Sunflower Markets: A Threat To Whole Foods?

Over the weekend, I made a trip to check out the new organic supermarket, Sunflower Market, located in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. It is only one of four stores in the Sunflower Market chain in the nation. Sunflower is the new entrant into the organic marketplace by Supervalu, the huge supermarket chain that owns, among others, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Jewel-Osco and, of course, Supervalu.

Supervalu has elected to open the stores only in the midwest so far, including the Lincoln Park store, one in Indianapolis and two in Columbus. A second Chicago location, in the South Loop, is already planned.

Sunflower’s pitch is that you get “wonderful- natural food products at an excellent value”, i.e., cheaper than Whole Foods.

I went on Sunday morning at 10 am and had no trouble finding the store. The outside of the building is painted a bright yellow, much like the website. It’s an interesting location for a new organic market, as it is less than a mile from a Whole Foods and only a few blocks from a Trader Joes.

For those unfamiliar, Lincoln Park is an upscale, yuppie area of Chicago. It is definitely Whole Food’s market (and Whole Foods has been operating there for many years.)

The store was smaller than a typical newer Whole Foods but about the same size as a Trader Joes. It was bright and cheery inside (painted yellow inside as well) and clean and well-lit. It didn’t have as much of the “lifestyle” feel as Whole Foods but was not like a typical supermarket warehouse feel either.

They employed many of the handwritten signs you see at other lifestyle stores, to make it seem more personal. So, for example, they had a handwritten sign that said, “take home a pie for Thanksgiving” or “buy the grilled salmon for dinner tonight”. It is a technique that Trader Joes employs well.

The produce section was much smaller than Whole Foods, maybe about a third of the size, but they still had a great selection of all the basics plus other more exotic fare (Star Fruit etc.) They had a refrigerated room you walked in where you could get fresh spinach, asparagus, lettuce and those types of items. All the produce looked very fresh and ready to eat.

The rest of the store was similar to Whole Foods or Trader Joes. I did find items that were not stocked at either one of those stores however. Also, the prices were lower than I have seen even at my local Dominicks (owned by Safeway.) I did not feel like I was paying an enormous sum for my produce (of which I bought some pears, bananas and tomatoes- which amounted to about $7.)

TimeOut Magazine Chicago did a comparison of similar items purchased at Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Sunflower Market and found that Sunflower had the best prices.

Overall, it was a very pleasant shopping experience. It was not crowded while I was there and so I could immediately go to the checkout (which, similarly to Whole Foods, had “lifestyle” magazines at the counters, including Yoga Life and, of course O! Magazine with Oprah.)

There wasn’t a big deli/cafeteria area, like you would find at Whole Foods, but there were some tables where you could sit down and have a drink.

Would I go back? Yes. Definitely. For the “average” customer, was it a better deal than Whole Foods? Yes. It was less overwhelming (less choice in the produce department).

I think this chain will do very well for Supervalu. It may not compete directly in some upscale markets however. I asked the woman at the cash register whether it was always that quiet in the store (as there were only maybe 20 people in there besides me) and she said it picked up later in the day. I would have to go back and observe it on a Sunday afternoon to see.

Supervalu hasn’t really advertised the new market much. I only learned about it when TimeOut Chicago did the comparison. I think Whole Food shoppers don’t even know it’s out there yet.

That’s nice for the rest of us, for now.

Supervalu has big plans for a bigger rollout of these stores.

“Sunflower Market said in a press statement Wednesday that it plans to open 50 new stores throughout the country over the next five years.”

Whole Foods currently has 190 stores worldwide. Like I said, Sunflower is aiming for a slightly different market but opening up one of its first stores in upscale Lincoln Park is certainly a shot across the bow for Whole Foods.

Whole Foods recently said that it was being pressured by competitors. That is an understatement.