Shownotes
In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from FMI 2026 at the Simbe booth, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Tim Horton, Vice President of Center Store at Schnucks, to discuss how center store strategy is evolving as consumer health trends, technology, and store execution continue to collide.
Tim shares his personal journey growing up in the grocery business and why center store remains a critical frontier for physical retail. The conversation explores how trends like GLP 1 adoption, higher protein demand, and changing definitions of health and wellness are reshaping assortment decisions, space allocation, and the in store experience.
The discussion also dives into Schnucks approach to store technology, including electronic shelf labels and robotic scanning, and how these tools are being used to improve execution, compliance, and customer facing service without removing labor from stores. Tim outlines how data, digital engagement, and shelf level personalization will play a growing role as Schnucks looks ahead to 2026.
Key Topics Covered
- How center store is changing amid GLP 1 and health focused consumer trends
- Balancing space changes with customer trust and shopping habits
- Schnucks approach to technology, including electronic shelf labels and robotics
- Using data and automation to improve merchandising execution
- Elevating health and wellness categories in center store
- The role of digital and personalization in supporting in store discovery
- Priorities for Schnucks center store strategy heading into 2026
Stay tuned to Omni Talk Retail for continued coverage from FMI 2026, and be sure to visit the Simbe booth, #118, in the FMI Tech section.
#FMI2026 #Schnucks #CenterStore #GroceryRetail #RetailTechnology #HealthAndWellness #StoreExecution #RetailLeadership #OmniTalk
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Transcripts
Hello, everyone.
Speaker A:This is Omnitalk Retail.
Speaker A:I'm Chris Walton.
Speaker B:And I'm Anne Mazinga.
Speaker A:And we are coming to you live from the simbi booth at FMI Midwinter in San Diego.
Speaker A:Booth number 118 in the FMI Tech section.
Speaker A:And joining us today is Tim Horton, the VP of Center Store at Schnook's Market.
Speaker A:Tim, welcome to omnitalk.
Speaker C:Thank you, Chris.
Speaker C:Glad to be here.
Speaker B:Well, Tim, I just learned that you and Chris both cut your teeth together as merchants at Target.
Speaker B:But I'd love to hear maybe a little bit more of your background and then what you oversee in your role at Chinook Market.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:So I grew up in the food business and actually grew up in the grocery industry through high school and college.
Speaker C:And so that's where really, really fell in love with retail.
Speaker C:When I left Target, it was a very intentional decision to get back to the space that it all started for me.
Speaker C:And I have a real passion for the grocery space.
Speaker C:I believe that it is the final, you know, it is a frontier that's going to continue to need the physical space and just have a real passion for that business.
Speaker A:So, Tim, when you say you, you know, when you grew up in the business, what does that exactly mean?
Speaker C:So I actually worked for a small 12 store fleet of stores in central Indiana, in Indianapolis.
Speaker C:It was called Drew Amalia Food Markets.
Speaker C:They were high, high end, upscale grocery, carpeted center store, full service carryout.
Speaker C:And it was really all about customer service.
Speaker C:And it's really where I fell in love with just the passion of working with people and serving customers.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:All right, so what brings you to fmi?
Speaker A:I'm guessing you've been here before, right?
Speaker A:How many times is this for you?
Speaker C:It is not my first rotary.
Speaker C:This is my 12th consecutive year.
Speaker C:And love this conference because we get a lot out of the time here and it's great to be able to engage with many of our strategic supplier partners and get some stuff done.
Speaker B:Well, Tim, I'm curious.
Speaker B:Explain for me a little bit.
Speaker B:One of the things that we talked about but coming into this conference was how much Center Store has really changed or is being impacted by other trends that are becoming more common in the US GLP1s other higher protein products like entering the market and becoming a priority produce and fresh.
Speaker B:How does that change your job and kind of what you're looking at in terms of offerings for the Chinook customer for center store?
Speaker C:Sure, great question.
Speaker C:I mean, I certainly think that the consumer is changing based on trends in the, in the in the macro space.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, you mentioned GLP1 medication and I think health and wellness starts to have a different definition for many consumers because of A, the popularity, but B, just the change in their entire dynamic of each in the home.
Speaker C:So what we're figuring out is how do we reposition ourselves knowing that we carry many of these items, how do we deliver the experience in a meaningful way for that customer?
Speaker B:And what kind of things are you doing to kind of bring that front and center for them?
Speaker B:I mean, is it collaborating with marketing teams?
Speaker B:Is it thinking about store layout and footprint?
Speaker B:I mean, what are some of the initiatives that you kind of kicked off to respond to that?
Speaker C:Well, it's certainly both of those things, but I think it's many factors and it's really about how do we, how do we bring solutions that align with where the customer is, but do it in a way that is reliable to our brand and the experience that they, they depend on when they come into our stores.
Speaker C:So some of that could mean space allocation in the stores.
Speaker C:So you think about a section like performance, nutrition.
Speaker C:It is a race to figure out how we get as much space as quickly as we can.
Speaker B:How many protein bars do you put on the shelves?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Tim, how do you.
Speaker A:I mean, I remember from my days in grocery too, like grocery is really unique in the sense of your customers have a really big bond to their shopping experience in the store and they get really upset when their space changes, like when they go in and things are in a different spot.
Speaker A:So with all the trends happening around better for you products, GLP1s.
Speaker A:How do you manage the trade offs between space changes and keeping your customer happy and informed of where everything is?
Speaker C:It's a great question, Chris, and I think it's a balancing act.
Speaker C:At the end of the day, as a retailer, it is our job to make sure that we understand our customers, customers wants and needs.
Speaker C:And sometimes change is hard, but what I found is through our major remodel process or through a new build where we relay the store in a completely different way, our customers respond in a positive way.
Speaker C:And so it's really kind of figuring out how much can we change at one time without disrupting everything.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:But sometimes moving their cheese is the right decision.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Sometimes you just gotta do it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:That's exactly right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, Tim, let's talk a little bit about technology.
Speaker B:I think when our listeners will hear Chinook Markets, they will think about how much coverage we've given you and your team on just the innovation when it comes to technology in the stores, I'd love to get your perspective on how the tech that you've deployed in stores, from robotics to shelf labels to other operational investments, how is that impacting your team right now and the teams in the stores most significantly?
Speaker C:Yeah, great question.
Speaker C:You know what I would say is we have leveraged technology in a super meaningful way to drive efficiency and it's not designed to, to take things away.
Speaker C:Whether it's a store teammate or whether it's a support center teammate.
Speaker C:It's really about driving better decision making.
Speaker C:So I'll give you an example.
Speaker C:When we deployed electronic shelf labels, we did not remove any labor from the stores.
Speaker C:We redeployed that to more customer facing activities.
Speaker C:And so that savings, while driving efficiency wasn't really about taking anything away from the store or the customer.
Speaker C:It was really about putting that activity into a place where it's going to provide more value for our customers.
Speaker B:That's great.
Speaker B:It's good to hear.
Speaker B:And clearly one of the reasons, I think, why Chinook's so beloved by its customers is that you still have that experience in the store, the help and support that you need if somebody moves the cheese and you need to find out where it went.
Speaker C:Right, exactly.
Speaker A:Tim, how would you sum up for us all the technology you've deployed in the store?
Speaker A:Are there like three or four areas that it's really helping you become a better merchant and what the reasons are for that?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker C:I'll use the scanning robots as an example.
Speaker C:So the technology that we have isn't just used to collect data at Shelf Edge, but it actually feeds into other activities in our operation.
Speaker C:So an example is when we publish our weekly merchandising plans.
Speaker C:We now have tally scans that will tell us our compliance to that.
Speaker C:And that's used in a couple different ways.
Speaker C:Number one is we have financial commitments to making sure that we execute the.
Speaker A:Plan, number one, right to the brands.
Speaker C:But number two, it's making sure that we're delivering a consistent, reliable store experience in every single one of our stores every single day.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:So if I put that in layman's terms, like so what you were doing before is you were probably sending out corporate communication to the stores based on what you think is going on and they potentially needed to take action or they don't, but you're not necessarily sure.
Speaker A:But now the robot scanning give you a sense of where things need to have action taken and then you're coordinating that and sending that out with much more efficiency and Efficacy, is that right?
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:We're utilizing our field support organization to really make sure that they're focusing on coaching, training, development opportunities for the store if they're not hitting the expectations on the plan.
Speaker C:But that insight really helps us make sure that we are doing what we commit to doing and again, that we're delivering a great customer experience.
Speaker A:And as a merchant, you probably love that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because you are assured that your planograms are set the way you and your team have designed them, which has always been the rub when you get down to store execution.
Speaker C:Yes, hope is not a strategy, but knowing really helps us get better.
Speaker A:Yeah, knowing's half the battle, I think, right, Tim?
Speaker A:Isn't that the phrase?
Speaker A: ht, so as you look forward to: Speaker C:Well, I think a few things.
Speaker C:I mean, number one is I'm going to continue to build a high performing team that is really cutting edge in terms of their think.
Speaker C:You know, schnooks gets a lot of credit for staying ahead of trends, being able to be quick and agile and so we're going to continue our momentum on that.
Speaker C:Number two is we're really going to focus on elevating some health and wellness categories to make those easier to find in our stores.
Speaker C:We have the offerings but oftentimes if you have a dietary restriction that you are shopping for, it can be very difficult to navigate.
Speaker C:So we're going to identify five to 10 categories, really make it pop at shelf edge and then if that is successful, we'll scale.
Speaker C:Number two is, you know, you talked about the GLP1 trend.
Speaker C:It's really figuring out how we reposition our set sizes, category adjacency and flow to better meet the customer where they're already getting very quickly with the adoption rate of GLP1.
Speaker A:And how does digital factor into what you just said too, Tim?
Speaker C:I think digital is a huge component because you know, we've got great customer data and so we can start to understand behaviorally who do we need to be targeting to make sure that they're aware that some of these things are either available or that we're promoting in our stores.
Speaker A:So personalizing as best you can in store at shelf but then also back home on digital online via the app.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker B:All right, well thank you so much Tim for giving us your time.
Speaker B:I know that it's a jam packed day full of meetings today.
Speaker B:I want to give a big thank you to the Simbi team for hosting us here at fmi.
Speaker B:We have several interviews to bring you with retailers and brands throughout the day, so stay tuned.
Speaker A:And until next time, be careful out there.