Ferris Baker Watts. "This has been a sleepy market and no one has challenged them. They are no longer going to be the unchallenged Giant."
Consumers aren't always heading to their local grocery store these days, but are deciding to pick up selected items such as laundry detergent and soft drinks in Wal-Mart, Kmart and Rite Aid. Kmart has recently revamped stores to include 7,000 square feet of grocery store space.
When Food World measured sales at the top 20 retailers that sell groceries in the region, Giant's share fell 2.2 points, and Safeway's a fraction of a point.
"The lines are more blurry than ever. All you have to do is look at the new Rite Aid prototype," said Jeff Metzger, publisher of Food World.
To compile its data, Food World primarily uses statistics supplied by the grocery store chains, but also gathers sales figures from a variety of sources. Metzger said he relies on merchants being honest about their sales volumes. The survey is in its 19th year.
