LOVELAND, Ohio – Grocery shoppers at the new Kroger store in this eastern Cincinnati suburb are bathed in sunlight from 75 skylights in rows overlooking the aisles.
It’s the most noticeable among many features aimed at reducing energy use by the nation’s largest traditional grocery store chain. The store also has compact fluorescent lights that require less electricity and last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. Motion detectors help shut off lights when areas are vacated. The store recycles exhaust to heat water, uses more-efficient plastic fans instead of metal ones, and has concrete floors that can be cleaned with water instead of chemicals used for tile.
The grocery business is getting greener, led by new initiatives from chains such as Kroger Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tesco PLC. They’re part of a broad range of businesses, including giants such as General Electric Co., General Motors Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., that are reacting to increasing public concern about energy issues.
The trend is particularly noticeable among grocery stores, a regular stop for American shoppers. Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer and QFC food stores in the Northwest, says 40 percent of all American households have one of its shopper loyalty cards.
For grocers, energy savings are part of a critical effort to cut costs and deal with tighter profit margins as Wal-Mart and other discounters build up their grocery business.
“Given our size, we have a certain amount of responsibility to the environment and to being a good citizen,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s vice chairman. “We take everything we save with the energy reductions and we reinvest it with the customer … in lower prices or in improved service.”
Kroger, which had $66 billion in 2006 revenues, says energy consumption is down 20 percent since 2000 thanks to efforts ranging from new, more-efficient technology to pushing common-sense steps such as turning lights off when not needed. Company officials say it’s hard to state a total financial savings because energy prices have been rising, but estimate it at tens of millions of dollars.
“It’s a critical cost element that they still have some room to improve upon,” said Craig Hutson, an analyst at the corporate bond research firm Gimme Credit. “In an environment where it’s intensely competitive from a pricing standpoint, whatever you can do on costs is going to help you generate profits.”
Dave Hamilton, director of the Sierra Club’s global warming and energy program, said grocers, with many power needs such as refrigeration, can help their images while saving money.
Wal-Mart this year has opened what it calls “High-Efficiency Supercenter” stores in Kansas City, Mo., and Rockton, Ill., that use 20 percent less energy than typical grocery-selling supercenters by using innovations in heating, cooling, water, lighting and construction materials. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer’s chief executive, Lee Scott, said in a February speech that it will work with suppliers to cut the use of fossil fuels, adding to company environmental goals that Scott has said let Wal-Mart “do well while doing good.”
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