Retail Snapshot: Stater Bros. Markets

Stater Bros. Markets BB #:111865, which celebrated 85 years in business in 2021, has long been solidly focused in and around the Inland Empire region of Southern California.

Its area of trade is anchored by the cities of San Bernardino, where the company is headquartered, and Riverside, with Los Angeles County just to the west.

This good-sized area already had a population of approximately 4.6 million in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But it has been growing since the start of the Covid lockdown, as Los Angeles area dwellers moved farther inland to accommodate the need for more space for remote or hybrid work situations, among other reasons.

Stater Bros. got its start in 1936 after World War II veterans and twin brothers Cleo and Leo Stater purchased a small grocery store in Yucaipa, CA, where Cleo had worked since 1931, with a down payment of $600.

By the 1980s, the chain had become the largest privately owned supermarket chain in Southern California and the largest private employer in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with 18,000 employees as of 2023. Today, the company has annual sales of more than $4 billion.

One of Stater Bros.’ differentiators has been its fresh categories. Produce departments carry a wide array of organics, tropical fruit, prepackaged salads, locally grown produce, and specialty offerings.

They also feature a fresh-cut station, with fresh guacamole and salsas as well as cut-to-order fruit and vegetables.

Stater Bros. is a member-owner of group purchasing organization Topco Associates, LLC, along with other regional supermarket chains across the country, giving it a pricing advantage in all of its fresh departments, including produce as well as meat, seafood, deli/bakery, and floral.

Recent Rebrand

In April 2022, Stater Bros. Markets completed a strategic rebrand.

The company introduced a new “Bring It Home” television and billboard ad campaign, as well as a new tagline: “Fresh. Affordable. Community First.” Both were intended to highlight the company’s commitment to its local communities.

The overarching goal of the rebrand’s more purpose-driven approach is to emphasize fresh, healthy, specialty, diet, ethnic, and convenient meal offerings in the communities it serves.

“Stater Bros. Markets are perceived as stores of the community rather than mega-grocer outposts,” comments Carol Spieckerman, president of Spieckerman Retail in Bentonville, AR.

“The company has promoted this perception through its localization efforts and community outreach. Last year’s comprehensive ‘Bring It Home’ rebrand emphasized Stater Bros.’ relevance to the diverse communities it serves.”

Phil Lempert, the voice and mind behind Santa Monica, CA’s The Supermarket Guru, agrees, noting the heightened emphasis of Stater Bros. stores as a nice, neighborhood place where shoppers can find what they need.

He says advertising definitely has a more neighborly feel than what is typical for other supermarkets in the region. “It’s very well done; it’s not a slick, big-chain TV advertising—it tugs at your heartstrings.”

The retailer already had a good reputation, Lempert adds, for clean stores and happy employees.

“If you have a Stater Bros. near you, you’re loyal. But you’re not going out of your way to go to Stater Bros. I think this campaign will change that—it will open people’s eyes to Stater Bros., and they might try one for the first time.”

The rebrand is also highlighted in stores, where the company began testing new decor shortly after the announcement, as well as through its website and marketing campaigns. It’s also reflected in Stater Bros.’ branded ecommerce solution, launched in 2021.

At the time of the rebrand announcement, Stater Bros. said it would begin the process of elevating its shopping experience through more personalized service and an expanded product assortment. Part of the equation is new staffing, like in-house culinary experts, for example, to create new recipes and bring them to life in the stores.

This is an excerpt from the May/June 2023 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine’s California Supplement.