Souto Foods Wholesale & Distributors opened its new warehouse in Norcross, Georgia, this week. Sebastian Souto, president of the company, told The Shelby Report that the warehouse has nearly 60,000 s.f. of space, with 10,000 s.f. of that refrigerated. The facility can be expanded by another 30,000 s.f. as needed, he said. “We are looking to […]
Author Archives: Lorrie Griffith

Lorrie began covering the supermarket and foodservice industries at Shelby Publishing in 1988, an English major fresh out of the University of Georgia. She started as an editorial assistant and proofreader—and, in spite of herself, she still proofreads everything, everywhere. Over more than three decades with Shelby, she held a variety of editorial roles. After a detour into business development, she rejoined Shelby in June 2024. “It’s good to be back covering the greatest industry in the world,” she says.
Lipari Foods Completes Its Acquisition Of Troyer Cheese
Lipari Foods, a Warren, Michigan-based distributor, manufacturer and importer of perimeter-of-the-store, specialty and branded food products, has acquired Troyer, which consists of Troyer Cheese Inc., Troyer Bros. Trucking Ltd. and Amish Wedding Foods Inc. Troyer, founded in 1959, is a specialty food distributor, manufacturer and processor in Millersburg, Ohio. The collective companies are engaged in […]
Keurig Dr Pepper Relocating Texas HQ To Cowboys Campus
Keurig Dr Pepper announced Feb. 21 that it will move its Texas headquarters from Plano to a new 350,000-s.f., build-to-suit leased facility at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The new location will be ready in 2021 and serve as one of the company’s two headquarters; the other is located in Burlington, Massachusetts. The Star is […]
A Look At Some Best Practices For Retailer Labor Productivity
It is critically important for retailers to monitor the productivity of their associates. Labor productivity measures the output of store associates over a specific period of time. Tracking measures such as sales per labor hour or scans per minute will ensure that a retailer is getting the most of his/her labor dollars. Low productivity rates […]
Walmart’s Revenue Up By $14 Billion In Fiscal 2019
On Feb. 19, Walmart reported its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2019 year ended Jan. 25. In the fourth quarter, total revenue was $138.8 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion, or 1.9 percent. Walmart U.S. comparable sales on a two-year stack of 6.8 percent is the strongest growth in nine years, the Bentonville, […]
Cast Your Vote For Top Sales-Building Best Practices
by the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) Did you hear the news? IGA has handpicked 13 IGA Best Practices for their creativity, ability to save money/increase sales, and adaptability by fellow retailers. Now it’s up to the industry to vote for the best. When all the votes are in, the top three will be announced at […]
Krasdale’s New President Sees Challenges, Opportunities Ahead
Krasdale Foods promoted Steve Silver to the role of president in January 2019 as part its succession plan. Silver, who has been with Krasdale for 37 years, continues to serve as COO and as a member of the board of directors. He does not expect much of his day-to-day responsibilities to change with his new […]
Recommended: Rowe Buys Former Baymeadows Winn-Dixie In Jax
Veteran grocery store owner Rob Rowe bought the closed Winn-Dixie in Baymeadows and is assessing what to do with it – open another Rowe’s IGA supermarket or keep the property for another use. Buying it – for $3.7 million – was the first step. “I had to get that done first,” he said. “I have […]
Pathmark Supermarkets Banner To Return With Brooklyn Store
Allegiance Retail Services LLC today announced the return of Pathmark Supermarkets, a banner that disappeared from the Northeast grocery scene in the early 2000s. Pathmark was founded in the 1970s and was known as an innovator in the supermarket industry, according to Allegiance. The first store under the resurrected banner is a 49,000-s.f. Pathmark store […]
URM Continues Upgrading Operations, Adding New Members
Ray Sprinkle, president and CEO of URM in Spokane, Washington, sat down in mid-November with Shelby Publishing’s president and publisher, Ron Johnston, at Sprinkle’s office in Spokane. URM Stores Inc., formerly called United Retail Merchants, began in 1921 when five retailers banded together to form a corporation. Today, URM comprises many more retailers than that, […]
NGA’s Larkin Examines Issues Facing New Congress
The 2018 mid-term elections changed the makeup of Congress, with 100 new members who took office in January. National Grocers Association (NGA) President Peter Larkin told the grocers in attendance at the November 2018 ROFDA Fall Conference in Arizona to invite these new members to their stores and talk about the issues impacting them on […]
Virginia Beach Store Manager Named Food Lion’s Best For 2018
In recognition of her commitment to her community and the leadership she has shown for her team of associates, Annette Johnson was named Food Lion’s Ralph W. Ketner Store Manager of the Year on Feb. 7 at the company’s headquarters in Salisbury, North Carolina. Johnson is the store manager at the Food Lion located at […]
Former Vons President Lori Raya Named CMMO At SpartanNash
Lori Raya will become the new chief merchandising and marketing officer (CMMO) for SpartanNash, effective Feb. 18. Raya joins SpartanNash following a 31-year career with Safeway/Albertsons, most recently serving as division president of Albertsons from 2015-18 following her role as division president of Vons in Southern California. In her most recent role, Raya led the […]
N.J. Food Council President Reviews 2018 At Outset Of 2019
Linda Doherty, president of the New Jersey Food Council, looked at what happened in the past year in preparation for this new year. Not much in Trenton surprises me, but occasionally the unexpected arises that has an impact on our membership. Case in point were two significant issues we faced heading into the year. When […]
Keep Waste Removal Process Going During Severe Weather
by Michael Hess/Founder, President and CEO, Waste Harmonics Winter weather hits and before you know it, garbage piles up resulting in dangerous and unsightly conditions. Within hours, garbage and recycling headaches can deter you from your day. As a reliable source of food and merchandise, you need to be ready to serve the needs of […]
Cash Is Here To Stay—How To Deal With Rising Handling Costs
by David Johnson/Director of Business Development, G4S Retail Solutions Retail and finance experts are fond of proclaiming that cash usage in retail and restaurants is “dying” or even “dead,” and many point to the growth of credit and debit cards, the emergence of mobile payments and an increase in conversations around restaurants, grocers and other […]
Piggly Wiggly’s Bullard Got Education In More Than One Form In The Army
ROFDA Member: Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co. Editor’s note: The following is a portion of 2018’s ROFDA Report honoring ROFDA vets. The full report is available in the December 2018 editions of The Shelby Report. David Bullard, president and CEO of Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co. (PWADC), took a break from college to serve in […]
Giant’s First Heirloom Market Opening Jan. 25 In Philly
Giant Food Stores will open its first Giant Heirloom Market on Jan. 25. The 9,500-s.f. store, located in Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital neighborhood, will carry an assortment that has been specially curated for urban neighborhoods, the Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based grocer says. The small-format store’s selection is built around fresh, local, seasonal and flavor-focused foods, “everyday essentials” and […]
‘Little Joe’s Dinner’ Continues A Longstanding SoCal Tradition
In 1957, three men—Sam Guzzo of Oroweat Baking Co., Charlie Dragna of Barbara Ann Bread Co. and John Fusano of San Fernando Valley Olive Co.—started what would become an annual Christmas party. The event was held during the holiday season and hosted at Little Joe’s Italian Restaurant in Chinatown Los Angeles. The party quickly became […]
Roche Bros. Upgrading POS Technology Across Its Store Base
Massachusetts-based grocer Roche Bros. is deploying Toshiba’s retail point-of-sale (POS) technology as a means to offer shoppers faster, more seamless transactions, according to the companies. Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions’ TCx 300 POS system and accompanying TCx displays are first being deployed in seven of Roche Bros.’ 20 stores in Massachusetts; 200 additional lanes will be […]
