Eataly: Reimagining the Grocery Store
Table of Contents
Can Eataly achieve its ambition of becoming a global player? 1
What improvements would you make if you were appointed as Eataly’s CEO ...........2
Can Eataly achieve its ambition of becoming a global player?
Within a few years of its operations, the Italian-based supermarket Eataly created a lot of buzz and excitement among consumers and media. Eataly's initial success was even more impressive in an industry known for its intense competition and low margins. How did Eataly manage to grow so quickly, and could it sustain its growth in the future?
Part supermarket, part high-end food court, and part culinary arts school, Eataly was fashioned around the concept of Europe's open markets and designed to bring together multiple aspects of consumer interaction with food. Eataly opened its first store in 2007 and within seven years, in a highly competitive, low-margin industry, expanded to 27 locations around the world.
World markets are changing as we know it. Products, services and organizations play their part in the competition by bringing more on the table for the consumer than the consumer himself expects, and that is what defines a good business strategy. Eataly is one such example of a one-stop, all-serving chain of supermarkets that break the normative at each stage of the organizations structure.
By 2013, Eataly's Italian faction covered more than 600,000 sq. Ft. of space and generated revenues of up to $137 million from $106 million in 2012. In 2010, Eataly opened a 50,000 sq. Ft. store in New York with a starting investment of $20 million. In 2013, Eataly opened its 63,000 sq. ft store in Chicago with an investment of $28 million and by 2014, Eataly’s revenues for the New York City and Chicago stores were estimated to be $75 million and $55-60 million respectively.
Now with plans to open further sites in the United States, Eataly expects revenues coming from the U.S. to increase to $600 million by 2018. It is not hard to notice that Eataly's success with American consumers was immediate and nearly overwhelming and for weeks customers still gathered in lines covering the block.
Eataly’s mass success was partly due to the implementation of a one-of-a-kind idea that culminated a supermarket, a high-end food court and a culinary arts school thereby opening up the business to more than one customer base. Moreover, the concept of Eataly has been borrowed from Europe’s open markets that have already proven to open the gates for all consumers.
When it comes to the question at hand as to whether Eataly can become a global player and sustain its position in the world market, my opinion says otherwise. Eataly has seen great success with U.S. consumers and there is no doubt that looking at the gross earning for 2014 will pre determine a strong future for the supermarket in other countries globally. But it is also wise to note the amount of competition that Eataly faces off shores.
Firstly, Super market giants such as Walmart and Target have already …
