“Nervous” Time for Grocery Investors

Grocery has been the pillar of retail, but with the new Amazon/Whole Foods merger, that may change. Jeff Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates, says that this may be a nervous time for the handful of investors that focus solely on grocery retail; however, he doesn't think that this is the end of brick-and-mortar grocery. Investors will need to evolve to add technology into the grocery experience and a delivery area onsite.

“There are a handful of investors nationwide that focus solely on grocery. For them, this is a nervous time,” Rinkov tells GlobeSt.com. “I also believe that we have consumers in all types of markets. I don't believe that consumers outside of very dense urban markets are going to stop going to their local center or grocery store. I do not think that this is the end of the grocery-anchored center because everyone is going to start pulling up to a warehouse to pick up foods that they have ordered online.”

The biggest change is going to be the integration of technology into the grocery experience. “Amazon is going to marry brick-and-mortar with their online component and some technology that exceeds where we have seen it in the brick and mortar experience,” says Rinkov, adding that any forecasting is “pure speculation and opinion.” “The shopping experience is going to change and become more high tech, and they are doing that in test markets already. There hasn't been much technology integrated into our food buying, and we are about to see a tremendous amount of technology come to that consumer aspect.”

Technology is going to be a key change, but it certainly won't be the only change. We will likely see Amazon make other key changes, but only time will tell what those will be. “We haven't seen an impact yet, because the purchase is so new, but I don't think that Amazon purchased Whole Foods to run it as we know it today,” says Rinkov. We are going to see Amazon get into a number of different businesses that will impact how we buy groceries and how grocery chains occupy space. We haven't seen how it is going to change, but it will certainly have an impact on what we consider legacy grocery chains and how they have operated historically. It is an exciting acquisition.”

Grocery has been the pillar of retail, but with the new Amazon/Whole Foods merger, that may change. Jeff Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates, says that this may be a nervous time for the handful of investors that focus solely on grocery retail; however, he doesn't think that this is the end of brick-and-mortar grocery. Investors will need to evolve to add technology into the grocery experience and a delivery area onsite.

“There are a handful of investors nationwide that focus solely on grocery. For them, this is a nervous time,” Rinkov tells GlobeSt.com. “I also believe that we have consumers in all types of markets. I don't believe that consumers outside of very dense urban markets are going to stop going to their local center or grocery store. I do not think that this is the end of the grocery-anchored center because everyone is going to start pulling up to a warehouse to pick up foods that they have ordered online.”

The biggest change is going to be the integration of technology into the grocery experience. “Amazon is going to marry brick-and-mortar with their online component and some technology that exceeds where we have seen it in the brick and mortar experience,” says Rinkov, adding that any forecasting is “pure speculation and opinion.” “The shopping experience is going to change and become more high tech, and they are doing that in test markets already. There hasn't been much technology integrated into our food buying, and we are about to see a tremendous amount of technology come to that consumer aspect.”

Technology is going to be a key change, but it certainly won't be the only change. We will likely see Amazon make other key changes, but only time will tell what those will be. “We haven't seen an impact yet, because the purchase is so new, but I don't think that Amazon purchased Whole Foods to run it as we know it today,” says Rinkov. We are going to see Amazon get into a number of different businesses that will impact how we buy groceries and how grocery chains occupy space. We haven't seen how it is going to change, but it will certainly have an impact on what we consider legacy grocery chains and how they have operated historically. It is an exciting acquisition.”