[Rizzo]

I like the competition. It forces these stores to deliver excellent customer experience, service and quality or else go out of business. Disappearing are the days of bland supermarkets with grade B produce buzzing beneath ugly fluorescent lighting. The "marketplace experience" was made mainstream by whole foods. The mid-price grocers that adopted it and are improving it are well ahead of the game. Jewel has started to do that but they better pick up the pace replacing older stores with new formats.

Kind of wonder if Meijer might buy Supervalu and go complete overhaul on all Jewel stores. It would meet their needs for reaching the midwest urban markets, and also fall within range of their smaller format stores.