New owners of Save Mart grocery plan to continue innovation at Modesto flagship store
Despite its proximity to Silicon Valley, Modesto doesn’t get to be on the leading edge of many technological trends. But in 2020, Save Mart Supermarkets launched new grocery delivery robots, making it the first retailer in the nation to use the technology.
Now, as new ownership takes over the venerable Central Valley grocery brand, its leaders have pledged to keep innovating in and for Modesto. Last week The Save Mart Companies was acquired by Long Angeles-based private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management LP, ending 70 years of family ownership.
This week the new ownership installed longtime Albertsons executive Shane Sampson as its board’s executive chairman. CEO Chris McGarry, who is a year into his tenure as the first non-family member to hold the position, said bringing him on board signals Kingswood’s commitment to innovation and the valley.
“Shane in his background has a proven track record of success in launching, enhancing, developing e-commerce,” McGarry said. “You see all sorts of technology that is emerging and can be deployed in a store like this and throughout our markets.”
While serving as Albertson’s Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer, Sampson oversaw growth in the company’s e-commerce and digital strategies for its 2,300 stores. Now, leading Save Mart’s board, Sampson said said he sees Modesto’s flagship store on Oakdale Road as an innovation lab for the company.
Modesto’s grocery delivery robots only the start of new tech
Save Mart launched its partnership with San Francisco firm Starship Technologies to bring autonomous, touchless grocery to Modesto streets in September 2020. Since then the program has grown and expanded in the city, offering door-to-door delivery to more residents and increasing the number of instantly recognizable white cooler-on-wheels robots in its fleet.
In February, the company also expanded the program to its second city. Pleasanton now offers the service from its Lucky supermarket, and the program has proven popular since its launch two months ago.
Sampson said they’re looking into expanding the technology to more stores and cities. The Modesto fleet already has grown from 20 robots to 35. The Save Mart Companies operates Save Mart, Lucky California and FoodMaxx grocery stores across Northern California and Nevada.
But the delivery robots aren’t Save Mart’s only innovation. The company’s flagship supermarket on north Oakdale Road in Modesto has become a testing laboratory of sorts for new concepts and campaigns.
Save Mart flagship store has become testing laboratory
When the new Modesto store opened in late 2019, less than a block from an existing store that the company still leases and is now vacant, it featured all of the grocery chain’s newest bells and whistles. That includes an in-store grilling service where shoppers can select meat and have it grilled while they shop, and its anterior restaurant The Tipping Point.
Sampson said the size of the chain, at 200 stores, makes it easy to experiment — and quickly. He said they frequently try out new ideas in the Modesto store, from vegetable chopping services to cocktail ingredient displays, before rolling them out to the rest of the company.
“What’s uniquely positioned about our company is we’re local and we sit in some of the best food areas in the country from the vineyards in Napa to growing fields right here in the valley,” he said. “So we’re very close to farm to fork. That, and our ability to move fast and nimble. If Chris decides we want to have an initiative today, we can have that executed tomorrow. Not everybody can do that. We’re excited about that.”
Other campaigns that started in Modesto and have since spread to the rest of the company include a new brand of upscale frozen meals called Cadence Kitchen. The brand caters to families and young professionals with integrated QR codes that can be scanned on your smartphone for recipes, instructions and more.
So McGarry and Sampson said to expect to see new and emerging technologies to continue to pop up in Modesto. Currently, Save Mart offers grocery and food deliveries through its Starship robots as well as third-party apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and Instacart.
“We are a customer first, people first company that is really focused on meeting the needs of our community,” Sampson said. “So the ability to move fast is really important. We’re looking to meet customer needs and grow sales. That’s our short- and long-term goals.”
