Blogging-Grocers' Memo: Grocers That 'Blog,' 'Twitter,' 'Facebook' ... and More

Safeway 2.0: Safeway Stores, Inc. recently became the latest major (as in third-largest U.S. supermarket chain) grocery chain to add a Blog to its Website, Safeway.com.

Safeway Stores bills its relatively new Blog as "The Official Safeway Blog." The Safeway Web site-based Blog is written by Kate, who is a full-time Safeway employee. Below is how Kate describes the Safeway Blog and herself:

About the Blog
Welcome to the official Safeway blog. What's this blog all about? In a nutshell, it's about family, food, value and fun. Of course, what makes this blog really exciting is YOU — so join the conversation!

About the Author:
Hi, my name is Kate. I am mom to three wonderful daughters Gabriella, Madeleine, and Mae and wife to a great guy, Max. I work full time at Safeway and a large part of my job is getting to hear from a lot of women out there about everything that's important to them. Welcome to my blog.

Safeway Stores, Inc. added Kate's Blog when it did a redesign of its Safeway.com Web site in the late fall of last year.

In the Blog, Kate writes about a wide variety of topics: nutrition, meal ideas, local foods, natural and organic products, what's happening in the stores, promotions, and the like. She also encourages readers to comment on the posts.

For example, below is Kate's post from today, March 4, 2009:

Local Mandarins
03-04-2009 08:10 AM
By Kate

My favorite fruit of winter is the mandarins, we go through a five pound bag a week! Super sweet, easy to peel, and the girls love them. The brand we have in our store is from California, which I appreciate as I know they didn't travel huge distances to get to my store which means they’re always fresh (haven’t had a “dried out” one yet) and taste great! We try and support our local businesses in whatever we do –the local “pizza place”, the barber – vs. the chains. We feel it’s particularly important now as we’ve seen so many businesses close on our “main street”. What do you buy that’s local?

[View the Safeway Web site Blog here.]

Safeway Stores, Inc. isn't using the Twitter micro-blogging, social networking site as of yet, something grocery chains like Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Tesco's Fresh & Easy, Oregon's New Season's Market and a number of others have started to do. Are you listening Kate? We think it would be a great tie-in with her Blog.

The New Seasons Market Blog - and Peanut Butter: Speaking of Portland, Oregon-based New Seasons Market, the nine-store natural foods chain also is a "Blogging-Grocer." And the independent natural grocery chain recently used its Blog to update consumers and customers on the peanut product recall, which appears to be far from close to being over.

The February 19 Blog post is titled: "What's the Story With Our Bulk Peanut Butter Recall?"

In the post, New Seasons' president Lisa Sedlar says the natural grocer has thus far removed over 135 different FDA-recalled peanut-related products from store shelves. She says it's been the most massive product recall she has experienced in her 20-plus years in the natural products industry.

[You can read her post on the peanut product recall and issue in the New Season's Market Blog here.]

New Seasons Market also has a feed on the popular social networking site Twitter. You can view it here. Below are New Seasons' two most recent "Tweets" (Twitter talk for posts) on its Twitter feed:

@rebeccashapiro Of course. Plenty of GF cereals to munch an along with alternative milks like hemp & hazelnut.about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to rebeccashapiro
Free cereal & milk tasting this weekend.

Cereal: It's the budget crunch that goes great with milk! http://budurl.com/freecerealabout 6 hours ago from TweetDeck.

[Read about another way New Seasons Market has used its Blog: December 7, 2008: Retail Memo: New Seasons Market CEO Brian Rohter Speaks Out Again Today on the Whole Foods Market, Inc. Subpoena of His Company's Data.]

New Seasons' also uses Facebook. There's a link to its Facebook site on the Blog.

The "Whole Leader" of the "Blogging-Grocer" Pack in the U.S.: Whole Foods Market, Inc. is the pioneer in the food retailing industry in using Blogs as a part of the its social networking communications and marketing outreach strategy.

The first Blog on the Whole Foods Market Web site was (and is) "The CEO's Blog, written and published by CEO John Mackey. He started the Blog in 2005. CEO Mackey hasn't been posting much on his Blog of late though. His last post was in early November, 2008.

CEO Mackey also no longer posts anything on his "The CEO's Blog" about the FTC. v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. ongoing antitrust case. He stopped posting about the legal case last year after just one post (See the May 21, 2008 post here) about his return to Blogging. He did so so as to not interfere with the ongoing litigation.

Last year Whole Foods kicked-up its Blogging activity a few notches when it redesigned its Web site and added its very active "Whole Story" Blog. The natural grocer uses the Blog regularly, posting culinary suggestions and recipes, items about new products at Whole Foods, nutrition information, stories on sustainability, local foods and other similar issues, and a "Whole Lot More."

Whole Foods also has been using the Blog to inform consumers about the FDA peanut product recall, including listing all of the items its pulled from its shelves in Blog posts.

Whole Foods also includes food-related videos and podcasts on its Web site in conjunction with its "Whole Story" Blog.

Additionally, Whole Foods now has a series of interactive forums on its Web site, in which consumers can discuss food-related topics and issues with each other, as well as with Whole Foods Market's Bloggers.

Lastly, Whole Foods ties its Web site Blogging in with three social networking sites: Twitter, Facebook and Flikr (for photographs). The links to each are here: Whole Foods Market photos on Flickr, Whole Foods Market on Facebook, Whole Foods Market updates on Twitter.

A number of Whole Foods regional divisions, such as Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio, also have Twitter sites of there own, which offer a local angle.

Whole Foods Market is taking Blogging and the use of social networking sites very seriously. In fact, its the only grocery chain of any format we are aware of that currently has a senior staff member, Paige Brady, who's full-time job is social networking. She's Whole Foods' "Blogger-in-Chief."

At this point in time, based on our research, Whole Foods is the top "Blogging-Grocer" in the U.S.

[Suggested Reading: June 7, 2008: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market, Inc. Launches New and Improved Company Blog; Leadership 2.0 and Increased Transparency on the Move in Food Retailing ... May 22, 2008: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey is 'Back to Blogging'; As Well as Being 'Back in Town.' ... May 25, 2008: nday, May 25, 2008 Retail Memo: More On John Mackey's Return to Blogging...United Kingdom's Waitrose Chief Exec Mark Price Goes His Own Way in His 'The Grocer's Blog'.]

The UK's "Grocery-Blogger-in-Chief": The May 25, 2008 post linked above mentions Mark Price, the CEO (official title: managing director) of the upscale Waitrose supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. If by our own account Whole Foods Market is the leading "Blogging- Grocer" in the U.S., Waitrose gets that honor in the UK.

In addition to Waitrose chief Mark Price's Blog, there's also a Blog by the grocery chain's nutritionist, and another by a local British hog farmer who supplies premium pork to Waitrose.

We really like the personal touch Waitrose uses in its Blogging. It creates interest in the personalities behind the grocery chain.

[You can check out the latest Blog posts from the Waitrose folks here.]

[Three past stories from NSFM about the Waitrose "Blogging-Grocers": Retail Memo: Waitrose's 'Chubby Grocer' Mark Price 'Weighs-In' on His Rival; Marks & Spencer CEO and 'The King of Pants' Sir Stuart Rose... Leadership 2.0 Memo: More Food and Grocery Industry Leaders Need to Adopt Digital, Interactive Communications Strategies in This Digital Age... Retail Memo: More On John Mackey's Return to Blogging...United Kingdom's Waitrose Chief Exec Mark Price Goes His Own Way in His 'The Grocer's Blog'.]

A Very Independent "Blogging-Grocer": Jim Hiller, the owner and CEO of Michigan's eight-store Hiller's Markets, goes his own way in his grocer's Blog, taking positions and offering his opinions in the Blog on a variety of issues.

His chief issue of late has been urging folks to buy American automobiles, which shouldn't be a surprise since Hiller's stores are located in the Detroit, Michigan region, home to America's struggling "Big Three" automobile companies.

But Hiller also writes about a wide-variety of other issues in his Blog -- like oysters -- which he wrote about in a post on February 16.

But today's post in his Blog, "Jim's Blog: A Message From the Helm," on the Hiller's Market Website is about cars. It's titled: "A New Ride," and is well worth reading. [Click here to read the post.]

We like that independent grocer Jim Hiller shows who he is in his Blog. After all, one of the keys to the success of independent grocers in the U.S. is showing a personality. Jim Hiller does that in spades, as does Hiller's Market in its merchandising and operations.

[Suggested Reading: December 23, 2008: Independent Grocer Memo: Eight-Store Michigan USA Independent Hiller's Markets Demonstrates Why Independents Survive and Thrive in the U.S.]

[Blogging-Grocers Memo is a regular feature of Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM). If you spot a grocer Blogging about something of interest (or even not of interest), feel free to send us a note and a link at: nsfoodsmemo@yahoo.com. Comments on grocers and Blogging are welcome on this post. Just click the "comments" link below and offer your opinion.]

[Follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) around on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo]

Small-Format Food Retailing Special Report: Global Small-Format Food and Grocery Retailing News and Notes

The International Small-Format Food and Grocery Retailing Revolution Marches On

United Kingdom

On July 16, Britain's Co-operative Group and the Somerfield supermarket chain jointly announced they've entered into an agreement for the Co-operative Group to acquire the 900 store Somerfield chain for ~1.6 billion-p (British Pounds).

The Co-operative Group operates small-format food and grocery stores throughout the United Kingdom (UK), along with banks, insurance agencies, travel agencies and related businesses. As the name implies, the Co-operative Group is a cooperative-owned enterprise. In fact it's the largest multi-retail format Co-op in the world in terms of total annual sales in its food stores and other businesses.

The acquisition of Somerfield, which operates fairly small-format but conventional rather than convenience-oriented supermarkets, will transform the Co-operative group into the UK's fifth-largest food and grocery retailing chain, just behind number four Morrisons. Tesco is the nation's leading retailer, followed by Wal-Mart-owned Asda and Sainsbury's.

With the Somerfield acquisition, the small-format Co-op chain will have annual sales of about ~8 billion-P (British Pounds), with an 8% share of the nation's total food and grocery market. Number one Tesco has about a 31% share. Number two Asda has an approximately 16% markets share, followed by Sainsbury's with about 14.5%, and Morrisons with about 10%. The remaining market share is fought over by Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and a handful of other key players in the UK.

Two small-format discount grocers, German-based Aldi and Lidl, also are becoming major players in UK food and grocery retailing with their no frills, limited assortment little discount dynamo grocery stores.

While the Aldi and Lidl small-format stores are price-focused, as both Germany-based international retailers stores are throughout the world, small-format food retailing is a format explosion in terms of styles and offerings in the UK.

For example, Tesco's Tesco Express small-format stores (currently about 800 in the UK) are fairly middle-market food and grocery stores with an emphasis on convenience.

Sainsbury's Sainsbury's Local small-format stores are similar, but a bit more upscale and specialty-oriented than the Tesco Express stores.

At the higher-end, Marks & Spencer's small-format Simply Food stores are much higher-end and feature the retailer's popular specialty and gourmet store brand food and grocery items.

Waitrose is joining the higher-end small-format segment in two new ways: with its new 3,000 -to- 5,000 square foot Market Town food stores positioned for smaller cities and towns in the UK, and with its just recently announced new convenience food and grocery store operation, which will feature approximately 15,000 square foot food and grocery stores positioned in cities and suburbs.

The Co-operative Group's small-format stores offer basic groceries and lots of natural foods, including organic and locally-produced foods. The stores also are positioned as environmentally sustainable, selling lots of Fair Trade products, focusing on animal welfare issues and practicing green retailing as a way of doing business.

Eastern Europe: Romania

France's Carrefour, the second largest retail chain in the world after number one Wal-Mart, Inc., is growing its small-format Carrefour Express food and grocery store count in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus at present on Romania.

Carrefour will open two Carrefour Express grocery stores in the Romanian cities of Lugoj and Bistrita next week.

The launch of the two new Carrefour Express small-format grocery stores is part of the French retailer's plan to remodel the Artima supermarket chain, which the French retailer took over in October 2007. Artima's 21 stores acquired by Carrefour are being converted to the Carrefour Express format, which can range from stores as small as 3,000 square feet in urban regions to about 15,000 square feet. Thus far nine of the 21 Artima stores have been converted to Carrefour Express stores in Romania.

The two Carrefour Express grocery stores will reopen on July 23 and July 24 respectively, according to Carrefour, which means crossroads in French.

Carrefour paid 55 million euros for the 21-store Artima supermarket chain.

The France-based global retailer now operates two formats in Romania: large hypermarkets and the small-format Carrefour Express grocery stores. Carrefour currently operates 15 hypermarkets in Romania, along with the nine Carrefour Express stores, with 13 remaining Artima supermarkets set to be converted to Carrefour Express small-format grocery stores.

India

The India-based blog Twenty22--India On the Move, which stands for the year 2022 when independent India will be 75 years old, has a well-researched and written piece about food, grocery and other format retailing in the nation with world's second-fastest growing economy, after China.

A key focus of the piece is about India's Reliance, which is a huge, multi-format retailer. Among Reliance's fast-growing food, grocery, soft goods and hard goods retail formats, is its about 4,000 -to- 6,000 Reliance Fresh small-format food and grocery store chain.

The piece also talks about India's Tata Group, which is another multi-format retailer, including operating a small-format grocery chain, along with other companies in India's fast-growing retail sector. Click here to read the piece from Twenty-22.

United States

An Iowa mayor opens a small-format specialty food store on main street

The small-format food retailing revolution in America seems to be becoming so popular that it's even drawing politicians into the business. The mayor of the Midwestern USA city of McGregor, Iowa, Roger Knott, and his wife Lora, have opened a small-format specialty-focused grocery store on main street in the Iowa city he runs as mayor.

The new independent grocery store is named McGregor's Top Shelf. At about 5,000 square feet it features specialty, natural and gourmet food and grocery items, an upscale deli, specialty wines, spirits and craft beers, fresh produce and fresh, prepared foods, and high-quality fresh meats from a nearby purveyor, Edgewood Meat Locker, in Edgewood, Iowa.

According to his honor the mayor and the grocer, the main street building is brand new but is designed to look like an old fashion general store. Above the food store, the independent grocer/mayor and his wife Lora, build a small Bread & Breakfast Inn, which features a two-bedroom apartment, and balcony deck which is available for nightly or weekly rental. Bed & Breakfast tenants get fresh gourmet coffee and pastries from the small-format McGregor's Top Shelf grocery store as part of their rental of the two bedroom apartment.

McGregor's Top Shelf opening on the city's main street also is part of a growing trend in the U.S. in which grocers are opening smaller format stores in city neighborhoods and in downtown districts. This includes urban stores focusing on both basic groceries as well as on specialty foods and groceries.

A small-format gourmet rose for East Harlem, NYC

Speaking of urban America and small-format specialty foods-oriented stores, an Ottomanelli Brothers New York Grill will open soon at 1325 Fifth Ave. at 111th Street in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood, according to the owners of the family-owned, 100-year-old New York chain, best known for its prime cuts of meat, reports the New York Sun newspaper.

Known for its freshly ground meat, grass-fed beef, poultry, and game, Ottomanelli's operates five butcher shops and restaurants in the city. Nicolo Ottomanelli, who with his brother Joseph is chairman of the company, said his grandfather founded the business in 1900 with a pushcart on Delancey Street. Another Ottomanelli's store, on Bleecker Street, is owned by cousins, he said.

The new, 28,153-square-foot Ottomanelli's, situated on a tree-lined block not far from the Duke Ellington memorial, will feature a sidewalk café facing Central Park, the New York Sun reported last week.

East Harlem is going through a gentrification process in which the historically low-income neighborhood is becoming home to higher-income professionals who are flocking to the new residential developments being constructed in the neighborhood. In turn, these changing demographics are bringing in lots of higher-end retailers of all formats.

Will Tesco's Fresh & Easy feel the no-booze sales blues?

As we've written about before, Tesco's small-format Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery chain, which currently has 63 combination basic grocery and fresh foods markets in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, has self-service checkout in all of its stores. Shoppers scan their own grocery purchases and the checkout lanes, then bag the groceries themselves. The stores only except debit and credit cards, and cash. But not paper personal checks. Nor do the small-format Fresh & Easy stores cash payroll or government checks like nearly every American supermarket does.

The stores also offer what the retailer calls "assisted checkout," which means that if a shopper wants help checking his or her order they can request help from a store clerk who will either assist the customer or do the checkout for them. However, the shopper has to ask. In other words, the default checkout system is self-service.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy grocery markets also sell wines and beers in their stores, including a selection of their own specially-blended wine varieties, similar to what Trader Joe's grocery stores offer.

If a California State Assemblyman from Southern California has his way however, stores like Fresh & Easy which offer only self-checkout lanes rather than a mix of full-service and self- checkout like other chains in California do, will not be able to sell alcoholic beverages in the stores unless they dedicate at least one checkout lane in each store to full-service, according to a report in the blog Fresh & Easy Buzz, which focuses on covering and writing about Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA. Customers buying alcoholic beverages in the store would have to use that lane.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy is the only food and grocery chain currently in California that has self-service-only checkout lanes. Obviously, should this proposed legislation pass, at best it would require Tesco to add a full-service checkout lane in each of its stores. The worse case scenario if it chose to not do so, would be that the stores could no longer sell wine and beer. We think they would choose the former rather than the latter, as the specially-blended wines are a significant part of the retailer's merchandising strategy.

If the legislative bill, AB 523, proposed by California Democratic Assemblyman Hector De La Torre advances in the Assembly it will be interesting to see if the California Grocers Association (CGA) takes a position for or against it.

The CGA is the state trade association for California's food and grocery retailing industry and counts among its members California's leading supermarket chains like Safeway Stores, Inc., Kroger Co.'s Ralphs, SuperValu's Albertsons, Save Mart, Raley's and most others, along with nearly every major independent grocer in the Golden State.

None of these member chains or independent offers self-service only checkout lanes in its stores. In fact, only a handful even have a mix of self-service and full-service checkout lanes in their stores. Those few that do, like some of the Ralphs new "Fresh" format supermarkets and Safeway's new small-format "the market by Vons" in Long Beach, California, have just a few self-service checkout lanes, compared to a higher number of full-service lanes per-store. Read the full story from Fresh & Easy Buzz here.

Hardball on and off the court

Fresh & Easy Buzz also has an interesting feature story about former NBA basketball all-star Kevin Johnson, who's running for Mayor of Sacramento in a highly contested runoff election with the city's current mayor this November.

Johnson, who is a native of Sacramento, moved back to the city after retiring from the NBA. He then launched a career as a developer, along with founding and running a successful non-profit community development organization called HOPE.

As we reported in Natural~Specialty Foods Memo earlier this year, Johnson the developer is bringing a Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Sacramento's historically low-income Oak Park neighborhood, the very same Sacramento neighborhood he was raised in.

Fresh & Easy Buzz reports that Johnson, the driving force behind bringing the Fresh & Easy grocery store to the Oak Park neighborhood, which is underserved by supermarkets, is being attacked on multiple fronts in an aggressive campaign by a local labor union, which supports incumbant Sacramento mayor Healther Fargo, who Kevin Johnson is challenging. Tesco appears to be somewhat in the middle of the current mayors' race, and the attack campaign, by virtue of the fact its Oak Park neighborhood store is going on land owned by Johnson.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy also has union problems of its own, as the United Food & Commercial Workers union is waging an aggressive campaign against the chain in order to get Tesco executives to sit down with union leaders and discuss the potential unionization of Fresh & Easy store-level employees. Read the Fresh & Easy Buzz feature story: "Fresh Feature: A Former NBA All-Star Who Wants to Become Mayor, A Trade Union, And A Future Tesco Fresh & Easy Grocery Store In Sacramento, California ."

Small-format innovation: Dillions and Kwik Shop to create combination small-format grocery and convenience store in Greensburg, Kansas

From the Dodge City, Kansas Daily Globe: July 18, 2008

By Cherise Forno
Dodge City Daily Globe
Jul 18, 2008

Greensburg leaders, government officials and Kwik Shop and Dillons’ representatives gathered on Thursday to break ground for the new grocery store in Greensburg.

The new Dillons will be built next to the existing Kwik Shop to create a combination convenience and grocery store. This expansion will increase the Kwik Shop to 8,000 square feet, which is three times its current size.

"It is encouraging to see progress and growth as Greensburg rebuilds, and we are humbled to be a part of the journey," said Dillons President John Bays. "Greensburg and Kiowa County residents have supported Dillons and Kwik Shop for over 70 years, and we are pleased to continue this relationship."

Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson said he was inspired by the city's progress over the last year.

"What I see here is amazing," he said.

The Kwik Shop, located at 203 W. Kansas Ave., has been providing Greensburg residents with fresh produce, meat, dairy products, fuel and household items since a Level F5 tornado devastated the city in May 2007.

The addition of a Dillon’s grocery store will double the selection of fresh produce available and provide more selections for all grocery items.

The store will also feature a deli department with an assortment of home-style hot foods. The Kwik Shop will continue to meet the city's daily needs for items such as fuel, fresh-brewed coffee, newspapers and Kansas lottery tickets.

This grocery and convenience store, expected to be completed in early 2009, will be the first of its kind.

The Dillons store will be built in accordance with the city's dedication to the environment and sustainability, said Jeff Parker, president of Kwik Shop.

Some of the "green" features of the building include a white-reflective Thermoplastic-Polyoflefin roof with extra insulation; skylight coverage of the roof to provide natural daytime lighting; low-water demand landscaping; and highly efficient systems for cooling, heating and refrigeration equipment.

"This is an opportunity for the world to see Dillons through Greensburg's eyes," Mayor Bob Dixson said.

Dillons' decision to build the store in an eco-friendly manner is one of many ways in which the city is fulfilling its commitment to improving the environment.

"We want to educate people about going green," said Levi Smith, a Kwik Shop employee and member of the Green Club. "It's not a radical change. We want to teach people how easy it is."

Smith and other Greensburg High School students established the Green Club to make the process of "going green" easier for the community.

Last holiday season, the students went through the neighborhood collecting Christmas trees to recycle. More than 50 trees were turned into mulch for Greensburg's trees and plants instead of being dumped in the trash.

The club also participates in a lightbulb program, in which club members provide residents with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs in exchange for their old bulbs.

End Piece: Trader Joe's says 'no' to Palm Springs despite petition drive

It appears that 6,000 signatures on a petition to bring a Trader Joe's small-format specialty grocery store to the Southern California desert region city of Palm Springs just isn't enough for the Southern California-based chain, which is owned by members of the same German family that own no frills, small-format discount grocery chain Aldi International.

This despite the fact after all that Palm Springs was good enough for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., collectively known in the 1950's and 1960's as the "Rat Pack," along with such former residents as the late eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and the girlfriend to two Kennedy's, President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, Marilyn Monroe.

For well over a year members of a community coalition of Palm Springs residents have been meeting and organizing in an atempt to lure a Trader Joe'stores to their city, which is a popular upscale resort mecca, as well as having a considerably fast-growing year-round resident population.

ButTrader Joe's which has stores in three nearby cities--next door Palm Desert, Cathedral City and La Quinta--has just told the good citizens of Palm Springs it won't be bringing one of its quirky small-format grocery stores to the city anytime soon; although it appreciated the petition drive which resulted in 6,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, Tesco's Fresh & Easy, which also has stores in the three cities mentioned above, will soon open one of its small-format combination basic grocery and fresh foods stores in Palam Springs. The Fresh & Easy and Trader Joe's stores have many similarities, although Fresh & Easy sells an assortment of basic grocery products while Trader Joe's focuses on specialty and natural food and groceries items.

If we were running Tesco Fresh & Easy's marketing department, the first thing we would do is get a copy of that petition to bring a Trader Joe's to the city, and mail each of the 6,000 names and addresses on the petition an invitation to the Palm Springs' Fresh & Easy grocery store grand opening, along with a couple of the retailer's $5 -off (on any order of $20 or more) coupons.

In other words, make TJ's loss Fresh & Easy's gain, as well as making the 6,000 residents who wanted a Trader Joe's feel welcome at the new Fresh & Easy store, perhaps converting them to Fresh & Easy shoppers. You can read a report here from the local Desert Sun newspaper.

Retail Memo: Food, Glorious Food: An Interview With Waitrose UK Supermarket Chain Chief Mark Price; the Now 'Not As Chubby Grocer'

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has written often about the United Kingdom's upscale Waitrose supermarket chain which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, which operates department stores under that name in the UK as well as Waitrose, and its Managing Director (CEO) Mark Price (pictured at top), who because of the now ever-decreasing girth around his waistline first called himself "The Chubby Grocer and "The Jolly Grocer," and now... "The Not So Chubby Grocer"

Yesterday, we wrote this piece about Price and Waitrose's new "Market Town" small-format (10,000 -to- 15,000 square feet) small town-positioned food and grocery store format, the second store of a possible 100 which opened last Thursday in the UK.

We've also written about Price and his "The Grocer's Blog," which he posts in daily on the Waitrose website.

In his blog, which gets about 40,000 hits a month, Price chronicles his daily efforts, often in minute details, to lose weight by a combination of better (and less) eating and exercise. Waitrose's staff nutritionist Moira Howie--who has a blog of her own on the website, along with a local hog farmer who sells local pork to the supermarket chain--often posts comments to Price's blog, praising him when he has eaten healthy or done a serious regime of exercise, and reminding him about his weight loss goal when he strays. The blog's readers also offer their comments on his weight-loss program and the other topics he posts about.

Waitrose chief Price also uses the blog to write about a variety of other things, from making friendly but often digging jabs at his competitors like Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, Wal-Mart-owned Asda's CEO Andy Bond, whom he likens at times to his partial namesake James Bond, and fellow upscale food retailing CEO Sir Richard Rose of Marks & Spencer, who Price calls "The King of Pants," in honor of the fact that in addition to being an upscale food retailer, Mark's & Spencer is the number one clothing retailer in the UK.

Price also chronicles his Waitrose store visits, business travels, family vacations and other food-related and sometimes non food-related topics on his blog.

You can read a number of pieces we've written about Waitrose MD (managing director) and his blog here, along with related topics. There are links to Price's blog as well as the others in the stories at the link.

In today's London Times online, staff writer Andrew Billen has a well-written and comprehensive interview with Waitrose chief Mark Price. The interview took place at the Waitrose Estate, a 4,000 acre working farm complete with a Victorian mansion and other delights located in the English countryside. Leckford, as the estate is called, produces a variety of foods that are sold at Waitrose supermarkets, including fruits, vegeatables, meats and other local goods. Food fairs and other events also are held at the estate, which is owned by the employees of the John Lewis Partnership.

Today's interview with Mark Price in the London Times, which you can read by clicking here, offers a good look at the Waitrose chief as a person, leader of a premium food and grocery chain, and UK business leader. It also includes some of the MD's plans for Waitrose in the future, along with his plans to continue positioning the upscale food chain as the UK's leading upscale premium, specialty and natural foods retailer.

Meanwhile, as you can see in the photograph at the top of this piece, Mark Price still has a way to go before he can retire the name he gave himself: "The Chubby Grocer." Even though he is now referring to himself as "The Not So Chubby Grocer" (which is fair), we want to continue to motivate the seller of premium and decadents foods and groceries to continue losing weight and a bit more of his girth. Therefore, we will refer to him for now as "The Not as Chubby Grocer."

We've seen Price prior to starting his diet and exercise regime, and without a doubt he isn't as chubby as before. But he remains "jolly," a flavor for which you can get in the interview, which we hope continues long after he reaches his weight loss and waist measurement goals.

Small-Format Food Retailing Special Report: UK Upscale Supermarket Chain Waitrose Opens the Second of its New, Small-Format 'Market Town' Food Stores

Upscale British food retailer Waitrose opened the second of what could be up to 100 of its new small-format "Market Town" food and grocery stores in Buckingham, UK last Thusday.

The first of the new small-format "Market Town" food stores or shops--which Waitrose managing director Mark Price calls "purpose-built" small-format stores because they are designed to be "local," limted assortment food stores with a major focus on fresh foods and locally-grown produce, as well as being located in small or market towns--opened just last month in St. Neots Cambridgeshire.

Waitrose's upscale supermarkets in the UK average 20,000 -to- 30,000 square feet and follow the supermarket format of offering a little bit of everything in terms of food, groceries and non-foods, all with an upscale and gourmet focus in Waitrose's case of course.

The grocer's supermarkets also are located in, and targeted to, all areas in the UK, but primarily urban and suburban regions.

In contrast, the geographical focus of the "Market Town" small-format stores are small towns. The merchandising focus is to devote about 50% of the total store square footage to fresh foods and fresh produce, selling as much locally-produced produce as possible, and the other half to a limited assortment of groceries, specialty, gourmet, natural and organic products, and a smattering of non-foods items.

The next Waitrose "purpose built" small-format "Market Town" food store is set to open in July in the town of Brackley, Northamptonshire.

Here is what Waitrose chief Price said about the Buckingham "Market Town" store opening on Thursday, June 5 in his "The Grocer's Blog" on Waitrose's website on Friday, June 6:

"Thursday was a particularly enjoyable day as we opened our first purpose-built 'market town' branch in Buckingham. This is an approximately 10k square foot format for smaller retail sites that specialise in fresh food and local produce. The branch looked fantastic and feedback from customers was incredibly positive. The reception we got in Buckingham gives us great confidence that we're in a good position to roll out new Waitrose shops into towns and villages we previously thought might not have suitable sites."

Price says what Waitrose is aiming to do with the "Market Town" small-format food stores is to refelct the ambience of a traditional British food shop, as well as being as "local" in product assortment, design features and elements, and service-orientation as possible.

"Our brand has traditionally had a 'sweet spot' of around 20,000 square feet, but in a competitive environment we need to be more flexible and improve the potential of the smaller shops in our estate," Price says about one of the key reasons Waitrose developed the "Market Town" format stores.

"The 'Market Town' format will allow us to achieve that, as well as giving us new opportunities to grow the business. We are going back to the grass roots of the traditional town food shop, which aims to reassert the sense of community and service associated with our brand." Price says.

The local and community aspect is key to the success of the small-format "Market Town" format, according to Price.

"By engaging with the community in our research, as well as providing local information and more local produce, we want our customers to get a real sense that this is their shop. We have always taken pride in being a fresh food specialist, and in the support we offer small and local producers. With this concept we have dedicated more space to fresh foods and more locally sourced products than ever before," Price explains.

Below are the key format distinctions or innovations of Waitrose's small-format "Market Town" stores:

>They have A small food store or shop design, look and product selection, tailored to the needs of the particular town the store is located in.

>Local is key to the format. For example, the stores sell nearly 200% more locally-produced food and beverage items compared to traditional Waitrose supermarkets, which already sell lots of local goods.

> More emphasis on fresh foods with over half the food store or shop dedicated to fresh products, as we mentioned above.

>Each store will have a community bulletin or information wall that will feature local information regarding the town, pictures of local food producers, and related information and graphics, all with a community emphasis.

>A new convenient bakery design, unique to the "Market Town" format, and designed to be a modern version of a traditional small food shop bakery.

>Waitrose Deliver, the retailer’s online shopping service, will be available in the small-format stores so that customers can have their grocery orders delivered to their homes if they desire, just as is the case with small town grocers.

>The "Market Town" format features a different layout than Waitrose's supermarkets, including having fresh and frozen foods merchandised next to each other and seasonal fruit and vegetables merchandised side-by-side in the produce department.

Waitrose could open as many as 100 of the small-format "Market Town" grocery shops in small towns throughout the UK in the next couple years, according to managing director Price.

Each store will reflect the unique aspects of the town it's located in, says Price. The 50% fresh foods, 50% other format will be the same for all of the small-format food stores. However, each store's design elements and product selection will reflect the community it's located in to a large degree, just like a neighborhood independent grocery shop does, according to Price.

The "Market Town" small-format stores are natural for Waitrose historically in that the supermarket chain, which is today owned by the John Lewis Partnership, began in 1904 as a small grocery shop named Waite, Rose and Taylor in West London.

That first shop, pictured here, was much smaller than 10,000 square feet. However, it's local roots and specialty-orientation is what's provided the base merchandising philosophy behind Waitrose to this day--not to mention the derivation of its name.

Therefore, in a sense Waitrose is merely going "back to the future" with its new small-format "Market Town" food shops.

Leadership 2.0 Memo: More Food and Grocery Industry Leaders Need to Adopt Digital, Interactive Communications Strategies in This Digital Age

Over the last few days we've written about Whole Foods Market, Inc. CEO John Mackey's return to blogging, with his "The CEO's Blog," on the supernatural food retailer's corporate website.

We also wrote a piece about Mark Price, the Managing Director (CEO) of United Kingdom supermarket chain Waitrose, and his "The Grocer's Blog," along with a companion piece about how Waitrose is using a blog called "The Hog Blogger," written by a real pig farmer who supplies bacon to the grocery chain, as a way of communicating its local foods' procurement and merchandising efforts--especially the upscale grocer's "Save our Bacon" local British pork campaign--to consumers, the media and other stakeholders.

We call these forms of corporate communication--corporate blogging by CEO's and others using interactive digital media and other "new wave" communications technologies--Leadership 2.0. In other words, it's using interactive digital means rather than analogue-only ways to communicate with consumers, shoppers, employees, the media and other stakeholders.

Leadership 2.0 strategy also is interactive rather than one-way, which analogue communications generally is. Blogs and other digital and online technology like message boards and video sites like YouTube allow for instant, real time communications between leaders, CEO's and their various stakeholders.

Since we live in a digital rather than analogue world, this technology and interactive means of communications not only makes sense, it rapidly becoming the norm.

What we call Leadership 2.0 is something food and grocery industry executives need to consider doing more. For example, we haven't been able to find another food retailing industry CEO--other than John Mackey in the U.S. and Mark Price in the UK--who currently is communicating directly with stakeholders via a blog, where comments are welcomed. (If you know of another industry CEO doing so, please let us know.)

The May 21 Harvard Business Review Online has an interesting post by Gill Corkindale in which he says he heard a report Monday morning on the BBC about British Prime Minister Gordon Brown going YouTube. Prime Minister Brown (PM) has launched a website called 10 Dowing street on the popular video sharing site where British citizens (and others we imagine) can directly ask him questions in the "Ask The PM" section, offer comments, and make suggestions, all of which he says he will answer.

This is an example of what we call Leadership 2.0 applied to running a nation.

YouTube also is playing a huge roll in the current Presidential election in the United States. Democratic front-runner Barack Obama was the first to make very successful use of the video sharing website in his campaign. Hillary Clinton soon followed, and Republican presumptive nominee John McCain also is now using YouTube to promote his campaign for President.

This is an example of Leadership 2.0 as a marketing campaign in the political arena.

Numerous companies big and small also are using YouTube for marketing campaigns. However this differs from what we call Leadership 2.0 in that it's more of a digital and online extension of traditional marketing than a "new wave" interactive communications effort like CEO-blogging, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's use of YouTube, and the efforts being made primarily by Obama and Senator Clinton to use the video sharing website to communicate with potential voters as well as to market to them.

Most corporate CEO's have yet to do anything similar to what Gordon Brown is attempting for example with YouTube. However, we expect to see more companies--and CEO's--follow the Gordon Brown YouTube and Mackey and Price CEO-as-blogger examples, as the realization communicating--especially with younger people--in the digital age requires the use of online written and video tools.

We suggest you read Gil Corkindale's post here in the May 21 Harvard Business Review online, along with the reader comments, as we think it's a good, illustrative example of what we call Leadership 2.0 in the digital age.

Retail Memo: More On John Mackey's Return to Blogging...United Kingdom's Waitrose Chief Exec Mark Price Goes His Own Way in His 'The Grocer's Blog'

On Thursday, May 22, we wrote this piece about Whole Foods Market, Inc. CEO John Mackey's return to corporate blogging in his Whole Foods Market blog on the retailer's website. Our piece has thus far received a number of comments on it, which you can read here, and we've received a few email notes about it as well here at Natural~Specialty Foods Memo.

The commentors and writers (via email) all thus far seem to be in agreement that Mackey's return to blogging under his own name is either a good thing or if not good is at least pretty much just fine with them, thank you.

However, the opinions regarding his past posting of comments about pre-merger Wild Oats Markets' management and operations and about Whole Foods' then impending acquisition of the rival grocery chain, are receiving mixed reviews--some think its no big thing, others say it might have been an ethical breach but certainly nothing illegal.

Others are expressing the view that perhaps the Whole Foods CEO got away with something because neither Whole Foods' board or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) punished the CEO in any way for posting on the Yahoo Finance message boards under an assumed screename.

The fact is, the SEC cleared Mackey, so there no longer is an investigation. Further, the Whole Foods' board has cleared Mackey as well. The board did put a new policy in place which prohibits corporate executives from posting on message boards like Yahoo Finance using an assumed screename.

Other writers out in the blogosphere are posting about Mackey's return to blogging, as well the pieces and posts we've offered here at Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM).

Here's today's take on the issue from Peter Katfka, who writes the "Silicon Alley Insider" blog about all things digital, such as blogs and related technology. Click here to read the piece the "Silicon Alley Insider" posted today about John Mackey's return to blogging.

Additionally, Paul Glazowski who writes for the online publication Mashable, Inc., has a post in the blog about John Mackey's return to blogging today as well. You can read that piece here.

The United Kingdom's 'Lord of the Blog'

Lastly, as Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) has written about before, John Mackey isn't the only food retailing chain CEO who publishes a blog on a company website. No sir indeed.

Mark Price, who is the Managing Director (British business speak essentially for CEO) of the upscale United Kingdom-based supermarket chain Waitrose, also has his own blog on the company website, called "The Grocer's Blog." (Mackey is the only food retailing chain CEO in the U.S. though we are aware of who writes a blog. And Price the only one we are aware of who does so in the UK.)

Waitrose Managing Director (MD) Price, who named himself the "Chubby Grocer" because of his ample girth, originally started "The Grocers Blog" as a way to communicate the daily ins-and-outs of a weight loss program he started last year. In the blog, Price has provided readers with the most personal details of his weight-loss regime; everything from how hard it is to avoid donuts, to his walking and swimming attempts, successes and failures.

Price couldn't be expected to merely limit himself on the blog to discussing his diet and exercise regimes however.

The Waitrose MD, who also goes by the nickname "The Golly Grocer" (part because of his girth, part because of his good sense of humor), is a man of many opinions, and jokes, both in general and about his rivals in the UK supermarket industry, such as Sir Terry Leahy, the CEO of Tesco PLC. and Sir Richard Rose, the Chairman and CEO of British food, hard and soft goods retailer Marks & Spencer, who Price calls the "King of Pants" in honor of M&S's private label slacks being named "the best" in the UK last year. Price loves offering his rivals a good dig in the blog.

In his "The Grocer's Blog," Price writes short posts about his weight loss efforts, trips to Waitrose stores, personal vacations, business conferences, and offers frequent friendly digs at UK supermarket leaders like Sir Terry of Tesco, Sir Richard Rose of M&S and others.

In fact, Price seems to be one of the few British food retail chain CEO's who has yet to be knighted by the Queen. After all, there's even a 'British Lord' in the bunch, Lord Sainsbury, scion of Sainsbury's, the UK's number three supermarket chain after Tesco (number one) and number two Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart, Inc.

Asda's CEO isn't a Sir either...yet. We almost forgot, billionaire Sir Ken Morrison, the recently-retired former Chairman and CEO of the UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain, Morrisons, also was granted the title some years ago by order of the Queen.

You can read Waitrose chief Mark Price's latest 'The Grocer's Blog" blog post here, along with his past posts and comments on them from readers.

Since Whole Foods Market, Inc., which already has one store in London, UK and is making a major push to open more in the nation, and Waitrose are now rivals and will increasingly be so as Whole Foods opens more stores in the UK, perhaps we will eventually see a "blog off" between rival CEO's Price and Mackey?

Being the UK's most upscale, premium and natural foods' merchandising-oriented grocery chain, Waitrose is arguably the grocer which has the most to lose sales-wise from Whole Foods' expansion in the UK. Therefore, Will John Mackey soon or eventually join the cast of Price's rival CEO's, many of whom are the Waitrose chief's friends like Sir Richard of M&S, as good natured fodder for the "jolly grocer" on his "The Grocer's Blog?" Stay tuned. We will be.

NSFM Editor's Note: Read more about Waitrose Managing Director Mark Price's corporate blogging, including a report on his self-proclaimed Easter Sunday, 2008 weight loss goal challenge, here in two pieces we wrote on the topic in March, 2008. Also read this piece about Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s expansion plans in the United Kingdom.

Retail Memo Breaking News: Waitrose Chief and "Chubby Grocer" Mark Price Acheives Half of His Weight-Loss Goal By Easter Sunday Deadline

News Flash: He didn't reach his own goal of losing 20 centimeters (nearly eight inches) from his girth by Easter Sunday. But Mark Price, the Managing Director (MD) and self-named "Chubby Grocer" of upscale United Kingdom grocery chain Waitrose, did lose half that amount when he held his own weigh-in and waist measurement in his hotel room yesterday while on holiday.

Price reports on his blog he lost 10 centimeters (3.937 inches) from his now a little bit less-ample waistline. [Read our piece on Price from yesterday here.]

Three months ago, the Waitrose MD (like CEO) promised himself--and his wife--he would begin a program of improved eating and exercise to reduce his girth. He also shared his plan and goal with his blog's readers on the Waitrose website. The "chubby grocer" also set a date--which he mentioned almost daily in his blog--of Easter Sunday 2008, in which he would measure his waistline using an industrial-strength measuring tape and report the results.

Well, the results from the big weigh-in and waist measuring are in. And, as we said, Price says he lost 10 centimeters--half of his three-month goal--as of yesterday, Easter Sunday.

Of course, this is self-report data, which can be suspect by serious researchers. However, since Price reported only a 50% girth reduction and has shown candor throughout the last three months on his blog, we will give him--and his self-report data--the benefit of the doubt. As such, we issue a firm congratulations to the now "not as chubby" grocer and Waitrose MD.

In fact, we're just the slight bit pleased that Price didn't lose the entire 20 centimeters, as we wouldn't want him to completely lose his fun "chubby grocer" persona. Although, they do say a once "chubby grocer" who becomes a "lean grocer" is still a chubby grocer inside. In price's case, we hope so.

Only reaching 50% of his goal also gives Price a reason to keep writing his blog, which we think makes him happy...it does us. Now, about all those organic, Fair Trade, premium dark chocolate Easter Eggs?

Read what Waitrose Managing Director and self-named "chubby grocer" Mark Price has to say about the big Easter Sunday weigh-in and waist measuring event here on his blog. It's a good first of the week read.

Will Price be able to approximate the svelt body of rival CEO Andy Bond of Asda? If so, the "chubby grocer" will have to at least double his efforts. Is he up to it? Stay tuned.

Retail Memo: Waitrose's 'Chubby Grocer' Mark Price 'Weighs-In' on His Rival; Marks & Spencer CEO and 'The King of Pants' Sir Stuart Rose

Let's face a cold, hard fact: When it comes to comparing grocery retailing in the United States and the United Kingdom, on thing is perfectly clear: The Brits just have a whole lot more fun with the business than their American counterparts, especially at the CEO or Managing Director level.

Sure, there are the occasional bursts of wonderment and mirth among U.S. grocery retailing CEO's, like the news last year that Whole Foods' chief John Mackey had been posting anti-Wild Oats Markets and pro-Whole Foods acquisition comments on various online financial bulletin boards during the run up to the Austin, Texas-based grocer's buyout of natural foods chain Wild Oats. The incident was good for lots of press--and some fun headlines such as "Wacky Mackey." We can't recall one U.S. supermarket chain CEO commenting on it though, although others from all walks of life did.

In the main though, U.S. retail grocery chain CEO's are pretty staid folks, no disrespect intended. Further, the retail grocery industry in the U.S. has very little prestige for some reason among the corporate and business community, as well as with the American news media.

On the other hand, the UK press has elevated its reporting and writing about that nation's grocery retailing industry to a high art form. The country's newspapers, tabloids and other media outlets report on the UK's top grocery chains daily. And, it's not just business stories these scribes write about either. UK Retail grocery industry CEO's often are covered and written about at near-celebrity levels. The good, the bad and the ugly are reported regarding the supermarket chains and their leaders.

For example, there's Sir Terry (Leahy) of Tesco, who appears in the British press more often than rock star Paul McCartney (pre-divorce of course). There's reports on the comings and goings of Wal-Mart, which owns the UK's number two retail chain, Asda, at least daily. Further, there's what we call the "Daily Sainsbury's," news all about the UK's third-largest grocery retailer. And, that's just the tip of the UK grocery industry and CEO media coverage iceberg.

Britain also holds its supermarket CEO's in rather high esteem. As such it gives them major props when they are up--and feels free to kick them when they are down.

United Kingdom CEO's or Managing Directors are a royal bunch as well. Sir Terry of Tesco has been knighted (hence the Sir in Terry), as has Stuart Rose, CEO of Marks & Spencer. Add to that list Sir Morrison, the just-retired CEO of the grocery chain Morrisons', which is the fourth-largest in the UK. There's even a Lord in the group, Lord Sainsbury.

Then there's Mark Price, the Managing Director (essentially the same as CEO) of upscale grocery chain Waitrose. Price, who calls himself the "chubby" and "jolly" grocer in honor of his slight girth, which he's in the process of reducing--an effort he chronicles daily in his blog by reporting what he ate for lunch and dinner the day before and breakfast that morning--daily in his own blog on the Waitrose corporate website.

Price may not have achieved "Sir" status yet like the others, but he is without peer in UK grocery retailing executive circles in terms of having fun with and loving his job as the head of Waitrose. Price also is the only supermarket CEO in the UK to write his own daily blog--and in the words of many readers tell them way too much about his personal eating habits.

We love Price's blog--and read it often. Another thing the "jolly grocer" uses his blog for is to have some fun with his UK retail grocery chain CEO peers. He especially likes to dig (slight, British digs mind you) Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco over this issue or that when the mood--and the issue--strikes him. The blog's digs on Sir Terry are all in jest mind you--but they do often have some larger meaning behind them as well.

Right now Waitrose (and its parent John Lewis) and Tesco are a bit at odds with each other competitively speaking. Waitrose, which also owns the online UK grocery-retailer and home delivery service Ocado, recently announced it would beat Tesco's retail prices on a couple thousand basic, everyday grocery items at the online supermarket. On its website, Ocado has a banner promotional ad which reads: 'Tesco Prices, Waitrose Quality, Ocado Delivery.'

Tesco shot back--and the battle has been enjoined--with some harsh words by both retailers and talks of lawsuits by Tesco. As a result, we expect the "chubby grocer" to either lay off writing about Sir Terry and Tesco for a while on the advice of legal council, or to do the complete opposite, and perhaps sharpen the nature of his digs just slightly.

But, it's Price's latest friendly dig at his friend and collegue Sir Richard Rose, CEO (and now Chairman as well) of Marks & Spencer, we want you to know about today.

First, a little background: Unlike is the case in the U.S., the top-three UK supermarket chains--Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's-- and a number of others near the top like Marks & Spencer, sell soft goods like clothes and hard goods like electronics and appliances, in most of their stores in addition to food and grocery products. (Waitrose stores just sell food and groceries in the main, including the best of the best in terms of quality, but it's parent company, John Lewis, operates department stores.)

Additionally, all four of these retailers sell men's and woman's clothing as part of their soft goods' merchandising, including producing and selling pants, shorts and other garments under their own store brands. The retailers' are as competitive in the soft goods category in many ways as they are in the food and grocery category.

There are even awards for the best store brand clothing, as there are in the UK for best store brand grocery products. And, Mark's & Spencer was just recently named this year's best purveyor of own-brand pants out of all the UK soft goods (and those that sell groceries as well) retailers.

Lastly, Marks & Spencer CEO Sir Stuart Rose recently became the Chairman of M&S as well as its CEO. He also signed a new 10-year contract as Chairman and CEO of the popular UK retail chain.

Back to Waitrose Managing Director/blogger Price. Last week the "jolly grocer" used his blog to write about--and offer a gentle dig to--M&S CEO Rose. Price and Sir Stuart had dinner together last week at a male only event called the Solus Club, which was held in London's posh Dorchester Hotel.

Price used the occasion of being with Rose at the dinner, following the Chairman and CEO's inking his new 10-year contract, as well as Marks & Spencer's getting its "best pants' retailer nod," to try out some new nicknames or "official titles" on Rose, whom he calls "The King of Pants," (among other titles) in honor of the "best pants retailer" honor.

Among the "official titles" Price says in his blog he offered to Chairman and CEO Rose (which Sir Stuart confirms) were: El Presidente, Grand Formage, Defender of the Universe, the Silver Foxy Overlord of the High Street and--as a nod to the combined Chairman and CEO roles rolled in with the "best pants" honor--First Lord of the Knicker Drawer.

Price also can't resist commenting on Rose's dual positions at M&S in his blog, saying he (Rose)agreed on the new, 10-year contract between himself (the Chairman) and himself (the CEO). [Read the "chubby grocer's" post about his dinner with Rose here.]

Rose seems to be taking it all in stride. He says he takes all of Price's comments, in the blog and verbally, "in the spirit in which they are intended." That's a very Chairman-like comment, we must say.

Meanwhile, today is a big day for Price, the "chubby grocer." Today, Easter Sunday, is the day for his big weigh-in to see if his efforts over the last three months to lose weight will give him the new nickname, the "not-so chubby" grocer.

Price is spending the Easter weekend on holiday with his family. He did make a blog post today but there was nothing about the weigh-in because it was an early morning pre-weigh-in post. But the signs look ominous as evidenced by this mornings post.. In that post, Price mentions a huge breakfast he just finished at his hotel restaurant in Breton, where he is on holiday. The morning meal sounds huge.

We bet he waited until tonight for the weigh-in so he could digest that breakfast spread a bit. But, what about Easter lunch...and dinner? The calories, the carbs of it all. We will be checking the "chubby grocer's" blog first thing in the morning for a new, post weigh-in post...and the results. We won't be disappointed though if Price has only lost a couple pounds. After all, we kind of like his "chubby grocer" persona.