DJL Research In The News

David J. Livingston is a panelist for the Retail Wire Brain Trust and his comments are published frequently.

He is an authority on the supermarket industry who is often quoted in the business press.

News Articles

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Roundy's narrows focus to retail: Milwaukee-based company to sell 2 distribution centers
JS Online, Milwaukee, WI, February 24, 2005

"It almost completes it," consultant David Livingston said of the transaction. "The only wholesale that they've got left is in Wisconsin."

...Livingston, a Pewaukee-based consultant who is a former Roundy's employee, expects Roundy's to acquire more of the independently owned Pick 'n Save stores in Wisconsin. Roundy's will be interested in the best-performing, newest stores with the highest sales volume, he said.

Local prices up less than average city's: Ranking reveals slower growth in region
JS Online, Milwaukee, WI, February 23, 2005

...the report showed that the cost of groceries rose 5.2% here last year vs. 3.8% nationally.

That is the result of lessening competition, the dominance of the Pick 'n Save chain and the lack of a large presence by national discount grocers such as Wal-Mart, said David Livingston, managing partner of DJL Research, a supermarket consulting firm in Pewaukee.

Since the Kohl's food store chain closed in August 2003, Pick 'n Save "really is not under a lot of pressure to keep their prices down," he said. They have a market share of about 60% and "most of the locations tied up."

Safeway may sell off Randalls in second helping of Houston
Houston Business Journal, Houston, TX, February 18, 2005

Livingston says annual sales at Randalls' Houston-area stores dropped from about $921 million in 2002 to about $763 million in 2004.

He says local Randalls sales are declining to the tune of about $80 million a year.

"Randalls has a lot of stores that should probably be closed due to their low sales per square foot," says Livingston. "I don't see any meaningful capital improvements being made. These two facts lead me to believe the stores are up for sale."

Livingston believes that Safeway doesn't want to close the unprofitable units and have them lose further value, but the chain also probably doesn't want to throw good money after bad by fixing the stores up and taking a chance of getting less return on investment.

Grocery rumors swirling: Speculation centers on what's ahead for Randalls
Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, February 14, 2005

Randalls has seen its same-store sales decline about 17 percent since 2002, according to David Livingston, managing partner of DJL Research, a retail consulting firm in Pewaukee, Wis.

Other analysts report a less severe sales decline.

Livingston speculates that Safeway might be interested in selling Randalls because the company isn't upgrading many of its low-volume stores, and "if they were interested in the long term, they'd have closed them down."

Sears thinking smaller: Target says it's unfazed by scaled-down
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, February 9, 2005

David Livingston, a Milwaukee retail consultant, said rivals needn't worry about Sears' new concept. "There is going to be lot of consolidation and elimination of square feet (in the Sears-Kmart merger) that only will benefit Target,'' he said.

Talk of sale heats up for struggling Randalls chain
Supermarket News, print magazine, February 7, 2005

According to independent research by David Livingston, a Pewaukee, Wis.-based industry consultant, Randalls' stores in greater Houston have experienced same-store sales declines of around 17% since 2002, though other sources estimated the slide to be less severe than that.

Stinebaugh: No link to Wal-Mart
Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, WI, January 19, 2005

But David Livingston, owner of DJL Research in Pewaukee, a consulting firm for the grocery industry, disagrees with Stinebaugh.

"This had everything to do with Wal-Mart," Livingston said. "All supermarkets will be impacted.

"Fresh Brands will want to do all they can to try to save their two flagship stores in their hometown," Livingston said. "If they had to close their two flagship stores in their own hometown, it would be a humiliating defeat that would have significant consequences throughout the company."

Festival Foods reopens in style
Marshfield News-Herald, Marshfield, WI, January 13, 2005

David Livingston, a supermarket analyst from Pewaukee who is a former Roundy's market research manager, said the city's grocery market has reached an "equilibrium."

"I think Marshfield is pretty settled in now," he said. "For the size of Marshfield, you've really got an excellent selection of stores."

A market analysis completed in 2002 showed Marshfield's south side would be the best location for a major grocery store due to the fact that 60 percent of households are located there, Miller said.

"Previous to Pick 'n Save opening, everything was skewed to one end of town," Livingston said.

Since Copps was struggling to compete with the other two major stores, Livingston said it made sense to locate the Pick 'n Save downtown, where it's centralized, and many people drive past that site to get to the north side.

Roundy's has big plans for Rainbow Food stores
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, January 11, 2005

"They (Rainbow Foods) are jogging in place on a treadmill," said David Livingston, a Milwaukee grocery consultant. "With the new competition in the market there, I just don't see them (Rainbow) gaining any market share."

A Rainbow of a different hue
Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, January 10, 2005

David Livingston, managing director of DJL Research in Pewaukee, Wis., said Rainbow sales are down 6 percent in a two-year period dating back to August 2002.

Citing internal Roundy's data, Livingston—who previously worked for Roundy's—said a typical Rainbow makes about $450,000 a week, down from $477,000....

Livingston said the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Shakopee could siphon 20 to 25 percent in sales from the Rainbow store. Without the Supercenter, the Rainbow store could generate $320,000 per week, he said.

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“Most analysts will evaluate the competition using either a microscope or telescope. I use a proctoscope.”

— David J. Livingston