Multicultural Retail 360 Stages LA Cultural Immersion Tour
Hispanic and Asian retailers were the focus of this educational event in which attendees visited ethnic chains for a first hand shopping experience. The annual tour kicks off Stagnito Business Information’s Multicultural Retail 360 Summit.
BY DEBBY GARBATO
On Wednesday, attendees of the Multicultural Retail 360 Summit had the opportunity to sample Thai beer, moon cake, fresh tortillas and other ethnic specialties during the conference’s annual Cultural Immersion Tour. This year, emphasis was on Hispanic and Asian retailers in the highly diverse Anaheim market.
The goal was to provide guests with a firsthand experience of how these chains market to multicultural consumers. Unified Grocers, a major distributor to independent retail chains, helped organize the event. The tour was sponsored by Mcilhenny Company, maker of Tabasco Sauce.
The first visit was to Super King in Santa Ana. The $2 million, six-store chain is small in store count but heavy in foot traffic. According to Unified Grocers, this location’s sales are about $600,000. The store was so busy on Wednesday morning at 11 am that customers were lined up outside, waiting to enter. Inside, shoppers often had to wait their turn to navigate the retailer’s small footprint, crowded aisles. Many customers spoke little or no English. Super King is one of the highest volume supermarket chains in Southern California.
The retailer emphasizes its fresh departments, with many customers loading their shopping carts with several pounds of produce along with large packages of meat. Offal is particularly popular, including such ethnic-centric items as beef lips, tendons and feet—not to mention the usual tripe and pig tongues. Shoppers’ close ties to their home countries were also reflected in self-serve bulk product displays of nuts and other dry foods as well as spices sold by the bag.
Super King Markets entered the region in 2003 with a location in Anaheim, CA. Stores range in size from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet. (This location was the only store on the tour that was not in Anaheim).
The next stop, Superior Supermarkets, offers a more spacious, modern environment that emphasized products for Hispanics of various acculturation levels. Pre-cut fruit, for example, appeals to second and third generation Latinos. The homemade tortillas that greet customers, however, are embraced by Hispanics of multiple acculturation levels. The same is true of Hatch chilis, a coveted produce item whose six-week season began this week. Superior also offers wide assortments of cakes for quincerias, birthdays and the many other occasions that Hispanics like to celebrate.
Unlike most supermarkets, Superior does not update department locations and adjacencies every few years. The company found this confuses customers who do not speak English fluently. Superior has also done away with bilingual signage, whose font size was too small and whose overall appearance was cluttered and further confused shoppers.
Superior Grocers, which opened its first location in 1981, was Southern California’s first warehouse style store. Today, the company operates 44 locations.
LIFESTYLE MERCHANDISE
The tour took a break from food with a visit to Curacao, a retailer that specializes in electronics, furniture and fashion (including ladies’ designer handbags and cosmetics). Categories are aimed at Hispanic consumers, particularly South Americans. The retailer’s true claim to fame, however, is its special services, most notably a credit program that targets people who have no traditional credit history. Hence, most items are high ticket, with lower priced products serving as complimentary add-ons.
The company offers money transfers and international ordering and delivery as well. The latter serves remote parts of Latin America in any way it needs to. “We used to have donkeys on our P&L that allowed us to deliver appliances to remote parts of the world,” said Mike Azarkman, director of eBusiness Group. “It’s all about hand holding and taking care of customers.”
ASIAN MARKETING
Guests then headed towards the Eastern part of the globe with a visit to 99 Ranch Markets in Anaheim. The grocery chain serves various Asian cultures, with the Anaheim location drawing a heavy Filipino clientele, said Teresa Leung, coordinator of marketing and public relations. This is evidenced by a 25-foot linear foot-plus assortment of head fish on ice. This display was complimented by an extensive assortment of frozen seafood, including shrimp rolls, marinated milk fish and mushroom squid balls. Tanks of live cat fish and crabs, along with Manila clams, were also part of this huge seafood statement.
Other traditional foods included moon cakes, which commemorate the upcoming Moon Festival. Each cake contains an egg yolk to represent the full moon. Steamed buns containing chicken, pork, vegetables and red beans also commanded significant space.
The Little Saigon area of Westminster, CA was the site of 99 Ranch’s first store back in 1984. 99 Ranch was the first Asian format in Southern California to operate as a full service supermarket. Today, 99 Ranch still offers the largest selection of meat and produce in the 37 stores it operates in California as well as in Nevada, Washington State and Texas.
In years past, Immersion Tours have included visits to La Chiquita, Danny’s Market and AutoZone in Chicago and Mariana’s, Best Buy and Supermercado La Bonita in Las Vegas. During a previous conference held in Southern California, retail participants included Food 4 Less and Ranch Markets in Los Angeles and shops in heavily Latino Huntington Park and Olvera St. And last year in San Antonio, H-E-B’s Superstore, Goodwill Industries and shops in San Antonio’s Historic Market Square District were the focus.
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