Ukrop’s allure eludes Martin’s
In 2009, Martin’s bought out the long-standing staple of Richmond grocers, Ukrop’s. Now in their third year of ownership, Martin’s has struggled to capitalize on Ukrop’s notoriety.
This story first appeared on RichmondBizSense.com, Richmond’s leading source for business news.
For decades, the formula for developing successful new retail centers in Richmond was as clear as day: Land a Ukrop’s supermarket as the anchor tenant and fill in around it.
Given the chain’s no-alcohol policy, you usually got a wine store, and you could count on tossing in a pharmacy and maybe a few restaurants.
But that formula got more complicated in recent years, first when sales started to slow at Ukrop’s and then in 2009, when the Richmond-based grocer was sold to the parent company of Martin’s.
“Everybody wanted to be in a Ukrop’s shopping center, because Ukrop’s was the institution in Richmond,” said Peter Bunin, a broker with S.L. Nusbaum who helped develop some of the Ukrop’s shopping centers in Richmond and who leases space in four of the Martin’s centers.
Bunin said that for decades the 72-year-old brand made for an easy sell to prospective tenants but that the Ukrop’s centers eventually lost a bit of their allure. And then the economy slowed, making it harder to lease spaces everywhere.
A dozen brokers who talked with BizSense said that although Martin’s is still a big draw as an anchor tenant, outlying retail spaces in Martin’s centers are harder to lease to locally based businesses than when the stores carried the Ukrop’s banner.
That’s partly because there is simply more competition for grocery customers in Richmond, including Wal-Mart and Food Lion and more recent entrants such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. And, of course, the economy is still hurting.
But brokers said Martin’s underestimated the loyalties of Richmonders and that their sales are lower than expected. And local retail tenants are more hesitant — perhaps just for emotional reasons, brokers say — to sign leases in centers anchored by Martin’s.
James Ashby, a broker with Cushman Wakefield | Thalhimer, said that overall there has not been a huge change in the kind of tenants attracted to Martin’s-anchored centers, but he noted that Richmonders have been slow to warm to the newcomer.
“Any time you make a big change, especially when they are taking over from a company like Ukrop’s, there will be some degree of that,” he said. “But overall there hasn’t been a big drop-off in foot traffic that I’ve seen in Martin’s centers.”
Connie Nielsen, also a Thalhimer broker, said that foot traffic in some Martin’s shopping centers dropped during the Ukrop’s days.
“Before Ukrop’s sold, they had seen a drop in quality and market share but had held onto their loyal fan base by being the hometown favorite,” Nielsen said. “Martin’s does not have that luxury.”
“The drop in patronage has [negatively] affected some merchants … that co-tenant with Martin’s,” she said. But “Martin’s is still a strong anchor, and as long as the property is well positioned and the center has other strong co-tenancy, they are still a desirable anchor.”
Luke Puccinelli, who works for Regency Centers and leases space near the Martin’s at the Village and at Gayton Crossing, said that local retailers are still wary of Martin’s shopping centers but that national retailers and restaurateurs see the grocer as a good anchor because its parent company is financially strong.
“They are too big a company and too experienced a company [to fail.] From the sales I’ve seen and the conversations I’ve had with their team last year and into this year, they’re moving in the right direction,” Puccinelli said.
As for Richmonders’ early reluctance to embrace the grocer, both as an anchor and a part of the community, it was a matter of how deeply entrenched Ukrop’s was in the Richmond culture.
“I think any other store would’ve had just a much trouble, whether it was Harris Teeter or Kroger or Food Lion,” Puccinelli said. “And a lot of other operators, I’m not sure they would have done as well as Ahold,” the parent company to Martin’s.
For Puccinelli, there is at least one big change that weighs in Martin’s favor: Unlike Ukrop’s, they are open on Sundays.
“In local name recognition, Ukrop’s was the better anchor tenant, but on Sunday there was almost no traffic,” he said. “Now retailers are saying, ‘Hey, Sunday is a full day of business.’ They are seeing traffic they never saw before.”
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Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Once my favorite store and the only store in my neighborhood(downtown), I have only been to Martin’s a handful of times since they took over. I’ve grown used to Kroger now (not their parking lot) and see no reason to go elsewhere except for the occasional foray to Food Lion whose parking lot is never full.
I have no loyalty to Ukrops. I’m from out of town and never shopped there.
I don’t like Martins because its a lousy supermarket, with lousy selection.
I think that might just possibly be their main issue, fun as it is to write about Ukrops loyalists…
I will shop at Martin’s for Ukrop’s ready made items, but little else. I was in there at the beginning of January 2012 and had to notify an employee that one brand of hot dogs on the shelf had sell by dates from November 2011. I never experienced that at Ukrops. Also, they either need to consistently help you to your car or they need cart returns in the parking lot. The last 3 times I have shopped at Martins, I have had to help bag my own groceries and then had to wait while the cashier tracked down someone to help me to my car. I park near cart returns at other stores so that I don’t have to either walk back and forth with my son or leave him unattended in the car. There has been a slow but inexorable decline in customer service since the stores became Martins. Maybe they thought it would be so slow that noone would notice.
I was a Ukrop’s shopper all the time and was concerned about them having to give up. When Martin’s first came they had a lot of kinks to work out to suit the Richmond shopper – such as all the sale tags sticking out on the shelf for every single product but they changed that which seemed to cheapen the store to me thank goodness. I continued to try them and look for their weekly mailer every week as they have some great sales that I love. I basically go with a sale grocery list to plan my meals around each week. The gas rebate is wonderful – it’s not only $.10 for every $50 but they have higher monies per gallon if you stock up on certain goods in their mailer. I use that a lot to get by gas rebates higher. The Ukrop’s prepared foods don’t really interest me any more as they are costly and I am a budget shopper with this economy we are under. I am very loyal to Martin’s now!
Honestly, Martin’s doesn’t seem all that different. I think initially they had a drop off in moral and quality of workers, but I see that improving. My wife has complained that their produce doesn’t seem as fresh or last as long, but we are you and inconsistent enough in buying produce that it may just be one time fluke kinda thing. Honestly if I get into a lets get some fresh produce mood I’ll head to the farmers market or the veggie stand on Forest Hill. Keeping our monies local always has a good return. That’s the real sad thing about Martins. Does anyone know if they’ve been filling the philanthropic void created by Ukrop’s sale?
morale….not moral….shucks.
“They are too big a company and too experienced a company [to fail.]”
That’s not really what “too big to fail” means.
I only shop at Martin’s for the Ukrops’s prepared items. Unfortunately, I’m doing that less and less because of the horrible customer service and reduced selection of the Ukrop’s Brand. I can’t believe that Martin’s has turned a former Richmond Institution into another Market at Tabacco Row. Especially in such a short period of time. We were spoiled by Ukrop’s and as a Richmond native, we, or at least I, expect more.
Martin’s has the same customer facing employees Ukrop’s had, the same bland, fatty-boy prepared foods, and WAY cheaper groceries.
If you loved being robbed by Ukrop’s so much, feel free to send the family a check every month.
Martin’s customer service is horrible. If I am spending $100+ I at least want a ‘Hello’ from the cashier. They brought their Food Lion equivalent stores here and not their better Giant type stores. It cannot be a surprise that some in Richmond are showing their opinion by shopping elsewhere.