By Brittney Matejka

Co-op renovates to stay competitive in difficult consumer market

Nov 17, 2017 | 4:56 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB. – The South Country Co-op on 10 Northlands Way NE, Medicine Hat recently underwent a major renovation to update it’s look and appeal to customers.

Invest Medicine Hat reports the Co-op invested 5 million dollars to renovate it’s current location.

Operations Manager for South Country Co-op, Paul Haynes said they did the renovation to keep up with customer demands in the competitive grocery market.

“Marketing has changed in food, the food business never gets easier, it’s very competitive so to be competitive you have to be relevant, you must update your interior decor and fixtures to continue to improve your offering,” he explained.

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Haynes said they have created new programs for this location including having fresh sushi available in store.

“There are many things we do, we are always studying the market and study what our competitors are doing but we also try to bring new programs on,” he explained.

Other retailers are branching out to meet customer demands by introducing new technology. Tara Williams, Marketing Instructor at Medicine Hat College believes consumers are on board with the changes.

“I think we are trying to simplify, it’s getting crazy busy for peoples lives and they end up having just a little bit more pressure now than normal, it’s one of those choices you can make to try and ease a little bit,” she said.

Ordering groceries online has added convenience and simplifies the process for shoppers Williams explains.

“The ‘click and pay’ at Superstore is definitely being adopted and you can see that just by walking through the aisle and seeing the workers picking up the goods for people that are clicking and paying,” she said.

Williams attributes these new technologies to helping stores keep their costs low.

“We have increasing food costs, increasing transportation costs, we have increasing minimum wage and so also there grocery stores need to find a way to draw you in, or simplify things using technology,” she said.

Medicine Hat has over 10 grocery stores for shoppers to choose from, with a Save-On-Foods location opening in 2018, increasing consumers choices on where they can spend their money.