FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Sarah Pettit
scpettit@afstores.com
801-978-8948
IN A COMPETITIVE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT, TWO MAJOR RETAILER-GROUPS
COLLABORATE AND SHARE IDEAS FOR SUCCESS
SALT LAKE CITY (Aug. 28, 2019) A group of retailers from Salt Lake City based Associated Food Stores (AFS) recently spent a week in Texas, collaborating with executives from the regional retailer Brookshire Brothers, to share best practices, challenges and solutions.
Roger White, senior VP of sales and category management at AFS, shared, “The Brookshire Brothers team provided an in–depth look at the organization. However, the process was much more of a collaboration between our retailers and their team members – everyone sharing ideas, asking questions and providing tips for how to compete in today’s hyper–competitive grocery space.”
The trip was the result of a share group—a collection of AFS member-retailers that meet several times a year to problem solve and share ideas—AFS recently organized. In the initial share group meetings, participants expressed their desire to hold an annual out-of-market trip to learn from retailers in other parts of the country.
Brookshire Brothers and AFS have collaborated on past projects and have built a trusted relationship. They were a natural choice for the share group’s first trip.
AFS Retail-Member, Brandon Peterson from Peterson’s Fresh Market shared, “It was a great opportunity to associate with comparable retailers in a similarly competitive environment.”
During their time in Texas the group toured the corporate offices and local stores, attended a ground-breaking event in College Station for Brookshire Brothers’ newest store that is a partnership with the Texas A & M University System and had meetings with executive staff members.
The support provided by Brookshire Brothers’ executive staff members John Alston, president and CEO; Sally Alvis, Senior Director of Marketing and Community Relations; and Luke Gustafson, vice president of retail operations was key in making the experience a success for both groups.
David Rice, president of Associated Retail Operations and senior vice president of Associated Food Stores, expressed, “We are truly appreciative of Brookshire Brothers hospitality and transparency. We are grateful for John Alston’s continued partnership and we look forward to finding additional ways to collaborate with one another to better the independent cause.”
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ABOUT ASSOCIATED FOOD STORES
Associated Food Stores was established in 1940 when 34 independent retailers joined together to battle high supplier costs and competition from large chain stores. That fighting spirit has continued to help the grocery wholesaler grow over the last 75 years. With a focus on independent retailers, AFS has changed the way these retailers operate and allowed them to prosper. AFS currently serves more than 400 retailers across the intermountain West. For more information about Associated Food Stores visit www.afstores.com
ABOUT BROOKSHIRE BROTHERS
Brookshire Brothers is a 100 % employee-owned, community-centered grocer based in Lufkin, Texas. Founded in 1921, this regional grocery chain operates more than 115 retail locations that stretch west to the Texas Hill Country and east to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Though its focus remains on traditional grocery and pharmacy, Brookshire Brothers has complimentary formats that include fuel and tobacco operations. Brookshire Brothers is committed to quality and service in their stores and is known for its good food and good people doing good deeds in the communities they serve. https://www.brookshirebrothers.com/