Local coffee vendor can breathe a sigh of relief

When it was officially announced that Ukrop’s was handing its 25 stores over to Giant-Carlisle, the folks over at Blanchard’s Coffee Co. had to act and they had to act quickly.

February 18, 2010; 12:00 PM • by Valerie Catrow

When it was officially announced that Ukrop’s was handing its 25 stores over to Giant-Carlisle, the folks over at Blanchard’s Coffee Co. had to act and they had to act quickly.

In addition to having their brand on Ukrop’s shelves for the past five years (give or take), Blanchard’s also had a contract with Ukrop’s-owned Joe’s Market for shelf space for eight different pre-packaged coffees, a venture that required them to invest some serious cash into a new roaster, new equipment, and branding efforts. So, when rumblings started that Ukrop’s was looking to sell, Blanchard’s got a little nervous. And when Ukrop’s called that press conference at the end of last year, they got a lot nervous.

“I contacted Giant the day of the announcement in December. I knew I would have to fight for our company and be our advocate, ” said Blanchard’s owner, David Blanchard. “After several conversations, the category manager in charge of coffee, James Reese, called me to meet with him and his boss, Monica Simmons.”

Blanchard’s persistence paid off. Yesterday, he and his new partner, Joe O’Halloran met with Reese and Simmons up in Carlisle, PA and got them to commit to continue carrying Blanchard’s coffee in the new Giant/Martin’s stores. Terms of the new agreement aren’t exactly what Blanchard’s had with Ukrop’s, but they’re pleased, nonetheless.

“We will have six facings* in the new coffee set, down from our current 10. I believe that strong category management from Giant will actually increase our sales, though,” said Blanchard.

Blanchard added, “We are relieved to maintain our current shelf presence and excited about our new relationship with Giant. I believe the growth potential for Blanchard’s within Giant is a true opportunity for us. We have already seen immediate growth as we have started providing coffee to three in store coffee bars within Ukrop’s that were formally Starbucks (the Starbucks contracts were not part of the ‘deal’), and we anticipate continued support of these coffee bars. Giant coming to Richmond means growth and opportunity for our coffee company!”

Giant’s commitment to carry Blanchard’s seems to be an example of them acting on their promise to continue using local vendors, something they pledged to do when the acquisition was first announced. Blanchard stated that reps James Reese and Monica Simmons indicated that Giant has further plans to make us of local vendors, but no specifics were offered up.

Blanchard also pointed out that Giant showed a bit of concern about Richmond’s perception of them, with Simmons even going so far as saying, “Go back and tell everyone in Richmond that we’re nice.”

And for what it’s worth, Blanchard did have this to say about the Reese and Simmons: “Monica and James were great folks. Honest, friendly, straightforward.”

As we know, that goes a long way in this town.

*Retail lingo 101: “Facing” refers to shelf space. In this case, one facing equals one bag.

As the editor of RVANews, Valerie Catrow spends most of her time wrangling people over email and muttering to herself about the content calendar. She also contributes to our parenting column while maintaining her own blog, Made in Richmond. It should be noted that she loves tots, both the potato and child varieties.

February 18, 2010 12:00 PM 4