Dive Brief:
- Shaw's Supermarkets has reopened four Star Markets in the Boston area with a new look and mission.
- The new Star Markets concept places heavy emphasis on premium products and fresh produce, particularly organic and locally grown.
- The stores feature new color schemes, additional express lines, and prepared-food stations that serve sushi, pizza and fresh-carved meats.
Dive Insight:
It seems like everyone in the supermarket business is looking to cash in on the healthy/fresh/organic/local trends. It's the Whole Foods effect and there seems to be no end in sight to it. Still, we were initially surprised to see that marketers want to convert the Star Market brand into something upscale. We remember Star Markets as blue-collar institutions in old Boston.
There is a precedent, however, for marketing Star Markets as something cutting-edge, upscale and new. Although you have to go way, way back in supermarket history to find it. Star Markets were the first supermarkets in New England to deploy the newfangled technology known as air conditioning.