Big Shop Gets Bigger

Then there are the endless ad inserts in the Sunday paper. Who designs and prints up all this material? For a group of grocery retailers in the Midwest, it's the in-plant print shop at Spartan Stores.

Forget about outsourcing in an industry where profit margins are traditionally as thin as deli-sliced ham. Spartan's internal shop is thriving. In fact, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based food wholesaler intends to expand its printing facility over the next two years.