Michigan – and the Detroit area in particular – has become a center of specialty grocers selling select merchandise. So when Kroger opens its new store in Farmington Hills, Mich., this week, it will feature a chef for pre-made meals, an organic foods section and Kroger's first kosher, rabbi-supervised kitchen in the state. It's all part of a battle the Cincinnati-based retailer has joined in the Wolverine State. The supermarkets are expanding to include gourmet food and fancy fruit.
Farmer Jack Supermarkets, a Detroit-based division of A&P Co., was the first area grocery chain to go after shoppers with such eclectic tastes when it opened a Food Emporium (another A&P nameplate) in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., in August 1998. Farmer Jack has since opened two other Food Emporiums in Michigan, in Bloomfield Township and Rochester. The stores feature wines, higher-grade meats and an expanded ethnic food selection. A fourth location is planned for Rochester Hills next year.
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer's is also adding more merchandise in its international aisles, which have been prevalent since 1997.
It's part of an effort to take away some of the market share from a plethora of specialty stores and fruit markets in the Detroit area, such as Whole Foods Market, Hiller's Food Emporium (unrelated toA&P) and Vic's World Class Markets.