Bottom
Dollar Food: Price with
Energy
Delhaize Group has stated its
goal to achieve strong sales
growth by 2014. One of the
contributors to that growth
will be our Bottom Dollar Food
concept. Meg Ham, President
of Bottom Dollar Food, explains
why she is excited about the
growth prospects for Delhaize
Group's discount offering.
DELHAIZE GROUP ANNUAL REPORT '11 15
INTERVIEW WITH MEG HAM, PRESIDENT OF BOTTOM DOLLAR FOOD
Could you explain the rationale for developing
the Bottom Dollar Food banner?
Meg Ham: There are many reasons to develop the Bottom Dollar Food banner.
First of all, if you look at the growth in our industry over the last few years, it has
been driven by the discount format. We want to capture some of that growth
and meet the needs of consumers. And finally, we believe we have a format
and offering that will be successful and provide growth to the Group as a whole.
You mentioned the format and offering. Can you be more specific?
And how different is a Bottom Dollar Food store from
other discount stores?
MH: The first thing you notice when you walk into a Bottom Dollar Food store
is that it is bright and clean, not drab or dreary the way some discounters
are or how consumers perceive them to be. We believe discount shopping
can be fun and lighthearted. Our stores are full of energy; in fact, I describe
Bottom Dollar Food as "Price with Energy." Another distinctive characteristic,
in contrast to many discounters, is our offering of recognizable national
brands in addition to our own private brands. The two other primary areas
of contrast are assortment and size of the store. Bottom Dollar Food stocks
approximately 7 000 items compared to the approximately 28 000 items
customers would find in a typical supermarket and the 1 000 offered by a
traditional discount store. And we have found that the optimal size of a
Bottom Dollar Food store is 18 000 square feet while our Food Lion stores
average 35 000 square feet.
