Now that a new Congress is in session, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and 170 state and national merchant groups are communicating to both branches of Congress about the importance of keeping debit reforms intact, which were enacted as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In a letter sent […]
Author Archives: Shelby Report Staff

The Shelby Report newsroom covers the grocery industry for retailers, wholesalers and suppliers. Staff reports include store openings, executive appointments, company announcements and industry event coverage. Since 1967, The Shelby Report has covered supermarkets, grocery chains and independent grocers through five regional editions.
Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly To Host Sausage Cutting At Remodeled Store On Wednesday
Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly will host a grand reopening of its newly remodeled Jackson, Wisconsin, store on Eagle Drive on Wednesday. The public is invited to join the company at 3 p.m. for its first-ever sausage-cutting ceremony. With the notoriety and popularity of grocer’s award-winning brats, the grocer says a string of fresh bratwurst will be […]
‘Veg-centric’ Trends To Look Out For This Year
“Vegetable-centric” cooking and dining are on top of most trends lists for 2017, and retailers must be ready to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables to shoppers seeking to add more produce to their plates. That’s according to Frieda’s Specialty Produce. “Vegetable-centric eating is finally mainstream, and it’s paving ways for the future of […]
RaceTrac Plans To Open 50 More Florida Stores In Next Two Years
RaceTrac says it is doubling down on its investment in the state of Florida as it closes out a year of strong growth. In 2016, RaceTrac opened 24 new stores in the Sunshine State, which gives the Atlanta-based c-store chain 207 stores in Florida. That makes up nearly half of RaceTrac’s entire 435-plus store fleet […]
Kroger Atlanta Raises Nearly $1M To Support Food Banks Across Southeast
Kroger’s Atlanta Division, which includes Georgia, eastern Alabama and South Carolina, contributed nearly $752,000 in six weeks to Kroger’s 2016 Can Hunger campaign and more than $192,200 during a second initiative. All proceeds, raised by Kroger customers and associates, will benefit local food banks. From Nov. 13-Dec. 24, Kroger customers supported the annual Can Hunger […]
Op-Ed: Will ‘Island’ Of California Drift Even Farther From The Mainland Under New Administration?
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association The idea of California as an island dates back to at least the 16th century, when cartographers mapped it as sitting just off the western coast of North America—a mini paradise unto itself. As technology and cartography became more advanced, this misconception was corrected on world maps. […]
USDA Selects Seven Retailers To Test SNAP Online Ordering
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has chosen seven retailers to take part in a pilot designed to enable Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to purchase their groceries online. The two-year pilot is slated to begin this summer. “Online purchasing is a potential lifeline for SNAP participants living in urban neighborhoods and rural communities […]
Former Walmart, Supervalu Exec To Lead Dollar Tree’s Family Dollar Banner
Discount variety store operator Dollar Tree has made some management changes, hiring former Walmart and Supervalu executive Duncan Mac Naughton to lead its Family Dollar banner as president and COO. The company also has promoted Gary Philbin to enterprise president of Dollar Tree. Mac Naughton will report to Philbin. Mac Naughton, 54, has more than […]
Sprouts Will Open 11 New Stores In 2Q, 35 In 2017
Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open 11 new stores in the second quarter of 2017 and expects to open 35 over the course of the year. The Phoenix, Arizona-based grocer previously announced the stores it will open in the first quarter, including its first Florida and North Carolina units. At that time, Sprouts said it […]
La Huerta USA Creates, Grows Brands By Touting Company’s Care For Its Products And People
by Kristen Cloud/web editor Galen Walters met the Arteaga family in 2008 in The Woodlands, Texas. The family that in 1957 founded the vegetable and specialty foods company La Huerta—based in Aguascalientes, Mexico—came to The Woodlands to be nearer family. It didn’t take long for Walters, a 40-year veteran in business operations and retail marketing […]
SMC Of San Francisco And NorCal Food Brokers Merging
The Sales Managers Club of San Francisco (SMC) held its last Hi-Jinks luncheon in December. The Hi-Jinks event is not going away, but will be sponsored by a new organization this year—the Northern California Food Industry Sales Association (FISA). FISA is the new organization formed by the merger of SMC and the Northern California Food […]
Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie Mark Anniversary Of ‘Down Down’ Pricing Promotion
Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie stores are celebrating the first birthday of “Down Down,” the grocers’ “pricing promise to not only lower prices, but keep them down for at least six months,” according to parent company Southeastern Grocers. Ian McLeod, president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers, said, “We know grocery prices are important to our customers, and […]
Brookshire Grocery Co. Names New Division, District Managers For Super 1 Foods
Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Co. (BGC) has promoted two of its leaders to division and district manager roles. Ronny Hurst will serve as division manager for the company’s 34 Super 1 Foods stores, and Jay Holmes is now district manager for Super 1 Foods stores in central and south Louisiana. Hurst is a 38-year employee […]
Baldor Specialty Foods Eliminates Food Waste From Production Facility
Baldor Specialty Foods, a New York City produce processor and distributor, has diverted 100 percent of the organic waste generated in its Fresh Cuts operation from landfill—thanks to its food waste initiative known as SparCs (the word “scraps” spelled backward). SparCs is a waste prevention strategy developed by Baldor’s sustainability director, Thomas McQuillan. Baldor processes […]
New York’s Fieldbrook Foods Completes Expansion
Fieldbrook Foods Corp., a producer of private label ice cream and novelty products, has completed a $4 million expansion to increase ice cream production at its headquarters in Dunkirk, New York. The expansion allows the company to add 61 full-time jobs and retain 586 full-time positions. The expansion of the company’s 234,000-s.f. Dunkirk facility included […]
National C-Store Sales Grow In 2016; NACS Optimistic About New Year
Low gas prices helped drive sales increases at convenience stores in 2016—and retailers expect those strong sales to carry over into 2017, according to a survey of retailers released this week by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). More than two in three convenience retailers (68 percent) said their fuels sales increased in 2016 […]
Brick Meets Click: Supermarket Online Sales Are Strong
Multichannel supermarkets generated larger online orders than online-only grocers, according to a recent benchmarking study from Brick Meets Click. More than half of the banners in the study reported average online orders between $120 and $180, compared to the average order size recently reported for Fresh Direct ($105) and Amazon Fresh ($84). The study compared […]
Natural Grocers Releases Its Top 10 Nutrition Trends For 2017
Natural Grocers talked to a panel of its category managers, nutrition experts and editorial staff to find out what trends to expect in nutrition and health for the upcoming year. Here are the Colorado-based grocer’s predictions for the top 10 nutrition trends for 2017. 1. Eating healthy also means eating ethically Whether it is ethical […]
Holiday Spending Up, Surpassing Expectations
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) this week released its Post-Holiday Shopping Survey, finding that consumers spent an average of $711 on gifts and other holiday-related items this holiday season. This represents a 16 percent increase over 2015’s post-holiday survey results ($611) and is 4 percent ($27) above holiday shoppers’ intentions as measured in […]
Pebbles Cereal Adds Cinnamon Variety
Post Consumer Brands is kicking off the New Year by unveiling Cinnamon Pebbles, a new variety that “stays true to the fun of the classic Pebbles cereal, but with a creative flavor twist,” according to the company. “We’re always looking to bring to life new and innovative flavors, and with the growing popularity and consumer […]
