LAS VEGAS-Grocery stores are seeing a jump in traffic for a variety of reasons, such as consumers trying to cut down on restaurant visits, more grocers trying new concepts and ethnic stores catching on across the country. The topic was discussed in-depth during the “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” session Tuesday morning at RECon 2011 here at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Grocery retail is a $900 billion industry, and growing, according to the panel, which included five experts on the asset class. Landlords love grocery stores today, because of their stability and ability to draw in people. However, the asset is also diluted, as more and more different-style chains jump into carrying food, the panel said. Still, consumers are flocking to each store, whether it’s a discount grocer to a Trader Joe’s, or a conventional chain or a ethnic market, the panel said.

Scott Moses, managing director and head of food, drug and specialty retail at New York City-based Sagent Advisors, said people are realizing that it’s cheaper to make good food at home than to go out to restaurants. “The ‘share of stomach’ for restaurants dropped to about 53%,” Moses said.

There was consensus by the panel that the many different chains can all survive together as long as the demographics are there to support them. “However, conventional chains such as Kroger and Safeway don’t need to panic yet, they still have about 84% of the market share,” said Rick Domanski, director of client services with Pitney Bowes Business Insight, based in Pleasanton, CA.

The ethnic stores are steadily increasing their market share, and will continue this increase because of the growing populations such as the Latino community, the panel said. “You have to pay attention to this, the Latino population is about one-sixth of the total population now, and is expected to grow to be about one-third of the population,” Moses said.

Domanski said Latinos are more likely to visit their local grocer during the week. “On average, Caucasians visit a grocery store about three times a week. Hispanics go about every 30 hours, they tend to eat with their families more, and it’s easier and cheaper to feed people using fresh food.”

Mainly, stores that are concerned about loss of market share need to remember that boring is what kills stores, the panel said. “You have to try new ideas,” said Gary Hammett, VP of real estate for Unified Grocers Inc., based in Commerce, CA.

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