SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers

THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Given economic and competitive market conditions, SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers had been facing widening competitive gaps. Their zone pricing was becoming more inconsistent across markets and their promotions weren’t producing the expected lift in business they had previously delivered. As such, the brand was experiencing a diluted price‑value image and faced an urgent need for a unified, modernized pricing strategy for both their corporate and independent retail entities.

THE OBJECTIVE

Recognizing the internal challenges of their current practices and the external competitive forces that were requiring them to operate differently, SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers sought to create and deploy a scalable pricing strategy and operating framework that could be rolled out across Up Market, Mainstream/Conventional, and Value Retailers. The solution would ensure clarity and consistency with pricing and promotions and provide competitive strength by delivering stronger profits across their stores.

THE RIGHT PARTNER

SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers sought to work with a partner who had prior expertise in working with grocers to deliver measurable and scalable results—particularly in the pricing optimization space. They wanted to find partners who not only knew the grocery industry and its unique needs, but who also understood retail systems and could implement change management processes to ensure success. They found that partner in Columbus Consulting.  

THE APPROACH

Columbus Consulting hit the ground running by doing a full assessment of SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers’ current pricing strategy and operating framework. The team identified the future state envisioned by the brand and delivered a methodical and tactical approach to fill the gaps and evolve the company’s pricing/promotions model.

Specifically, Columbus:

• Overhauled the Pricing Strategy  — Built a comprehensive, data‑anchored strategy to benchmark and close competitive price‑value gaps across key markets.

• Redefined Business Processes – Standardized data attributes, price-setting guidelines, and tools to drive speed, efficiency, and cross-team collaboration

• Optimized the Category Role — Re‑tiered items and refined category roles to focus investment on true sales drivers.

• Simplified the Zones— Reduced eight pricing zones to two, dramatically improving consistency, governance, and speed‑to‑market.

• Created a Financial Modeling Engine — Delivered a leadership‑ready calculator to model price indices, investment scenarios, and quarterly sales/profitability impacts by Category, Item Tier, and Price Zone using eight quarters of historical data.

• Standardized Price Communication — Introduced unified guidelines and a “Ways to Save” program to reinforce transparency and shopper trust.

THE RESULTS

The updated pricing strategy generated top‑line sales growth and a 56% improvement in consumer recognition of everyday value without relying on discounts. This progress underscores how the pricing initiatives are successfully elevating customer sentiment and brand perception.

ABOUT SPARTAN NASH / C&S WHOLESALE GROCERS

Founded over 107 years ago, SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers has helped shape the rapidly changing grocery industry through innovation and customer service. The brand comprises a family of companies that deliver supply chain solutions, products and services. SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers operates 60 distribution centers across the country and more than 200 corporate-run grocery stores, including: D&W^® Fresh Market, Grand Union^®, Family Fare^®, Martin’s^™ Super Markets and Piggly Wiggly^®.

Committed to the pledge of making sure shelves are stocked, helping businesses thrive and keeping our communities fed, the brand serves as a distributor, wholesaler and retailer with a global supply chain network that serves national accounts, independent and chain grocers, e-commerce retailers, U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, as well as SpartanNash / C&S Wholesale Grocers’ own brick-and-mortar stores, pharmacies and fuel centers. 

For over a century, the brand has evolved to meet the needs of its customers while staying competitive in an ever-changing market. With the emergence of new competitors, pricing pressures and big box expansion, Spartan Nash/C&S Wholesale Grocers is now faced with embracing a new approach to their business model to continue their commitment to deliver quality, consistency and innovation at scale.

ABOUT COLUMBUS CONSULTING

For over 25 years, Retailers and Brands have relied on Columbus Consulting’s industry expertise, proven methodologies and program leadership to transform businesses.   Today, we operate as extensions of the client, bringing expertise and bandwidth to execute programs. Consulting teams are curated for each client, leveraging our deep retail expertise and talent. And, as retail continues to evolve with AI, our team of experts provide insights and solutions to advance each client’s performance and profitability based on where they are in their own business journey. 

We work across all retail segments serving over 400 brands from Luxury to Big Box, Apparel to Grocery. Our expertise includes: digital transformation & unified commerce, merchandising & category management, planning & inventory management, sourcing & supply chain, data & analytics, accounting, finance & operations, people & organization and information technology & artificial intelligence. From strategy to implementation-we can help.

For more information about Columbus Consulting and its grocery services: https://www.columbusconsulting.com/grocery-convenience-store-retail-spotlight/