Goodbye, little robots. Why Save Mart’s Modesto grocery delivery program ended abruptly
The little white robots that had become part of Modesto’s landscape as they rolled around town delivering groceries are no more.
Save Mart Supermarkets officials have confirmed their autonomous, touchless delivery fleet has been grounded by their San Francisco-based partner, Starship Technologies.
The Save Mart Companies spokeswoman Victoria Castro said in an email that the tech company “made the decision to exit Northern California” earlier this month. Modesto customers hoping to order from Save Mart and have one of the cooler-size robots show up at their front doors are instead met with a message on the Starship app that reads, “Temporarily closed. We’re sorry we cannot deliver from this merchant right now.”
Save Mart’s partnership with Starship Technologies began in September 2020. Since then, the Valley-based grocery chain had increased the size of its fleet of robots, from 20 to 35, and expanded the service area in the city.
Castro said further questions about the robot delivery program’s cancellation should be directed to Starship Technologies. Starship did not respond to email requests for information about the ending of the Northern California partnership.
In fall 2020, Save Mart became the first U.S. grocery chain to offer the door-to-door robot delivery service when it launched the program from its flagship store in northeast Modesto. The squat, boxy robots became a frequent sight, waiting at traffic lights and rolling down city sidewalks.
This February, Save Mart expanded the program to its second city, Pleasanton. Company officials said the program running out of the Lucky supermarket, which is owned by The Save Mart Companies, in the East Bay city had been popular until its termination this month.
While Starship has ended its Northern California partnerships, the company continues to develop its U.S. college campus program and is expanding in Europe instead. The tech company launched at the University of Utah in April.
Castro said Modesto customers still can order grocery delivery through third-party app Instacart. But, unlike the Starship program, Instacart uses human delivery people who shop and then drive the groceries to your home.
“We continue to fulfill our guests’ immediate online shopping needs with Instacart at shop.savemart.com as well as remain focused on developing expanded offerings and innovative solutions,” Castro said in an email.
Save Mart officials had touted their partnership with Starship Technologies as one of their strength and growth areas after the formerly family-owned Central Valley brand was sold to a Los Angeles-based private equity firm this spring. The sale to Kingswood Capital Management LP, which ended 70 years of family ownership, also installed Executive Chairman Shane Sampson to lead the company.
At the time of the acquisition, Sampson said the company was looking at expanding its partnership with Starship and adding more stores and cities to the program.
The termination of the robot grocery delivery program comes as Save Mart is settling in under its new leadership. But corporate shakeups continue as The Save Mart Companies CEO Chris McGarry has left the company. McGarry had been with Save Mart since 2017 and became the first non-family member to serve as CEO in early 2021, about a year before the company’s sale.
“There are no plans to fill the CEO position at this time. As Executive Chairman of the Board, Shane Sampson leads The Save Mart Companies,” Castro said in an email about the leadership changes.
Shortly after the sale to Kingswood, McGarry hailed Sampson’s record on innovation based on his past work with supermarket giant Albertsons and the Idaho-based convenience store chain Jacksons.
“Shane in his background has a proven track record of success in launching, enhancing, developing e-commerce,” McGarry said this past April, before leaving the company two months later. “You see all sorts of technology that is emerging and can be deployed in a store like this and throughout our markets.”
Sampson’s tenure already has stirred controversy and anger among some of the company’s longtime employees. In late April, retirees and veteran nonunion staff received a letter announcing the abrupt end of a long-running insurance benefit program. Managerial and corporate staff were told they would lose up to $1,000 a month that the company had provided for decades as a supplement to their health insurance after working 20-plus years for Save Mart. The benefit is set to expire at the end of June.
This story was originally published June 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
