Associated Food Stores has tried just about everything to attract shoppers to its Fresh Market stores — plying them with coupons, remodeled stores and even shopping sprees.

So why has Fresh Market struggled so much in the past two years?

Many Utah shoppers attribute the struggles of Fresh Market — and the closure of five of its stores — to mistakes made by Associated Food since it purchased most Albertsons grocery stores in Utah in 2009 and converted them to the Fresh Market banner.

"Albertsons was the hottest grocery store for deals," said Amy Ewell, who operates SavvyShopperDeals.com, a grocery-best-buy forum. With its mega-sales and double coupon promotions, "people were genuinely upset when they left. They left some huge shoes to fill."

Enter Associated Food, a veteran of the food business. The Utah-based company not only owns some of its own grocery stores operated under the Macey's, Dan's, Dick's and Lin's banners, but serves as a wholesaler, supplying 500 independent grocer-members in eight Western states.

The Albertsons acquisition appeared to be a fairly painless way to add to its lineup of company-owned stores. But instead of creating a grocery concept, Fresh Market stores were modeled largely after other existing and successful Associated Food stores, including Macey's, Dan's and Dick's.

Fresh Market, both its stores and weekly sales ads, doesn't look a whole lot different from other company-owned stores in the minds of many shoppers.

"Instead of being new and innovative, they created something that pretty much is the same as any other Associated Food store," Ewell said. "Simply put, they just aren't different enough. They don't need to be another Albertsons to succeed. They just need to stand out."

She believes a different-looking weekly sales ad and a distinctive mix of sale items would make all the difference, giving shoppers more of a reason to give Fresh Market a try.

Adding to Fresh Market's woes has been the proximity of many of its stores to competitors that have stepped up efforts during the economic downturn to appeal to price-conscious shoppers. In Centerville, for example, Fresh Market is across the street from a Walmart and near a Target. Both have put in place aggressive plans over the past two years to attract and retain shoppers.

They each price-match competitors, Walmart recently liberalized its coupon policy and Target allows shoppers to use two coupons on one item — one manufacturer's and one store coupon — for added savings.

In Bountiful, Fresh Market is within walking distance of a Smith's Marketplace, which has been luring shoppers with mega-sales events and promotions in which all coupons under $1 in value are rounded up to $1.

Jacki Brunson, who writes about grocery deals on the website MamasonaDime.com, said that week after week, other stores have better selections of sale items and loss leaders — items sold near or below cost to lure shoppers. Although Fresh Market coupons, which the chain delivers electronically to those who sign up for its emails, do provide substantial savings on basic grocery items, shoppers can only purchase one or two sale items at a time, she said.

"As an avid couponer I'm always on the lookout for the one store with the best prices for the week," she said. "And Fresh Market never seems to have good enough deals for me to even take notice."

Brunson also notes that Fresh Market lacks a loyalty program similar to Kroger affiliate Smith's Food & Drug. Customers who meet certain spending thresholds get either a Smith's gift certificate or discounts at Smith's fuel centers or Shell stations.

Ewell said Fresh Market's issues don't require an expensive fix. But they do require some ingenuity.

"I think they can come back," she said. "If they make some simple changes to their sale lineup, shoppers will come."