How to Get into Lunds & Byerlys
Originally founded in 1939, Lunds & Byerlys are upscale supermarkets in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area of Minnesota. They are owned and operated by Lund Food Holdings, Inc. As of 2018, there are 27 locations in the Twin Cities area as well as another in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Its services include Caribou Coffee.
Lunds and Byerly’s were competing companies until 1997 when Lunds acquired Byerly’s. They continued to operate under their individual names until April 2015, when the stores were rebranded Lunds & Byerlys. In 2006, they launched its online grocery shopping service. Shoppers have the option of either picking up their groceries at certain stores or having it delivered to their home.
Byerly’s locations also offer in-store United States Post Offices, full-service banks, pharmacies, coffee shops, floral departments, wines & spirits shops, and formerly in-store Byerly’s restaurants. All Byerly’s branded restaurants have now closed, but a restaurant named “Minnesota Grill” still operates out of the Roseville store location offering limited Lund’s and Byerly’s food items.
The store is known for its “great customer service” and its deli and bakery. Byerly’s is commonly viewed as high-end grocery shopping, and prices are therefore relatively similar to other retail stores selling the same brands. Product quality however is the core focus of Lunds & Byerlys and the prices reflect higher quality products.
To enter into business with this retailer, you need a unique selling point. This means that your offers must be different from the commonplace. You must look for something that makes what you sell very different from several products that this retailer sells.
Lunds & Byerly’s competes in the market on three things: price, customer service, and topmost quality. To achieve price, the retailer must get the products at affordable prices from the suppliers. Customer service is with the company. The last part is topmost quality. This is also a point with the supplier. The retailer would sell what the supplier supplies. Thus, to maintain the standard, the products must be of topmost quality. All food items must have passed through several regulatory checks to ensure that they are fit for consumption.
To get your products noticed by this retailer, you need to get on the RangeMe platform as the buyers of the company use the platform to source new products. You can create a free profile to get started. The platform works by getting you connected to potential buyers who would see the range of products you have on your supply dash.
The grocery market in the United States has gotten to the point where it has to be personalized. The sector is one that tries to connect with the individual customer. This means, the supermarkets try to address the needs and interests of individual customers.
How to get your product into Lunds & Byerlys
- Understand you client: Before you spend a lot of time and money creating a product, you should know if anyone will want to buy it. Learn more about Market Research
- Learn if it’s protectable: Know if you can defend your product against cheap copies if it gets knocked off. Learn more about Copyright and Patent your product
- Test your product: Make sure that there’s a demand for your product and the customer understands what you are selling when it’s on the shelf and nobody is there to explain it. Learn more about Product Testing
- Perfect your pitch: Before you speak to decision makers, know your numbers, know your retailer and know your logistics in and out. Learn more about Pitching Your Product
- Don’t do it alone: If you haven’t been successful in retail before, a secret of success is that you can’t do it alone. Having great sales staff, customer support and marketing partners can take you from zero to success faster than if you tried on your own. Learn more about Retail Partnerships
Contact Lunds & Byerlys Buyer
Do not trust any “list” of buyers.
Typically retail buyers change either companies or positions every few years. This strategy helps retailers know that their buyers are not taking “kick-backs” and are selecting the very best product for the very best position each time.
Buyers are typically held to a very rigorous standard of sell-through volume that they must hit and because of this they are risk averse. Your job as a supplier or vendor is to convince them that the buyers going into the stores not only know about what you’re selling but are actively seeking the product in the store currently.
How to Submit a Product to Lunds & Byerlys
There are several ways to get a product placed in Lunds & Byerlys. However, most entrepreneurs only dream about getting their product distributed to major retailers, few actually do it. We have experienced a significant rise in interest since the show Shark Tank started airing on NBC. Mr. Checkout has had the pleasure of working with a few Shark Tank success stories such as KISStixx and 180 Party Cups which are now currently being distributed around the country to stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger, 7-Eleven and more.
If you envision your product would be a good fit for Lunds & Byerlys, we have a few steps to help you get your product on their shelves.
Here are the 6 steps you need to take to have your product placed in Lunds & Byerlys.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Lunds & Byerlys, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions. Do you need to build demand for your product, or is there already a demand for it? Do you know that Lunds & Byerlys would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Lunds & Byerlys can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Lunds & Byerlys, or do you want to license your product to a manufacturer that will handle Lunds & Byerlys?
2. Be prepared to profit.) Does your product offer enough of a profit margin for Lunds & Byerlys? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Lunds & Byerlys guidelines for other fees that you will have to build into the cost of your product in order for you to be able to turn enough of a profit to make the effort worth your while. If you work with a discount retailer, they will try to strip your profits down to zero in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
The typical breakdown of margins are: If a products costs $1 to produce, that product will retail for $4. That product that retails for $4 will wholesale for $2 to distributors and stores that purchase direct. Big box retailers like Lunds & Byerlys may offer to pay $1.25 to the manufacturer if the product costs $1 to produce. That is the typical profit margin.
3. Determine if Lunds & Byerlys is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Lunds & Byerlys starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Lunds & Byerlys already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Lunds & Byerlys to see what kind of products they are selling, speak to the manager and see if he thinks your product will sell well in their store. Picture in which zone your product would best fit on the shelf and keep in mind that the most precious asset that these big box stores value are their shelf space. Keep this information in mind when you are preparing your presentation to Lunds & Byerlys.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Lunds & Byerlys and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Lunds & Byerlys) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Lunds & Byerlys. Your presentation depends heavily on your strengths as a businessperson as they will most likely ask financial questions and logistics questions.
It’s common for companies to hire a broker to pitch their product to Lunds & Byerlys, as it will be more likely that your product will make it to the next stage if the individual pitching your product has industry knowledge or a personal relationship with Lunds & Byerlys. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Lunds & Byerlys.
We at Mr. Checkout have experience dealing with brokers and know that there are several retail brokers that have poor business practices that can potentially damage your brand. If you are seeking a legitimate Lunds & Byerlys broker, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required Lunds & Byerlys paperwork.) Often Lunds & Byerlys will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Lunds & Byerlys, you should contact a buyer at Lunds & Byerlys and let them know your intentions. Having a contact inside of the company will potentially move your application more smoothly through the process.
6. Anticipate the need for increased volume.) Having Lunds & Byerlys agree to stock your product will most likely mean a significant increase in volume. You should be prepared to ramp up your production and informing your manufacturer of this opportunity.
Having production, logistics and distribution to sync is not only difficult, it requires a significant amount of time invested in customer relations. Also, Lunds & Byerlys may have stipulations in the contract that may penalize you for delays in shipping and production. Have an attorney explain all contracts to you if you don’t understand the terms.
If you’re looking to sell your product to Lunds & Byerlys, be sure to thoroughly assess the marketplace, carefully prepare for production growth, and take full advantage of resources available to help you grow your business.
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