The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Kroger and Target are going for a more polished look — and not just in terms of store design. Both retailers recently updated their staff uniform policies to reflect a more cohesive, professional appearance.
Kroger’s new dress code, which will apply across the grocer’s banners, requires in-store staff to wear company-issued shirts rather than their own, Bloomberg reported in late September. The shirts feature the grocer’s shopping cart logo on the front and back and come in three colors — blue, red and black — that each corporate division will choose from.
The idea to update Kroger’s workwear rules came up approximately a year ago in response to customer feedback, Vice President of Human Resources Karl Neimann told Bloomberg.
“It really told us that our associates were not as visible or as available as maybe we had thought,” Neimann told the publication.
A few weeks later, Target introduced a new dress code specifically for its grocery employees, requiring them to don hats and aprons for the same reason — to make them more visible to customers, Bloomberg reported. The news outlet said Target’s new dress code will take effect Nov. 1.
While Kroger’s dress code is the first to come down the pipeline in a decade, Target’s grocery-employee-specific dress code update is just the latest fashion upgrade the retailer has made this year. In March, Target told NBC Chicago it was working to “create a more consistent, recognizable in-store experience” by asking employees to wear any red-sleeved shirt or a company-provided red vest. Staffers are also required to wear either blue denim or khaki pants, shorts or skirts, and the retailer told them to avoid wearing clothes that prominently feature logos from other companies.
As the in-store experience becomes increasingly important, Kroger and Target’s latest policies show they are aiming to dress their employees up for the job these retailers want — to be go-to shopping destinations.
In case you missed it
Seattle green lights personalized pricing ban
On Monday, the city’s mayor, Katie Wilson, signed legislation that bans large grocery stores and delivery providers from using consumers’ personal information to determine what an individual pays for a specific item, local news outlet KOMO News reported. The legislation, which passed the Seattle City Council in September, takes effect next year on Sept. 1.
Mom’s Organic Market ventures into new state
The Maryland-based specialty grocery chain is opening its first Illinois store in Mount Prospect on Oct. 16, according to the grocer’s website. Mom’s currently has a dozen stores in Maryland; five in Virginia; three in Pennsylvania; two each in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.; and one in New York.
Asian grocery chain to set up shop in San Francisco
T&T Supermarkets, Canada’s largest Asian grocery chain, plans to debut in San Francisco on Nov. 5, the grocer announced on LinkedIn this week. The store follows the chain’s recent opening in San Jose, California, and builds on its planned growth along the West Coast. The chain arrived in the United States at the end of 2024.
Impulse find
Wegmans wants you to have its chocolate cake (and eat it, too!)
Throughout October, Wegmans is selling its popular Ultimate Chocolate Cake at a discounted price of $20 for the large size to celebrate the cake’s 20th birthday.
Wegmans noted that the cake has an “intense dark chocolate flavor, an irresistibly moist texture, and rich frosting” and is one of its bakery department’s most popular cakes. The cake stemmed from a recipe developed by a staffer who won the company’s “Cake Off,” in which thousands of employees competed to create what became the Ultimate Chocolate Cake.
The month-long celebration will also include in-store displays and digital storytelling about the cake’s origin story.
“For 20 years, the Ultimate Chocolate Cake has been part of so many customer celebrations, and that makes this anniversary especially meaningful,” said Jerritt Branagan, vice president of bakery merchandising at Wegmans. “It is a great example of how employee ideas can become products customers love and come back for again and again.”
