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Wakefern’s fiscal 2021 sales dip after cycling pandemic-driven gains

Grocery retail cooperative marks 75th anniversary at annual meeting

Russell Redman

October 25, 2021

4 Min Read
ShopRite storefront-Poughkeepsie NY.jpg
Wakefern reported fiscal 2021 retail sales of $17.8 billion, down 2.7% from fiscal 2020, when sales surged 10% amid escalated demand triggered by the COVID-19 crisis.ShopRite

ShopRite operator Wakefern Food Corp. saw sales edge down in fiscal 2021 after heightened consumer demand triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic boosted prior-year results.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern tallied retail sales of $17.8 billion for its fiscal year ended Oct. 2, down 2.7% from $18.3 billion for the 53-week 2020 fiscal year, when sales jumped nearly 10% as shoppers stocked up during the coronavirus crisis. However, the grocery retail cooperative’s sales remain elevated. On a two-year stack, sales are up more than 7% from $16.6 billion in fiscal 2019, which represented a 0.7% gain from the previous year.

Wakefern reported year-end results on Friday following its annual shareholder meeting, which marked the company’s 75th anniversary as well as a return to an in-person event, along with a virtual audience. Participants included Wakefern shareholders, members, and store management and staff.

The milestone anniversary comes at a time when the industry continues to be reshaped by the pandemic, according to Wakefern President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Sheridan, who thanked members and the thousands of store personnel for their extra efforts.

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At Wakefern's annual meeting, President and COO Joe Sheridan, Chairman and CEO Joseph Colalillo and Executive VP Chris Lane hold a proclamation from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and a joint resolution from the state legislature marking the company's 75th year in business.

“Seventy-five years is a big deal, pretty remarkable given that family-owned businesses rarely survive past the third generation,” Sheridan said at the meeting. “It’s important that we pause and recognize this milestone and use it as a moment to reflect on what made us great in the past and what will keep us great to ensure that we keep moving forward for generations to come.”

Related:ShopRite readies pilot of robotic grocery delivery carts

To that end, Executive Vice President Chris Lane noted Wakefern’s innovations during 2021 to enhance the customer experience both in-store and online.

The year saw Wakefern drive own-brand expansion, led by its Bowl & Basket, Paperbird, Wholesome Pantry and Wholesome Pantry Organic labels. In stores, the co-op continued its rollout of the Fresh to Table department, including at ShopRite stores in Poughkeepsie and Cortlandt, N.Y.; Philadelphia; and Brookdale, N.J. A store-within-a-store concept, Fresh to Table made its debut last fall and highlights meal solutions and healthy, on-trend foods in a variety of grab-and-go formats.

And on the digital front, for its ShopRite from Home online shopping service, Wakefern began piloting delivery robots from automated logistics specialist Tortoise as well as an automated storage-and-retrieval system from Kardex to improve fulfillment of online grocery orders. In addition, Wakefern adopted the dunnhumby customer data science platform as its mainline category management and merchandising solution to sharpen customer-centric decision making. Wakefern, too, extended the rollout of CB4 store execution technology across its ShopRite and Price Rite Marketplace banners.

Related:Wakefern pilots space-savvy online grocery automation

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Wakefern's Joseph Colalillo (left) and Joe Sheridan (right) on stage at the 2021 annual meeting, held both in-person and virtually this year.

“We are all invested together in this partnership, our cooperative,” Lane told annual meeting attendees. “Teamwork was the key to Wakefern’s founding and early successes, and I’m confident it’s the key to Wakefern’s future.”

During fiscal 2021, Wakefern opened four ShopRite and four Price Rite supermarkets and welcomed new member Madison Foods Corp., owned by the Slawsby family. A former Save A Lot operator, Brockton, Mass.-based Madison now operates four new Price Rite stores in the Boston area.

Overall, Wakefern has more than 80,000 employees and a retail network of nearly 50 members and 361 supermarkets in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island under the ShopRite (nearly 280 locations), The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market and Dearborn Market banners. In January, Wakefern unveiled plans to shut 62 of its 209 ShopRite pharmacies and sell their prescription files to CVS Health.

The Oct. 21 annual meeting and 75th anniversary celebration included recorded video “thank yous” and congratulatory messages from local celebrities, athletes, community and industry leaders, and representatives of the Special Olympics New Jersey and several food banks supported by Wakefern. Also, Chairman and CEO Joseph Colalillo presented this year’s Chairman’s Award to Dewey Cannella, Wakefern’s recently retired vice president of labor relations, for his 30-plus years of service.

“As we reflect upon the rich legacy of our cooperative — and the history of our family businesses — we also focus on the future, mindful that we are here today because working together, our founding families had the foresight, determination and grit to always look forward,” said Colalillo, owner of ShopRite of Hunterdon County, which has five stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “Seventy-five years later, we are still made up of family-owned businesses with deep roots in the communities where our stores operate.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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