Case Study Justspave Foods
JustSave Foods is a chain of 19 grocery stores in North Carolina owned by Merchants Distributors Inc. (MDI). While they are now a sister chain of Lowes Foods, JustSave’s stores were originally Lowes stores not too long ago. The 19 stores are largely located in more rural areas with more tight-knit communities. Due to their poor performance in comparison to local competitors, it was clear to management at MDI that the stores needed a change from what Lowes Foods offers. While one part of that change is focused more on appealing to the economies of these rural communities with lower prices, management at MDI believes that another significant change that needs to be made is in the realignment of JustSave’s organizational culture. Organizational
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For one, it does not take a stretch of the imagination to assume that Lowes Foods values both safety and efficiency. Efficiency directly impacts the bottom line of a business, and the safety of a business’s patrons is paramount in order to encourage them to come back and to avoid costly lawsuits. These two values are therefore direct carryovers from Lowes Foods. As for acting neighborly and adopting a small-town presentation, these are more like retoolings of what Lowes has already been doing. One could argue that acting neighborly is an extension of valuing “customer service”, something which Lowes assuredly espouses to its employees and customers. Though Lowes takes a more formalized approach to customer interactions (e.g., the much talked-about double-handed presentation by butchers to customers) and JustSave plans on encouraging a much more informal approach (e.g., addressing customers by their names and striking up conversation about local events), the value from which these behaviors spring is the same: the desire to make customers enjoy their interactions with store employees. Similarly, JustSave’s desire to adopt a more small-town presentation is a fulfillment of the same value that causes Lowes Foods to use a very cleanly and more straight-laced presentation: the desire to organize their store in such a manner that the customers are at-ease while shopping and are able to find the goods that they wish to purchase. This value could be called “environmental
For one, it does not take a stretch of the imagination to assume that Lowes Foods values both safety and efficiency. Efficiency directly impacts the bottom line of a business, and the safety of a business’s patrons is paramount in order to encourage them to come back and to avoid costly lawsuits. These two values are therefore direct carryovers from Lowes Foods. As for acting neighborly and adopting a small-town presentation, these are more like retoolings of what Lowes has already been doing. One could argue that acting neighborly is an extension of valuing “customer service”, something which Lowes assuredly espouses to its employees and customers. Though Lowes takes a more formalized approach to customer interactions (e.g., the much talked-about double-handed presentation by butchers to customers) and JustSave plans on encouraging a much more informal approach (e.g., addressing customers by their names and striking up conversation about local events), the value from which these behaviors spring is the same: the desire to make customers enjoy their interactions with store employees. Similarly, JustSave’s desire to adopt a more small-town presentation is a fulfillment of the same value that causes Lowes Foods to use a very cleanly and more straight-laced presentation: the desire to organize their store in such a manner that the customers are at-ease while shopping and are able to find the goods that they wish to purchase. This value could be called “environmental