The discount grocers include Supervalue's
Save-A-Lot and U.S. stores of Germany's Aldi chain, which have lured customers to relatively small locations that offer selections of staples such as milk and canned vegetables at cut-rate prices. "A
typical grocer carries 100 types of mustard," says Save-A-Lot President Bill Shaner. "We have just brown and yellow."
Retail experts disagree about whether the discounters pose a substantial threat to Wal-Mart, but Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert, a former Wal-Mart executive, plans to double the number of Save-A-Lots to 2,400 from 1,197 in the next five years.
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