supermarket
editorial: Winn Dixie and the Beauty of Fall
By Lisa Carvin
10/29/2007
According to the AP, Winn Dixie recorded a loss of $790,000, or 1 cent per share, compared to a loss of $24.6 million, or 17 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. This represents a narrower loss for its fiscal first quarter than last year because of lower costs, improved margins and a lack of charges that weighed down results in the prior-year period.
You know, those ever important time bombs - giant malignant tumors accountants never say anything about until it's too late so that investors won't pull out. They get detonated either by force or by calculation, but they lay hidden within - restructuring, reorganization and ... impairment charges.
Impairment charges are 00 accounting speak for goodwill that is given a false value in a prior period. To declare an impairment is a confession of prior overvaluation. A good time to take care of impairments is during a restructure, since you've already got bad news anyway and things can only look up from there.
That's why this quarter's 1 cent per share loss compares with 17 cents per share same time last year. But analysts such as those from the Thomas group who have expected a loss of 23 cents per share may know more about pending liabilities.
Meanwhile, company PR says the gross margin improved because of reduction in promotional spending and operational improvements that lowered costs at distribution facilities. The company also got a new insurance policy: read - employees are not happy. And they wrote off less in depreciation expense - a delay on paper of the inevitable?
Let's move away from the balance sheet to P/L on operations.
Revenue rose a meager 1 percent from $1.61 to $1.62 million over the previous year as analysts predicted. Actually not bad considering the loss of so many facilities. Same store sales were actually up twice as much. That's a breather.
You've gotta love the fall weather. It's a time when the outlook is very bleak, but the colors captivate our attention. Bloggers think Kroger will buy WINN out. But until operations are profitable what's the point?
In this humble writer's opinion green is the key to the bottom line. Public perception is everything. Same old same old doesn't turn sinking ships around. What's needed is a total image makeover. And it wouldn't hurt to have parallel internal changes of thinking from within. Here are five quickie ideas.
- Next Winn Dixie you build, get press for building it green. Before you start, run over to Whole Foods Market, or to the Greenwise that just opened in Palm Beach Gardens. Steal their ideas.
- Use that Winn Dixie Charitable Foundation of yours to donate to a few good green causes, turning them into publicity events. Confess that it may have been bad beef that actually killed WM Davis. Show what you are doing about it. Work with your new organic food lines to match donations. If you go green you always get press and so will they. It's good will you can't overestimate these days.
- Try some hard-wood floors in some elegant spots. The speckled look went out - oh, about 1970. Find out what Publix does to keep their floors so clean. One-up them with non-toxic wax or some feature you can brag about. It will be your 180 degree turn-around.
- Consider adding to your wine collection. Think presentation. Make your customers feel they are in a restaurant. Sectioning it off is never a bad idea. Ahh, a nice quiet place for the elite to think of the finer things in life - now that's customer experience. Add a line of sulfite free organic wines and you'll be cool to the age.
- Don't be afraid to offer a few goodies to taste test. There is nothing more memorable than great tasting freebies from the market. Make it your excuse to tout your new green image. The beef people just doesn't cut it anymore. Focus on the finer things. Your customer's sense of value will come out as a harvest of loyalty.
Fall has its purpose. Old ways die out. The winter is long. Maybe you can break even next quarter. And ... spring is never far away. In springtime, all is green. My advice is ... plan ahead.
Lisa Carvin, staff writer
Supermarket Green News
Contact Lisa at
lisacarvin @ supermarketgreennews.com