Big Grocers Respond to a Market's Demands

It was 2003 and the managers of Safeway's Langley Park store had a problem. Their shoppers were predominantly Hispanic. The store's groceries were not. And across the street, a Latin American supermarket had recently opened, threatening to take a big bite out of Safeway's sales.

"Consumers kept asking us, 'Why don't you have this, why don't you have that? The other store has it,' " said Safeway store manager Jeffrey Crockett. "We realized we had to do something."

So Safeway gutted aisles 12 and 13, relocating the Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Bacos bacon chips. It printed Spanish signs, including one that is two feet long and reads "Mercado," or market.

And it went shopping for some new products, choosing brands most of its managers had never heard of: La Banderita tortillas, Chifles plantain chips, Sabrosas crackers, Cafe Bustelo coffee and Del Frutal soft drinks.

Today, the Hispanic section of the store, about 400 square feet in all, carries more than 1,000 products, from rice and beans to specialty pans and religious candles. Safeway has re-created the Mercado concept in four Washington area stores and plans four more this year, all of them in communities with large Hispanic populations.

Greg TenEyck, a spokesman for Safeway, said the introduction of the store within a store has boosted sales, though he would not disclose figures. "Plain and simple, it is good marketing," he said. "We need to cater to our customers' needs."

As the Washington area's Hispanic population soars, the region's biggest supermarket chains are discovering there is big business in satisfying its grocery appetites.

Not only are Hispanics the region's fastest-growing population, Hispanic shoppers tend to spend more than their counterparts, according to one study. A 2002 report by the Food Marketing Institute, a Washington-based trade group, found that on average Hispanic grocery shoppers spend $117 a week on food, compared with $87 for the average U.S. shopper, in part because of larger families.

In Langley Park, a majority of the population is Hispanic, making it a magnet for Latin American food retailers. The town's shopping centers are dotted with Hispanic grocers, from small corner stores to full-size supermarkets. At Atlantic Supermarket, across the street from the Safeway in Langley Park, there are eight different brands of tortillas.

To compete with the specialty stores, Safeway monitors what it charges for popular Hispanic products. It hires Spanish-speaking cashiers and pharmacy technicians.