Aldi Discusses Leadership and Efficiencies

District Managers Paul Marcoccia and Nicole Hebel from ALDI spoke to students about understanding different leadership styles and how students can adapt to make themselves versatile within the industry. There are four main types of styles that Include amiable, expressive, analytical, and direct. Each style is unique and offers different approaches to leadership.

They also spoke about ALDI’s efficiencies which makes them excel within the industry. ALDI focuses on a no-thrill structure that is extraordinarily efficient. They don’t stock single units and ALDI makes sure that workers only touch merchandise twice while other groceries may touch merchandise up to 10 times. All of these actions help ensure ALDI can keep their costs low. ALDI’s private label merchandise creates customer loyalty and makes sure they can not only control cost, but they can also ensure the quality is exceptional.

ALDI’s core values are simplicity, consistency, and responsibility. Since ALDI is privately held, they can focus more on growing the company instead of focusing on stockholders. They re-invest 100% of profits into their business and this allows them to make their company better as they continue to be a leader in the industry.

Smart Exits

Retailers are having to combat the issue of theft and retail shrink. In 2021 the NRF Security Survey found that retailers had lost close to 95 billion worth of merchandise. In order to help solve these problems smart exits have been created. Macy’s has started implementing new technology that combines electronic article surveillance, video, and RFID to collect data for the authorities to able to arrest these criminals. In addition, it allows Macy’s to immediately replenish these stolen items for their customers. A few other examples of how retailers are protecting their merchandise are through entrance and exit configurations, Just Walk-Out AI POS systems, and real-time inventory systems. If you want to read more about Smart Exits and the different ways the retail industry is innovating, the full article can be found at TSA for Retail Store Theft: From Alarming Exits to Just walk-Out Checkouts on GreyOrange.com.

Thoughts on Retail Real Estate

Wade Laufenberg from Beall’s Inc. spoke last week at the retail seminar. Wade is the SVP of Real Estate and Construction at Beall’s. He spoke about the different ways in which real estate affects retail.

There is a process when trying to pick a new store location for Beall’s. This process can take up to two years, and the real estate and construction team go through many sites to find the perfect one. They first make sure they have the right strategy and that means they are picking the best site to gain the most customers. Once they find the perfect site, they negotiate with the landlord. This may include different construction elements they might change or how long Beall plans to stay in that location. Before Beall’s can open a new location, a team goes in to develop new features, change lighting and update signage. Once the store is ready to open Beall’s assures the property is being managed correctly. This means they have a team looking over work orders, tenant improvement collections, and reimbursement collections. There is also a team that works on portfolio management assuring everything within those stores runs smoothly.