Kmart, meanwhile, is completing the installation of e-shopping kiosks in all of its stores in Orlando, Ocala, FL and Jacksonville, FL and plans to offer online services by yearend. Kmart is joint-venturing the operation with Softbank Venture Capital through their BlueLight.com company. The Troy, MI-based retailer will have kiosks in 1,100 stores offering shoppers 200,000 items from the BlueLight.com site. The products will be shipped directly to customers' homes.
Lakeland, FL-based Publix will be delivering groceries on a next-day schedule to customers in Central and North Florida from its 100,000-sf warehouse in Lake Mary's Skyline Business Center. The company's online division, PublixDirect, is headquartered in Atlanta.
Publix is testing the online food-delivery market even as competitors are dropping the concept. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., based in Jacksonville, FL gave up after its affiliate, Priceline.com's WebHouse Club, closed shop last October. Orlando-based Gooding's Supermarkets, catering to high-end shoppers in suburban Heathrow, FL, found the service unprofitable. Idaho-based Albertson's Inc. offers online buying in Seattle and several Texas markets but has no plans to start up in metro Orlando, company officials say.
The Washington, D.C.-based Food Marketing Institute claims supermarkets nationally average a gross profit of $1.80 on a $100 bag of groceries, insufficient for most grocers to pay for ordering, delivery and warehousing services.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
