If the buy-side was already a competitive market for real estate, this has only been further amplified by the necessary strategizing and restrategizing demanded by COVID-19. Among those that have remained at the forefront of quick-footedness is Kroger, which has invested more than $830 million to support and safeguard associates, customers, and communities throughout the challenging pandemic period.
These moves, as well as updates made to Restock Kroger and further response to COVID-19, were among the key points the retailer focused on during its recent report of Q1 2020.
“Under Restock Kroger, we have made significant investments over the last several years to establish a seamless digital ecosystem, strengthen Our Brands and our personalization capabilities, and to enhance product freshness and quality,” said Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen. “These investments helped Kroger deliver improved results in 2019, a strong start to the quarter, and very much came to the forefront as we provided our customers with the fresh food and essentials they have needed during the pandemic.”
Though extensive specifics of the company’s expectations were not spelt out, our team has reason to believe that explosive growth could be in the retailer’s future if going off of the sales update contained within the report’s pages.
According to the report, Kroger significantly exceeded its sales expectations for the quarter, hitting $42 billion in the first quarter, compared to $37 billion for the same period last year. With a record sales increase of 92 percent, the retailer is poised to surpass big-name e-commerce competitors such as Amazon and Walmart.
Kroger, understandably, is more cautious to confirm.
“While we expect to exceed the outlook shared in our April 1 business update for identical sales without fuel, adjusted FIFO operating profit, adjusted EPS, and adjusted free cash flow, the company is not able to forecast the extent of such upside for the reasons mentioned above,” explained CFO Gary Millerchip. “Kroger's financial model has proven to be resilient throughout the economic cycle. We remain confident in our business model as well as our ability to generate strong free cash flow and achieve sustainable and attractive total shareholder returns.”
We at Deli Market News will continue to eye Kroger and other buy-side influencers, large and local, as we seek to bring you the latest you need to know.
