Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

If you're trying to get a handle on Village Super Market, Inc.'s game plan as they approach the end of 2025-especially with an estimated $2.0 billion in revenue for the fiscal year-you need to see the 4Ps. Honestly, their strategy is a tightrope walk: balancing the everyday value of ShopRite with premium urban plays, all while using their loyalty card to drive traffic across their focused New Jersey footprint. I've mapped out exactly how their Product, Place, Promotion, and Price work together; you'll want to see the specifics on their competitive pricing structure below.

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) - Marketing Mix: Product

You see the product element as the tangible and service offerings that define the customer experience at Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA). The core product is the full-service grocery offering operating primarily under the ShopRite banner. As of late 2025, Village Super Market, Inc. operates a total of 34 supermarkets across New Jersey (26 locations), New York (6 locations), Maryland (1 location), and Pennsylvania (1 location) under the ShopRite and Fairway banners. This scale, leveraged through its membership in the Wakefern Food Corporation, allows for a broad range of consistently available quality products.

The product assortment is segmented across several key areas based on recent sales data for the 13 weeks ended October 25, 2025. The Center Store category accounted for 58.8% of total sales, while the Fresh departments represented a substantial 36.2% of sales. For the full fiscal year 2025, Fresh sales were reported at $833.0M, and Pharmacy sales were $93.45M. The focus on fresh departments is clear, as same store sales growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 was driven by higher fresh and pharmacy sales, alongside digital growth.

Village Super Market, Inc. also deploys specialty and urban formats to capture different consumer segments. These include Fairway Market and Gourmet Garage specialty markets, of which there are three locations in New York City. The Gourmet Garage format, which Village acquired in 2020, is heavily weighted toward premium goods, with its layout being approximately 80% specialty or naturally organic items and 20% conventional. This shows a clear product strategy to mix value under the ShopRite banner with premium, specialty offerings in its urban locations.

A strong emphasis is placed on private label brands, which is a significant trend across the industry, with US private label sales jumping from 17.7% to almost 19% of the U.S. market share in recent years. Village Super Market, Inc. continues to introduce new offerings under Wakefern's private labels, specifically mentioning Wholesome Pantry and Bowl & Basket, alongside new brands like Paperbird, as part of its product mix. However, this product mix shift has put pressure on margins; gross profit as a percentage of sales decreased to 28.57% in fiscal 2025 from 28.70% in fiscal 2024, partly due to an unfavorable change in product mix.

The physical product offering is enhanced by modern store design and digital integration. The replacement of older stores with larger formats, such as the new 72,000 sq. ft. ShopRite in Watchung, NJ, replacing a 44,000 sq. ft. store, allows for an expanded assortment and enhanced service departments. The average size of their larger format stores is approximately 57,000 sq. ft.. You can see the operational efficiency of this product assortment through the sales per square foot metric, which reached $1,524 in fiscal 2025.

Here is a snapshot of key operational and financial metrics related to the product and store base as of late 2025:

The product offering is supported by digital tools that enhance the in-store experience and product access. Customers use these digital channels to order groceries for pick up or delivery, which is available in all ShopRite stores via shoprite.com or the ShopRite app. The ShopRite Order Express app specifically allows pre-ordering of deli, catering, and specialty occasion cakes.

You should note the following key product-related operational details:

• The Watchung, NJ replacement store opened on April 9, 2025.
• Gross profit as a percentage of sales for the 13 weeks ended October 25, 2025, was 28.31%.
• Same store digital sales increased by 14% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
• The company is focused on a mix of value and premium goods, with specialty/organic items dominating the Gourmet Garage format at about 80% of its assortment.
• The company is focused on expanding localized store formats and private-label offerings as part of its strategy for fiscal 2026.

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) - Marketing Mix: Place

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) operates a network of 37 total retail units as of late 2025, comprising 34 supermarkets and 3 specialty markets.

The geographic concentration of the 34 supermarkets is detailed across four Mid-Atlantic states:

• New Jersey: 26 locations.
• New York: 6 locations.
• Maryland: 1 location.
• Pennsylvania: 1 location.

The 3 specialty markets are the Gourmet Garage banner, strategically located in the New York City metro area. The company also operates 6 Fairway Market locations, primarily in the dense New York market.

The physical store footprint is characterized by large-format supermarkets, with recent replacement stores showcasing significant scale. For example, the Watchung, NJ replacement store opened in April 2025 measures 72,000 square feet, replacing a 44,000 square foot location. Another replacement, the Old Bridge, NJ store, is 83,000 square feet, succeeding a 32,000 square foot unit. The average store size is noted around 57,000 square feet.

The efficiency of this physical distribution network is quantified by key sales metrics for fiscal 2025:

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) is actively expanding its digital distribution channels, leveraging ShopRite's established online infrastructure. Same-store digital sales showed robust growth of 10% in fiscal 2025. The e-commerce offering includes online ordering, curbside pickup, and home delivery services in selected markets.

The distribution of store banners by location for the 34 supermarkets and 3 specialty markets is as follows:

• ShopRite and Fairway Banners: 34 supermarkets across NJ, NY, MD, and PA.
• Gourmet Garage Specialty Markets: 3 locations, all situated in New York City.

The company utilizes a centralized commissary to supply deli, bakery, and prepared foods to all stores, enhancing product quality and consistency across the distribution footprint.

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Promotion for Village Super Market, Inc. is deeply intertwined with its operational structure as the second-largest member of the Wakefern Food Corporation cooperative. This relationship provides significant scale advantages in developing and executing promotional campaigns across its ShopRite and Fairway banners.

Heavy reliance on the ShopRite Price Plus Club loyalty program for personalized offers is central to Village Super Market, Inc.'s communication strategy. The company uses this program, along with the Fairway Insider program, to offer continuity programs, focus on target marketing initiatives, and attach digital coupons directly to a customer's loyalty card for redemption at the point of sale. This data-driven approach allows for more precise spending compared to blanket promotions.

Consistent weekly print and digital circulars advertising price reductions and BOGOs are a standard feature of the ShopRite brand. While these efforts drive traffic, the financial impact is visible in margin analysis; for the 13 weeks ended October 25, 2025, Village Super Market, Inc. noted that increased promotional spending was a factor contributing to a gross profit as a percentage of sales decrease of 0.06%.

Cooperative advertising through the Wakefern Food Corp. network, sharing costs, is a fundamental cost-saving measure. This structure provides Village Super Market, Inc. with economies of scale in advertising associated with much larger chains. A component of this relationship is the patronage dividend, where Wakefern distributes earnings to stockholders like Village Super Market, Inc. in proportion to purchase volume. Lower patronage dividends received from Wakefern were cited as a reason for a gross profit margin contraction in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.

In-store promotions and displays emphasize seasonal offerings and the company's private label products, which include brands such as Wholesome Pantry, Bowl & Basket, Paperbird, Fairway, and Gourmet Garage. These private label sales are crucial for boosting overall gross margin in the thin-margin grocery sector.

Digital marketing is focused heavily on the ShopRite app and online coupon redemption. Online grocery ordering is available across all ShopRite and Fairway stores via their respective websites and apps, including the ShopRite app and the ShopRite Order Express app for specialized pre-orders. This digital focus is yielding measurable results, with same store digital sales increasing by 14% during the 13 weeks ended October 25, 2025. Furthermore, the company has seen a positive impact on its operating expense control, with lower advertising costs contributing to a 0.05% decrease in adjusted operating and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales for the quarter ending October 25, 2025.

Here's a quick look at the scale of operations and promotional impact metrics for the most recent periods:

The promotional mix is supported by the underlying operational efficiency, as evidenced by the following expense control measures:

• Adjusted operating and administrative expenses decreased to 24.15% of sales in Q1 FY2026 from 24.66% in the prior year period.
• The decrease in adjusted operating and administrative expenses was due primarily to lower employee costs (.34%), short-term rental income (.24%), reduced supply spending (.05%), and lower advertising costs (.05%).
• Village Super Market, Inc. operates 34 supermarkets and three specialty markets across New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
• Sales per average square foot of selling space reached $1,524 in fiscal 2025.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per Class A share and $0.1625 per Class B share on October 23, 2025.

Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're analyzing the pricing strategy for Village Super Market, Inc. (VLGEA), which is fundamentally shaped by its cooperative structure and dual-banner approach. The core of their competitive pricing power comes from being the second largest member of the Wakefern Food Corporation. This membership grants Village Super Market, Inc. access to the collective buying power, distribution network, and advertising scale associated with larger chains, which is defintely key to competing in the narrow-margin grocery sector.

The company actively uses this scale to drive value perception, especially for the price-sensitive ShopRite customer. This focus is evident in the use of the ShopRite Price Plus preferred customer program and the Fairway Insider program. These loyalty platforms allow Village Super Market, Inc. to offer continuity programs, target specific marketing initiatives, and attach digital coupons directly to a customer's loyalty card, effectively delivering deep discounts on staple items.

For the fiscal year ending July 26, 2025, Village Super Market, Inc. posted total sales of $2,320.69 million, reflecting a 3.76% increase year-over-year. This high volume indicates that their pricing strategies are successfully driving customer traffic. However, this pricing pressure is reflected in the gross profit percentage, which stood at 28.57% for FY2025, showing a slight decrease partly due to higher promotional spending.

The pricing strategy is clearly segmented across the banners Village Super Market, Inc. operates, which helps them capture different consumer spending habits:

This segmentation means that while ShopRite competes directly on price with regional and national chains, the Fairway and Gourmet Garage banners allow the company to capture higher margins on specialized, less price-elastic products.

Regarding the promotional cadence, the financial results suggest a reliance on active price adjustments rather than a pure Everyday Low Pricing (EDLP) model. The mention of a decrease in the gross profit percentage due to higher promotional spending in FY2025 strongly implies frequent use of Temporary Price Reductions (TPRs) and targeted discounts driven by the loyalty card, rather than simply maintaining a consistently low shelf price across the board. The company competes by providing competitive pricing alongside superior customer service.

You can see the output of these pricing and sales efforts in the efficiency metrics:

• Sales per average square foot of selling space: $1,524 in fiscal 2025.
• Same store sales growth in FY2025: 2.1%.
• Digital sales growth in Q3 FY2025: 10%.
• Budgeted capital expenditures for fiscal 2026: $75,000 (in thousands, or $75 million).

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.