m
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purchase and distribution of health and beauty care products, other
non-food items, and slow-moving dry goods. Ahold USA has also
benefited from excellent intramarket cooperation in IT applications,
training programs, purchasing and distribution. Such cooperation,
structured on a project basis, will lead to marked cost reductions in
the future.
Increasingly, supermarkets are being customized on a
store-by-store basis to respond to needs and to take advantage of
opportunities. There is much experimentation with local variations
of store formats which, when proven successful, are then tested at
other locations.
Sales for Tops rose 4.9% to $1,719 million (including sales by fran
chisees). Tops was confronted with market restructuring leading to
increasing competition. Tops responded alertly to the heightened
competition with an aggressive pricing strategy, which initially
placed its margins under substantial pressure in 1995. The second
half of the year saw recovery on this front, partly resulting from
creative format variations. In 1996, a new distribution center will be
completed. Centralized distribution will replace direct deliveries to
the stores, promoting important gains in efficiency. The Wilson
Farms chain of 92 neighborhood stores, part of the Tops network,
will also be served by this distribution center. The number of
Tops stores, including Wilson Farms, increased to 176 (including
franchises) in 1995.
A well targeted low-price, low-cost strategy helped Finast
hone its competitive edge last year. Several competitors withdrew
from the market. Sales rose 1.4% to $931 million, and operating
results also increased. Following several years of reorganization and
repositioning, Finast is now entering a period of renewed growth.
At Edwards, the completely revamped format adopted in
1993 continues to produce sharply improving sales and operating
Tops
Edwards
Finast
BI-LO
Mayfair
Giant
Ahold USA trade areas and
number of stores by state at year end.
Edwards had a successful year.
Supermarkets
New York 159
Pennsylvania 2
New York 25
Connecticut 37
Massachusetts 8
Rhode Island 7
Ohio 40
South Carolina 119
North Carolina 55
Georgia 43
Tennessee 44
New Jersey 28
Pennsylvania 58
Maryland 8
Virginia 3
West irginia 2
Annual Report 1995 Royal Ahold 7
