Monthly Features | The Shelby Report

Category: Market Profile
Posted inMarket Profile, Association News, Featured News, Midwest, News

Iowa Grocers Seeking Certainty After State’s SNAP Waiver Vacated

by Treva Bennett

Less than six months after Iowa’s Healthy SNAP waiver took effect, a federal judge’s June 22 ruling in Aragon v. Rollins vacated food restriction waivers in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia – sending grocers back into their point-of-sale systems for the second time this year. Iowa Health and Human Services notified retailers July […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Featured News, Independent Store News, News, Shelby Content, Southeast

Chitimacha Tribe-Backed Second Raintree Market Fills Grocery Gap In Jeanerette, LA

by Lorrie Griffith

Raintree Market’s second south Louisiana location opened in the town of Jeanerette on Nov. 19, 2025 – filling a grocery void that had left the town’s residents without a full-service supermarket for more than three years. The store, a tribal enterprise of the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, is located at 1001 East Main St. The […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Featured News, Midwest, News

Supermarkets Lean On Agility As Weather, Gas Prices Reshape MI Retail Economy

by Treva Bennett

At this time last year, tariffs dominated the conversation among Michigan retailers. This spring, the pressures look different: severe weather across the northern part of the state, gas prices pulling extra spending money to the pump and a retail index that has fallen to 43.7 from 59.4 a year ago, according to Victoria Veda, VP […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Association News, Featured News, Independent Store News, Midwest, News

Indiana Grocers, C-stores See ‘Iffy’ Future Amid Taxes, SNAP Limits

by Treva Bennett

Indiana grocery and convenience retailers are facing mounting pressure from state tax policies, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program restrictions and transportation regulations, according to Joe Lackey, president of the Indiana Grocery & Convenience Store Association. Lackey said while the state is financially stronger this year – “they’re suddenly finding money all kinds of places” – legislators […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Association News, Featured News, News, Southeast

Kueffner: NC Grocers Maneuvering To Meet Regulatory Rules, Consumer Needs

by Lorrie Griffith

Lindsey Kueffner, executive director of the Carolinas Food Industry Council, is in the midst of a busy legislative season in North Carolina that got under way April 21. Nevertheless, she took time to respond to questions from The Shelby Report of the Southeast’s Lorrie Griffith about the state’s grocery industry and some of the challenges […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Featured News, Midwest, News

South Dakota Grocers Navigate Market Shifts, Trends

by Treva Bennett

South Dakota’s grocery industry is settling into what Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association, calls an “average year,” with consumers trading down on proteins and store brands, convenience stores grabbing more food sales and big-box retailers delivering groceries at a loss into rural communities. Sanderson told The Shelby Report that business […]

Posted inMarket Profile, Featured News, News, Northeast

Food Affordability Among Many Pressing Concerns For CT Grocery Industry

by Lorrie Griffith

Sometimes there are advantages to being small. Connecticut’s small geographic size, for instance, means there are not too many food deserts, according to Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association. Though there is some disagreement about what constitutes a food desert, it is basically a low-income geographic area where a significant number of people […]

Posted inExecutive News, Featured News, Market Profile, Midwest, News

Ohio Grocers Association’s Mullins Leaves Legacy Of Fighting The Impossible

by Treva Bennett

Kristin Mullins started at the Ohio Grocers Association on April 4, 1990, as a receptionist. She is leaving as its president and CEO – and, by her own account, she’s ready. “A 36-year run – I think I’m ready for something, quite frankly, a little less demanding, a little less stressful,” she said with a […]

Posted inIndependent Store News, Association News, Featured News, Market Profile, Midwest, News

Ohio Grocers Navigate Consolidation, Rising Costs, Changing Consumer

by Treva Bennett

Ohio enters 2026 as one of the nation’s most economically competitive states, though a mix of national headwinds and shifting federal policy creates uncertainty in the year ahead. The state’s gross domestic product reached $979 billion in the third quarter of 2025 – the highest on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. […]

Posted inIndependent Store News, Featured News, Market Profile, News, Northeast

Redner’s Bringing ‘Fresh Market 2.0’ To Wilmington, Creating Foodservice Destination

by Lorrie Griffith

Walk into most grocery stores and the experience is largely transactional: Grab a cart, work your way down the aisles and check out. Redner’s Markets wants to change that, and its newest store in Wilmington, Delaware, is the place where it’s making moves toward that next-generation grocery shopping experience. The Reading, Pennsylvania-based grocer broke ground […]

Posted inAssociation News, Featured News, Market Profile, Midwest

Nebraska Grocers Grappling With General Sense Of Unease, Labor Costs

by Treva Bennett

Ansley Fellers, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, responded to questions from The Shelby Report of the Midwest about what’s happening in the state’s grocery industry.   How would you characterize the overall health of the grocery industry in Nebraska right now, and what are the key factors driving performance in 2026? I […]

Posted inAssociation News, Featured News, Finance News, Market Profile, News, Northeast

Shift In Spending Patterns Detected As DE Shoppers Navigate Economic Minefields

by Lorrie Griffith

Julie Miro Wenger, executive director of the Delaware Food Industry Council, spoke with The Griffin Report about the busy year she and her members have had. Many challenges have arisen over the past 12-plus months, as a new administration has made some sweeping changes that affect the industry. But the state’s grocers, as is their […]

Posted inIndependent Store News, Finance News, Market Profile, Midwest, News

Independent Grocers Face Pricing Pressures, Rural Store Closures In ND

by Treva Bennett

Independent grocers across North Dakota face mounting pressure from several directions, according to John “Jiggs” Dyste, president of the North Dakota Grocers Association. “Independent grocers are being squeezed by big-box stores and food manufacturers,” Dyste said. “Unfair pricing is the main problem driving consumers to big-box stores.” The challenges come as North Dakota’s economy undergoes […]