Grocers Prosper on the Low End, Suffer on the High End

The recent financial results of supermarket chains seem to indicate that things are already bad for high-end stores, could get bad soon for the middlebrow shops, and are, for now, looking pretty good for the bargain destinations.

On Tuesday, Supervalu, which owns such middle-of-the-road chains as Jewel-Osco and Albertson's, reported the profits were up, but grocery sales were off and same-store sales had slipped in its first quarter. It also lowered its guidance for the rest of the year.

So, too, did Safeway when it released its numbers last week: higher earnings, but a bleak forecast.

In May, upscale grocer Whole Foods reported that profits were way down in its second quarter.

But hey â€" look at Kroger, which in June announced that it had soundly beaten analysts' expectations by posting first-quarter profits that were 15 percent higher and even slightly raised its expectations for the coming year.

Kroger, of course, aims at "budget-minded" shoppers, which could soon enough include all of us.