Private brand Low, Low Price program drives Weis earnings
Weis Markets revealed fourth-quarter and annual earnings and attributed its success to its Low, Low Price program that slashes prices on thousands of store brand products in the store.
The earnings report showed a slight 1.1% increase in sales compared to the same 13-week period a year ago, and an annual sales increase by 1%.
The report said: “The Company’s 2019 sales and comparable-store sales continued to benefit from investments in its Low, Low Price (LLP) program which offers price reductions on 7,000 private brand items. The company’s sales also benefited from targeted loyalty marketing programs, varied promotions and advertising in key markets.”
This is the second consecutive quarter that Weis saw an uptick in sales, thanks to an LLP private brand boost, primarily on its Weis Quality private brand, as Q3 earnings had a similar run with a 1.7% increase in sales. The LLP initiative launched in January 2019 and enables the retailer to leverage its private brands as a true value and compete on price with hard discounters. The retailer’s private brands include the Weis Quality value brand as well as the premium Weis Signature Collection, Weis Organics, and more.
As for the latest financial returns, Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets Inc. reported total annual sales hit $3.5 billion, up a percent from 2018, while comparable store sales increased 1.5%. The retailer has more than 200 stores on the East Coast.
Fourth-quarter results for the 13 week period ended Dec. 28, 2019, demonstrated a total of $902.4 million in sales, up 1.1%, with comparable-store sales at a 1.4% increase.
“We made significant forward progress in 2019 by driving sales with targeted merchandising and marketing programs, significant price investments and improved in-store execution, which sustains our growth program,” said Jonathan Weis, chairman and chief executive officer at Weis Markets. “The result was a 1.5% increase in annual comparable store sales in 2019. During the year, we also expanded online ordering with in-store pickup and home delivery to 184 stores which resulted in more than 250,000 orders and a 115.4% increase in online sales.”