Date of Award

1991

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business Administration

Department

Business

First Advisor

Joseph Ancona

Second Advisor

Daniel W. Kemper

Third Advisor

Mike Wood

Abstract

This study focused on Save-A- Lot retail grocery stores and why consumers shop at these types of stores.

Save- A- Lot stores are limited- assortment retail grocery stores. In todays fast-paced society, with many two-income households, consumers are always on the go. Many shoppers are looking for one- stop shopping capabilities, service departments, and stores that are open late hours. If this is the case, then it would be logical to believe that consumers would not shop at Save-A-Lot stores. Save-A-Lot stores offer very little service, shorter hours than conventional stores, and they claim to only offer the consumer 90% of the products they desire to purchase.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility that consumers are willing to accept the shorter hours, less service and less variety because of the lower prices offered at Save-A-Lot. Save-A-Lot has communicated an image to the public of offering groceries at as much as a 40% savings over conventional stores. It is hypothesized that consumers shop at Save-A-Lot because of these low prices.

Twenty- nine shoppers participated in the survey. The survey examined such criterion as cleanliness, low prices, accurate pleasant checkout clerks, convenience, variety of products, and several other factors as the basis of choosing which store to shop.

The data was appropriately analyzed and did not produce enough evidence to accept the hypothesis. The conclusion was reached that, while low prices may be one of the reasons that consumers shop at Save-A-Lot it can not be concluded that this is the primary reason.

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