New-kid-on-the-block Doyle Kohler says he can play ball with the big boys in the neighborhood, Joe Albertson and Dee Smith.
The game is groceries. North Utah County is the playing field. Albertsons Food Center and Smith's Food and Drug, both veterans in American Fork, and the rookie, Kohler's Market, are the players. They're competing for loyal customers. And dollars.The opening of Kohler's, Highland's first large commercial business, has the makings of store wars. The three stores are within a three-mile triangle of each other. American Fork residents, and especially Highland and Alpine residents, now have a third choice for full-service grocery shopping.
"We have a lot of buying power. That's one of the ways we can stay competitive," Kohler said of his store, which is affiliated with Associated Foods, a 740-store cooperative.
The $3 million 28,000-square-foot store stocks 18,000 items. Kohler owns space to expand to 45,000 square feet. He expects to draw regular shoppers, mostly from rapidly growing Alpine and Highland.
"We sure don't want to make a 7-Eleven out of it," he said. Located on U-92, the store is likely to attract hordes of campers and picnickers that flock to crowded American Fork Canyon. "We think it's going to be a real good location." Kohler also owns a store in Lehi.
While family owned grocery stores like Kohler's have a place in the market, keeping pace with prices offered at food chains might prove difficult, says Smith's spokeswoman Shelley Thomas.
"I doubt they'll be able to play ball with Albertsons and Smith's just because of the economies of scale," she said. Albertsons is among the nation's largest food chains with 681 stores in 19 states. Smith's has 134 stores in eight Western states.
Smith's recently expanded its store at 240 W. State Road from 48,000 square feet to 66,000 square feet, but not in response to competition, Thomas said. Smith's has all of its stores on a five- to 10-year remodeling program. "I don't think there was any method to the madness with our store in American Fork," she said.
Construction is going on at Albertsons, 135 E. Main St., but it's "definitely not" an expansion of the 45,000-square-foot store, a corporate spokeswoman in Boise said. The building adjacent the store will contain retail shops.
Store officials won't talk about Smith's or Kohler's. "Albertsons prefers not to comment on competitors or its marketing strategy," the spokeswoman said.
Nevertheless, grocery stores are always striving for an edge, especially in an area in the midst of a population boom. "In general, northern Utah County is seen by us as a tremendous growth area," Thomas said. Because of that growth, there's probably room for mammoth grocery chains as well as the more personable mom-and-pop stores.
"We like to get so we know everybody by name," Kohler said. "I probably know two-thirds of the people in Lehi," said Kohler, who has run stores there for 25 years.
Unlike Smith's and Albertsons, the smaller Kohler's opened its doors with a couple of disadvantages. City ordinances prohibit liquor sales and the city discourages operating on Sunday. That will not only cut into store profits but also Highland's sales-tax revenue.
"We're taking a lot of revenue from the city, but if that's the way they want it, I have no qualms about it," Kohler said.
Kohler said he's just happy to have a store in Highland, a city that has spurned commercial development since its incorporation 17 years ago. "It took us 2 1/2 years to convince them" to allow a store, he said of the City Council.
The grocery store is part of a 10-acre center known as Canyon View Village. It will include other retail shops and professional offices.