Supermarket warrior

Donna Giordano, a 25-year veteran of the of the grocery wars, has a lot to say about what's for dinner. As president of QFC, she runs 77 supermarkets in Washington and Oregon. But QFC is part of the giant Kroger Corp, and only a tiny part at that, so she has to convince the bean counters back in Cincinnati that Seattle shoppers care about quality.

The newest QFC, which opened this week at 5th and Mercer on Lower Queen Anne, is more than twice the size of the old store in the no-man's land behind Key Arena. Same footprint as the 6-month-old Whole Foods, less than a mile away at Westlake and Denny, though QFC runs leaner (half the employees). But they both have all the accoutrements of upscale soops: flowers, bistro, displays of fresh fish, on-site sushi makers, a wine steward, a cheese expert. Whole Foods built its reputation on organic; QFC integrates a generous selection of organic produce and "natural" foods throughout the store.

Parent company Kroger is almost unbelievably huge: 2,500 supermarkets under 24 banners (including Fred Meyer, which targets what marketers like to call "value-driven" shoppers), $66 billion in sales, 300,000 employees. Giordano marshalls QFC's 5,500 employees as an autonomous division, targeting Seattle's unique upscale consumers.

Ironically, as supermarkets reinvent themselves to imitate experience of shopping at the Pike Place Market, increasing numbers of foodies are shopping at Seattle's six neighborhood farmers markets, reopening this month.

Giordano isn't worried. "Seattle is a foodie city," she says.

Posted by Ronald Holden at May 4, 2007 6:26 AM