Whole Foods Crushes SuperValu’s Sunflower Markets

In November 2006, I wrote a post called “Sunflower Markets: A threat to Whole Foods?” about SuperValu’s foray into organic retail.

The answer to that question now is: No.

SuperValu, one of the largest supermarket chains, just announced it was closing its five Sunflower stores across the country, including the one in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The thing is: they just couldn’t make any money.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Sunflower Market was “an innovative approach” to try to meet the popularity of natural and organic foods, but it wasn’t profitable, according to Supervalu’s statement.

“Sunflower Market provided us with a tremendous laboratory for learning about the growing natural and organics market,” according to Supervalu’s statement.

I actually really liked the store in Lincoln Park. It was easy to get to and had a big parking lot.

From my original review of the store which I described as “bright and cheery inside”:

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.

SuperValu intended to open up 50 of the stores over the next five years. What went wrong?

Their prices were lower than Whole Foods. But I noticed that they never once advertised in the Chicago market. Who knew that the store even existed? Apparently not enough people.

And maybe brand had a lot to do with it. You can paint the stores sunflower yellow and make them “cheery” but that doesn’t mean they’re Whole Foods or even Trader Joes. In Chicago, there was a Trader Joes less than a block away. Same with Whole Foods.

SuperValu found out why Whole Foods is so good at what they do and why Wild Oats ended up being acquired.

It’s harder than it looks to run organic supermarkets.