Food prices rose about 5% in the U.S. last year. The size of the surplus food-retail segment isn't known. Analysts don't track
the sales because most of the companies are closely held.
Low Grocery Outlet, a store in a low-income area in Minneapolis, says sales jumped 30% last year. Grocery Outlet, a Berkeley, Calif., operator of 131 surplus stores in the western U.S., has seen "a lot of new faces" and a steady increase in same-store sales since last fall, says Melissa Porter, vice president of marketing. "People are feeling poorer right now," she says
advertisement
advertisement