Big Y Annual Report 2022

Annual Report

2022 Sales & Impact of Bags sold for the Community Bag Program

About the Big Y Community Bag Program

The Community Bag Program is designed to give back to local communities served by Big Y. This program provides a way for shoppers to give back with every reusable bag sold. Every time a shopper purchases a $2.50 Community Bag, Big Y donates $1 to the local nonprofit selected by store leadership to benefit for the month. This low/no-touch program for stores has donated over $300,000, provided over 550,000 meals, facilitated the reduction of 10,035,630 single-use bags, and supported 1,704 nonprofits local to the Big Y community since program inception in January 2019.

2022 Program Highlights

New Bag Design

Talks of a new Community Bag design that kicked off Q2 in April were put into action and a new look was approved in May. The new bag design arrived in stores by December.

Third Year of Breast Cancer Focus in October

Stores selected a total of 36 unique Breast Cancer organizations in the Big Y community in support of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This special show of support for everyone affected by breast cancer ran in 2019, 2021 and, now, for its third year in 2022.

First Store Hits 10,000 in Bag Sales

Store 43 became the first Big Y store to reach the major milestone of 10,000 in lifetime bag sales in October.

New Big Y Program Website Launched

Created to coincide with the delivery of the new bag design, a new Program website launched on November 28th. Along with new tools and resources for nonprofits to promote their selection in the Program, the website also features interviews with organizations that benefit from the program. These Impact Stories offer glimpses into how the Community Bag Program has helped and the work these nonprofits do to make a difference in the local Big Y Community.

2022 Overview

January was the highest selling month of the year, starting 2022 off on a high note. These strong sales decreased slightly into the 7,000-range moving into February and March. Throughout Q2, sales remained in the 6,500 range. Following historic sales trends, June saw a minor drop in sales. During this slower period, the PSIM team completed a review of the nonprofit database, ensuring all nonprofits were active and engaged in promoting their selection in the program to their supporters. The review also included adding new nonprofits to the database to extend the Community Bag Program’s reach and bring new shoppers into Big Y stores.

2023 Forecast

2023 is expected to start off with Q1 bringing in high sales during January to coincide with demand for the new bag design. These sales are anticipated to slow down as demand settles, moving the program into a steady Q2. Based on historic sales trends, a decrease in sales will occur in June. Q3 is forecasted to bring sales back up into a steady 6-7,000 range. The year is projected to end with a slight increase in November and December due in part to the seasonal holidays.

MANY THANKS

The following is excerpted from the Impact Story “Creating joyful learning..” interview with Ali Psomas, Program Director for ASAP!.

We will use the [Community Bag] funds to support our 18th annual Celebration of Young Writers, where students in grades K through 12 are invited to submit a piece of their writing for a chance to read it in front of a live audience. Students whose pieces are chosen by our panel of amazing writers and authors get to work with a coach to prepare to read their pieces aloud at the Celebration of Young Writers, held in June at the Spring Hill Arts Gathering (SHAG). SHAG fest is a four-day festival celebrating live arts, music and community building.

I want to thank Big Y! We are so grateful to be selected for this opportunity, which further supports our mission to provide joyful, hands-on, art-infused education to students around Connecticut.

READ THE FULL IMPACT STORY AT BIGY.2GIVELOCAL.COM/ASAP/

Benefiting in March and August, The Arc of the Farmington raised a total of $176.

On behalf of the Arc of the Farmington Valley, Inc, we would like to thank you for your continued support through the Community Bag Program. We are grateful to have you as community partners!

Benefiting in May, Cheshire Human Services raised a total of $170.

Thank you so much! We will put this donation to good use in helping our less fortunate residents.

Mary E. Thompson-Kelly Administrative Assistant

Benefiting in July, American Legion Post 26 raised a total of $139.

On behalf of the American Legion Post 26, I wish to thank you and the staff of our local Big Y for your kind donation to help us help veterans everywhere.

John Barry Commander

What is Earned Media

and what is the PSIM value add?

When a nonprofit is selected to benefit from the Community Bag Program, the PSIM Marketing Team reaches out via email six times before and during the selection month. Each email contains marketing ideas and templates for nonprofits to use to spread news of their selection in the program to their supporters. Templates include sample press releases, social media posts, newsletter language and marketing emails.

Each mention of Big Y in print and online generates Earned Media for the brand. Below are just a few examples of nonprofits generating Earned Media for the Community bag Program through outreach to their supporters.

Morningstar slow to implement promised antibias measures, observers say December 27, 2022 6:55

Hamas is working to create multiple fronts of attack against Israel December 27, 2022 6:52 pm West Bank Christians can’t avoid mixing politics with

Tips and Best Practices

Top 10 Stores

RANK STORE TOTAL 2022 SALES

1 #043 MAY STREET 4,079 2 #026 N ADAMS 3,145 3 #065 WALPOLE 2,598 4 #052 CHICOPEE 2,399 5 #017 STAFFORD SPRINGS 2,158 6 #087 NORTH BRANFORD 2,024 7 #022 GREAT BARRINGTON 2,006 8 #029 HOLDEN 1,985 9 #059 TORRINGTON 1,955 10 #032 NAUGATUCK 1,895

My top suggestions are: make sure to keep the rack full, place it near checkout for easy customer access, and update the signage. I try and promote it as well, let shoppers know. When making selections I like to time things up with holidays within that month, and like to go as close to my store as possible.

John Store #065 Walpole Store Director Store #065 Walpole raised $2,598.

Communication is so important to help spread the word, my cashiers always try to talk about what these bags are, and why they are different. If cashiers aren’t talking about it—it won’t get attention.

Sammy Store #043 May Street Customer Service Manager Store #043 May Street raised $4,079.

I have a great front end that really drives the sales —they are constantly making sure bags are stocked, placed in prime locations for shoppers to see, and if the NPO reaches out they try their best to work with them to really promote.

Sean Store #026 N Adams Store Director Store #026 N Adams raised $3,145.

Big Y’s Community Bag Program has benefited

1,704 local nonprofits

This cluster map depicts the location of all nonprofit organizations that have benefited from Big Y’s Community Bag Program since its inception on January 11, 2019. These organizations provide important services to their communities in areas including civic, education, health and wellness, hunger relief, and military/veterans. The PSIM team works throughout the year to research, vet and regularly validate every nonprofit found or received by outside submission.

Number of nonprofit organizations represented inside the cluster bubble

Coming Your Way… Story Booklets

In 2022 the PSIM Nonprofit Engagement Team interviewed nonprofits that benefited from the Big Y Community Bag Program. The result of each interview is an Impact Story, highlighting the organization’s mission and how they utilize funds raised in the Community Bag Program. A selection of these impact stories were compiled into a Story Booklet. Hard copies will also be mailed to your corporate office. To read Big Y’s Impact Stories, visit bigy.2givelocal.com/stories For more information about the Community Bag Program, visit bigy.2givelocal.com/program/community-bag

Contact

Jim Brennan COO & Co-Founder jimb@psitmatters.com 207.351.6903