Safeway: 10-K And Financial Ratios

Kroger’s corporate strategy consists of continuously innovating and creating new ways of bring value to the customer. They were pioneers for many of the things that we now consider norms in grocery stores. In the past, Kroger had rapidly expanded to many store locations to gain market share. This expansion strategy caused them to lose profits in

The following financial report provides an analysis of the financial ratios of David Jones with its close competitor in the retail sector, Myer. The financial ratios analyzed include profitability ratios, leverage ratios, efficiency ratios and market ratios for the two companies. The analysis utilizes individual company time-series analysis as well as industry cross-sectional analysis with the aim of determining the competitiveness of David Jones relative to its close competitor Myer.

ACC 300 FSA Project Ratio Analysis of The Kroger Co. and Whole Foods Market, Inc. TEAM Jake Eriksen (002) Brycen Goldstein (002) 16 Ross Wright (001) Nicolas Kim Omar Harb (001) (002) Kroger The Kroger Co. (referred to as Kroger) is a large grocery chain audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

In this section, vital financial ratios of Target Corporation is computed to evaluate its financial performance. Also, it will explain how the principal of finance “Market price reflects information” is justified through the explanation of Target’s ratio analysis. (The evaluated ratios are compared with 2015 ratios to better understand the specific ratio’s although the company would publish its financial statement for 2015 in coming April).

In the United States, the food retail industry is absolutely massive. According to Statista, this industry brings in nearly 5.27 trillion dollars annually and 594.4 billion of that is from grocery store sales. In this market, the 20-ton gorilla in the room is Walmart, racking in nearly 20% of the entire market at around 118 billion dollars in 2013 according to the Harvard Business School case study. Following Walmart, Kroger and Costco own the biggest next largest slices bringing in 76 billion and 71 billion respectively. In this highly competitive market that has some of the smallest margins of any industry it can be tough to get ahead and even tougher to grow. However, Trader Joe’s has managed to pierce what was once a very small world

Operating on very thin profit margins, players in the supermarket industry traditionally either focus on a premium segment or follow a discounter strategy at the low end. Premium players address educated and more price elastic consumers who value healthy, natural and organic food; the share of perishable items for these players is normally distinctly higher. Players that focus on a discounter strategy offer a higher share of simple necessity items and value price competitiveness over premium features like healthiness or organic origin. Independently of the focused customer group it is imperative for players in the supermarket industry to be cost efficient and optimize operations

Grocery shopping is more diversified and evolved than ever before. Individuals across the nation have access to everything from exotic products to unique delivery services. Often, specialty stores have limited locations whereas specialty services have a limited reach. However, two retailers have expanded to hundreds of locations while adhering to unexpected market positioning for previously untargeted market segments. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s have become household names while also innovating beyond regional and national traditional chains. Despite comparable size in

Looking forward, Lowe’s plans include expansion, with more than 100 store openings in line until the year 2004. Although it was not explicitly stated that it will continue to expand until 2006, the analysts assumed the contrary, that is a continuous expansion in order to strategize and reach Home Depot’s level in terms of scale.

With giants such as Walmart, and Kroger running the grocery store industry it’s difficult for companies such as Smuckers to bargain for shelf-space and prices. Brand name items drawn to the center of the store are what leverages these companies to succeed in the industry. After numerous acquisitions and strategic alliances, Smuckers developed a solid core of product lines which experienced success rapidly. Product lines that experienced the most success as a result of strong positioning in the industry included their Coffee labels, flour and baking products, Oils and food spreads. A 9-Cell Industry Attractiveness/Business Strength Matrix shows that the Industry attractiveness is relatively moderate. With many competitors and strong buyer power from large grocery chains such as Kroger, companies such as Smuckers have explored different strategies that have proved successful in what can be described as a saturated industry. The case insinuates that there may be opportunities in the industry in regards to special markets and perhaps Oils and Baking with sugar free products, but otherwise the recession, although it drove families to buy store bought as opposed to eating out, has had its effects on the food service industry as well.

In 1926, M.B. Skaggs merges his store with 322 Selig stores and incorporates as Safeway, Inc (website) in Maryland. At year end, Safeway is operating 766 stores and is one of the first companies to offer cash-and-carry service. In 1928, M.B. Skaggs becomes President of Safeway Stores, Inc. Safeway makes numerous acquisitions in many states such as Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. At the end of the year, the total store count 2,020stores. Also in 1926, Safeway stock is listed on the NYSE. In 1929, Canada Safeway Limited is established in Winnipeg.

• Safeway puts a lot of effort into marketing its upscale Lifestyle stores, which comprise about 60% of its total stores as of January 2008 (Future of Food Retailing, 29).

The Kroger Company grew in 128 years from one store to over 3,500 stores of various banners and products. The Kroger Company is the largest food and drug retailer in the United States and is growing constantly with diversity in the retail market, dealing in food, pharmacies, apparel, jewelry and fuel. Kroger is governed by a 14 member Board of Directors including a Chief Executive Officer. Kroger is a leader in Corporate Social responsibility by maintaining environmental consciousness, social awareness and energy conservation awareness. Kroger is committed to customers, builds diversity and focuses on growth. The company operates a large part of it’s own manufacturing and distribution to increase profit

The Kroger brand was born in 1883, Bernard 'Barney ' Kroger took his life savings of $372 to open his first store in downtown Cincinnati. This location is by I-71 that passes the Great American Ballpark. Barney Kroger, the son of a merchant, had a simple "Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself." This was the credo that would serve The Kroger Co. well over the next 130 years as the supermarket business evolved into a variety of formats aimed towards satisfying the needs of their shoppers in as many aspects as possible. With nearly 3,619 stores in 34 states under 24 different names, such as Kroger, Dillons, Turkey Hill Minit Markets, Ralphs, Tom Thumb Food Stores, QuikStop, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Littman Jewelers with an annual revenue of more than $70 billion. Kroger today ranks as one of the nation’s largest retailers.

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WalMart (NYSE:WMT) is one of the world's leading discount retailers, with sales of $446B in their latest full fiscal year, earning a Net Income of $15.6B. Corporate-wide WalMart averages a 3.68% Net Profit Margin and 5.94% Operating Margin, leading to an 8.79% Return on Assets (ROA) and 22.25% Return on Equity (ROE) in their latest fiscal year (WalMart Investor Relations, 2012). All of these accomplishments are significant as the global economic recessions adversely affected the entire discount retail industry. WalMart however has several significant competitive advantages which will be discussed in this analysis. Beginning with an analysis of WalMart's mission, vision and values, this analysis will also evaluate the company's strategic goals, including three examples of how its strategic goals help the mission, vision and values of the company. There are also recommendations made as to how the company can better attain its strategic goals, in addition to a discussion of the internal and external factors that most impact the company's ability to perform today. Further, this analysis provides insights into how WalMart differentiates itself with its unique value proposition of Low Prices Everyday (LPED) which includes heavy reliance on its supply chain (WalMart Investor Relations, 2012). WalMart is also very adept at using technologies for further increase its performance, with the recent adoption of Radio Frequency Identification