9/18 >>> Shelfmark Announces New Subscription Contract

Earlier today, Shelfmark announced a subscription contract with Cucina Calabrese, Inc., in select 7-Eleven convenience stores throughout the Pittsburgh area.

An innovative technology that is poised to transform the Direct Store Delivery (DSD) space, Shelfmark utilizes small, wireless cameras and machine learning to create easy-to-understand inventory data that is readily available to suppliers of grocery and convenience stores. This information allows retailers and suppliers to keep their shelves stocked with the right products in the right volume and in the right places—all while reducing unnecessary deliveries and reducing operating costs by as much as 50%.

“Our collaboration with Cucina Calabrese and 7-Eleven stems from our focus on solving real DSD problems with simple but novel solutions,” says Shelfmark’s founder and CEO Pat O’Donnell. “The businesses themselves—and the frustrations they identified—inspired Shelfmark.”

“Our goal with Shelfmark is to help DSD businesses to do what they do best—provide their customers with the products they love,” says O’Donnell.

Charles Calabrese, CEO and co-founder of Cucina Calabrese, considers Shelfmark a stunning success on this front. “It’s an immediate game-changer,” says Calabrese, whose company piloted the technology before subscribing—and saw instant results. “Shelfmark creates clear sightlines into store shelves and lets us know exactly where, what and when we need to restock. It’s hard to imagine how we ever got by without it.”

The Calabrese family founded Cucina Calabrese, a Pennsylvania-based Direct Store Delivery distributor specializing in items like beef jerky, pretzels, popcorn and its own line of artisanal pasta, in 2016. In the grocery and convenience store industry, Direct Store Delivery items account for $205 billion annually. These products bypass retailer warehouses for store shelves—often due to a shorter expiration window—and include items like bread, milk, eggs and more. Today, Direct Store Delivery items account for 25% of all grocery and convenience store products and 51% of all profit margins in stores nationwide.

Shelfmark is a Pittsburgh-based startup that launched in summer 2022. It is cofounded by O’Donnell, an alum of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and Craig Markovitz, an entrepreneur in residence at Carnegie Mellon’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. Shelfmark is currently accepting new customers on a waitlist to implement Shelfmark DSD technology.

To learn more about Shelfmark, go to Shelfmark.co or contact the team directly at solutions@shelfmark.co.