Services
Our services reflect the corporate mission and are designed to assist our retail members compete in today’s retail environment.
Advertising
When a sales and marketing plan has been finalized, it becomes necessary to select the best method of communicating the retailer's message to consumers. This message, which is an invitation to shop at our retailers’ stores must be tailored to a specific market for each member. Our flexible advertising programs allow us to address the diversity of our retailers while utilizing numerous media resources, including television, newspaper, circulars, and radio.
Our advertising professionals work continuously to ensure that every campaign projects an image of quality, value, convenience, strength and stability. They stand ready to assist our retailers with a vast array of support services, from creative concepts to graphic design. Working together with our talented staff, members can make the most of their advertising in order to encourage consumers to become loyal customers.
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Equipment & Design
When efforts require equipment, AG’s Store Development Department is ready to assist with evaluations, negotiation and implementation of major purchases. The department is professionally staffed to assist members in planning new stores, remodeling and expanding existing locations.
Working with the individual’s basic ideas, we can create a décor package to include all signage, case color, floor tile and murals to provide continuity throughout the interior and exterior structure. Moreover, the department can coordinate and facilitate refrigeration-trenching plans, one line plumbing layouts, electrical specifications and more. AG is in a position to assist a retailer to build a store from the ground up.
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Marketing
This department evaluates consumer issues and develops programs that retailers can select from to further enhance their image and position in the marketplace. One key component is the process of “bannering” stores.
Our Associated Food Store program is our first effort in bannering. The name has been in the market for many years, but during the past four years the emphasis has been placed on developing a program to provide some mechanism for consumer recognition. Our goal has been to create an image of a friendly, neighborhood market. It is this platform that allows the many different retail member formats to fit under the Associated Food Store banner. Whether the store is big or small, urban or rural, new or old, an Associated Food Store retail member is the neighborhood market that offers service and convenience. Retailers must meet qualification criteria to become members of the Associated Food Store program, and special benefits have been offered to assist the stores in affiliating themselves with the AFS program.
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Procurement & Merchandising
AG purchases more than 22,000 items in Grocery, Meat, Produce, Bakery/Deli, HBC & GM. We carry a full line of bakery items, ranging from scratch bakery ingredients to an extensive thaw and sell program. We are the largest wholesale IBP beef account in the Southeast region. All items are procured locally through our corporate headquarters. We offer an extensive variety of regional products, while Shurfine has been our primary private label line with more than 1,400 items available for nearly 30 years. To round out the product mix, we also offer numerous price-impact items, including Saver’s Choice/Value Time and a complete Value End Cap program with packer label items that sell for 99 cents.
We offer many programs to assist retailers in purchasing and merchandising their products, including our Price Buster TPR (temporary price reduction) program, our New Item Express speed-to-shelf effort, our HBC Hot 100 pricing program, as well as shelf sign programs for private label and advertising.
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Retail Services
AG has seven full time Retail Support Counselors whose overall responsibility is to assist in store evaluations: sales, merchandising, operations. Their experience comes from being former chain store managers and working with other wholesalers. Combined, they have worked 150 years in the grocery industry.
Eight technical experts also call on the stores, to render advice and training: three in Meat, three in Produce and two in Bakery/Deli. AG also has four Shurfine Sales Representatives and a Retail Manager, who all work out of AG’s office as well. Each counselor and field merchandiser has a territory and visits stores on a regularly rotating schedule. Any new program implementation is supervised by one of these key staff members.
Additionally, retail shelf maintenance support is offered through our HBC/GM Rack Service program. Six regional supervisors manage 50 assistants who organize the sets, order the product, stock the shelves and re-order as necessary. The program has been so successful that AG has introduced Rack Service on Nutritional Foods, and is examining other opportunities in the grocery arena.
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Retail Store Accounting
RSA provides accounting and bookkeeping services for AG member whether they prepare their records by hand or by computer. For stores that have internet service, we use the latest in small business accounting software technology, Oracle Small Business, which allows specified users at the store secure access to their financial information virtually anytime, anywhere. Accounting services provided include year-end and interim financial reports, managerial reports including gross profit by department, sales tax returns, bank reconciliation and year-end filing of 1099s and 1096s.
RSA also provides complete Payroll Services, with direct deposits for employees. We provide payroll reporting, payroll tax return and W-2 preparation, and utilize Electronic Federal Tax Payment Services, which means your taxes are paid on time.
In addition, RSA has an agreement with Western Union to allow AG members to sell money orders to their customers with a low money order fee to the stores. Also, RSA has partnered with American Payment Systems, Inc. to provide Customer Bill Payment service. AG members can offer this service to their customers to allow them to pay many of their monthly bills at the store while the store earns an attractive commission for each bill payment transaction they process for the customer.
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Retail Technology
A big component to retail operations is the management of data. Associated Grocers Retail Systems department is available to assist with the selection, installation, management and support of all data information needs. Retail Systems provides up-to-the-minute pricing on Point of Sale Registers, Personal Computers, Database Retail Price Management Systems and Price File Comparisons.
Our Host Communications Support is designed to provide weekly data files containing a retailer’s most current Costs, Deals, Retails, TPR Prices and Promotion Pricing. In addition, the database contains complete product descriptions, including pack, size and POS register descriptions. Price changes can be easily transmitted and integrated through all systems with ease. Even custom pricing modules are supported via Host Communications. Plus, our new hand-held order device coordinates with all pricing systems, to make price changes and sign requests along with ordering. We call the project FELINE: Fast Efficient Line Item-ordering Now Effective!
Additionally, AG’s custom on-line price book, AG Link TM, allows retailers to manage their buying process in a paperless medium. AG Link TM presents retailers with all current and future deals, as well as past purchase history.
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