The big continue to get bigger.  And so-called "big box stores" continue to gobble up market share in the competitive metro Minnesota grocery business.

The new numbers that details where Minneapolis-St. Paul customers got their groceries in 2021 are out.  One easy takeaway from the data presented shows that large multi-product stores like Target and Walmart continued their gains in market share while smaller stores continued to represent a much-smaller piece of the grocery sales pie.

At the top the list for grocery market share in the Twin Cities is Minnesota and Minneapolis-based Target.  According to the numbers compiled by Chain Store Guides and shared by Axios, Target accumulated a 19% market share for the metro.  That number is up from last year; in 2020, Target held down an 18.3% market share.

Wal-Mart April Sales Miss Target
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It's also worth looking at the store that continued their run in second place:  Walmart.  In 2021, Walmart Stores accumulated a 17.2% market share, which is only slightly down from their ranking last year (in 2020) when they received a 17.6% share.

What's notable is that when you combine the market share numbers for the Target and Walmart - the top two stores where customers in the Twin Cities obtained their groceries from - they represent a market share of 36.2%; rounding up, that means that almost 40% of Twin Cities grocery shoppers get their weekly food products from one of those two "big box" stores.

Looking at the third place ranking, Cub Foods/Supervalu, Inc. sits there with a 14.7% market share for 2021; that's down almost a full point from 2020 when Cub Foods garnered a 15.5% market share.

After Target Lowers Sales Forecast, Shares Plummet
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The third place ranking for Cub Foods and it's corresponding approximate market share of 15% is worthy of note because it represents an almost total role-reversal when compared to 25-30 years ago.  Back in the 1990's, data shows that Cub Foods "reigned supreme with 40% of the market".  They were also "in the top spot as recently as 2018".

So what's going on?  Lots.

Along with a lot of other things, the two-plus year pandemic has changed where and how customers obtain their food. First - grocery store sales numbers rose to record numbers as the majority of people ate more meals at home than they have in generations.

Supermarkets Compete In Premium Beef Market
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But it's also worth looking at how customers obtained those groceries they needed for home-cooked meals.  "Interest in contactless shopping options such as online ordering and curbside pick-up....also soared".  While smaller grocery stores have scrambled to provide those services, online ordering and curbside pick-up has predominantly been only found at larger chain stores - like Target and Walmart.

One other interesting note from the new grocery store market share numbers:  "Nine out of ten [customers] shop at two or more stores a month"; that means that store loyalty has eroded from where it has been in the past.

Supermarkets Compete In Premium Beef Market
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