If you’re like most shoppers, you have a favorite grocery retailer. No matter what location you enter, walking through the aisles feels a bit like coming home. You know where everything is and can always find your favorite items. If you shop at one of Raley’s supermarket chains, you now have SAS Retail to thank for that. In June, SAS launched a new dedicated in-store execution program for all 114 of Raley’s stores across Northern California and Northern Nevada.
The new RISE (Raley’s In-Store Execution) program is helping Raley’s family of stores—including Raley’s, Bel Air Markets and Nob Hill Foods—ensure consistent, high-quality merchandising execution at each location. Previously, Raley’s had an in-house merchandising team made up of a combination of Raley’s employees, as well as broker and third-party associates. The teams often worked independently of each other and lacked the latest technological tools available. There were opportunities to streamline merchandising and improve consistent execution.
“When we showed Raley’s the kind of structure and organization we could bring to their schematic integrity program, they were impressed,” says Pete Kalin, Regional Vice President for SAS. “With our program, the teams visit the stores more frequently—every two weeks—and all receive the same merchandising instructions via our tablet technology. They also upload photos and send them to Raley’s to confirm they’ve completed the execution according to plan.”
To help make the program a success, SAS and Raley’s collaborated closely throughout the setup and launch of the program. Along with Steve Fischlin, Raley’s Director of Merchandising, the SAS team visited Raley’s stores to introduce the new program to Raley’s store leaders. As a result of these meetings, one of the store managers, Gilbert Alvarez—a 35-year-veteran of Raley’s—asked to be considered for a new role with RISE team and was subsequently hired by SAS to lead the program as its Program Manager.
“The close relationships we develop with our retailer partners, like Raley’s, is one of the things that makes our programs so successful,” explains Kalin. “In addition, we provide intensive training and tangible results to ensure their continued success. It’s all part of our SAS values ‘See it. Own it. Solve it. Do it.’ The successful launch of Raley’s program highlights the fact that when these values are followed, success will follow.”
To learn about in-store merchandising new business opportunities, contact Michael Bellman, Divisional President – SAS at mbellman@sasretailservices.com.