The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company and Dunkin’ Donuts have formed a strategic
alliance in which Dunkin’ Donuts will open full-service stores in Stop &
Shop locations throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Dunkin’
Donuts franchisees have committed to 70 locations and expect to begin rolling
out in March 2002.
Moderator Comment: Which of the programs that Ahold
is testing do you think offers the greatest opportunity for building incremental
sales and profits for the retailer?
The Dunkin’ Donuts deal and other tests being done with
Toys ‘R’ Us, Blockbuster Video and Boston Market demonstrates that Ahold sees
brand licensing as a means to differentiate itself in the marketplace.
Stop & Shop is also testing a kiosk program called Endless
Aisle™ developed by NeXpansion (www.nexpansion.com).
According to the NeXpansion site, Endless Aisle is a customized online application
and fulfillment program that enables you to offer a greatly expanded assortment
of products to your in-store and online customers. All the products in the Endless
Aisle are complementary to what you carry in-store and include specialty products,
regional hard-to-find items and product categories not traditionally found in
grocery stores.”
NeXpansion, for those not familiar with the company,
was originally founded in 1996 as Netgrocer.com. The company now develops customized
e-commerce solutions for retailers and manufacturers in addition to running
the NetGrocer business. [George
Anderson – Moderator]
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