Tops Friendly Markets, Williamsville, New York, has appointed grocery veteran Kristen Hanson VP of center store sales and merchandising. Hanson will lead all functions of sales and merchandising in edible and non-food grocery, dairy-frozen, general merchandising, health and beauty care, pharmacy, Tops’ fuel business and merchandising supply chain. Hanson served as VP at Delhaize America […]
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.
TOMRA Piloting Grocery Recycling Loyalty Program
TOMRA Systems, Shelton, Connecticut, focused on beverage container recycling, has launched a pilot loyalty program in Michigan supermarkets. At the stores, consumers who bring their empty bottles and cans can deposit them in a redeem machine—also called a “reverse vending” machine, or RVM—and register to earn rewards. The program, called “TOMRA Makes Change,” encourages shoppers […]
Union Square Hospitality Group Expands Paid Parental Leave, And More…
Foodservice News In Brief… The Union Square Hospitality Group, a New York City 13-unit restaurant company headed by Danny Meyer, has a new paid parental policy. Starting in 2017, all full-time employees with more than one year of employment will be offered 100 percent of their base wages for the first week after their child […]
Boxed Wholesale Named A Best Place To Work In NYC, And More…
New Channels News In Brief… Boxed Wholesale of New York City, the online wholesale shopping club with no membership fees, has been named to the 2016 Best Places to Work in New York City list by Crain’s New York Business and Best Companies Group. In 2015, co-founder and CEO Chieh Huang created a fund to […]
Beer Merger Expected To Be Finalized Oct. 10, And More…
Convenience Store News In Brief… Anheuser-Busch InBev’s merger with SAB Miller has taken another step forward with the backing of each company’s shareholders. The merger is expected to close Oct. 10. The new company will be known as Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV… Stewart’s Shops Ice Cream took home some top honors at the recent World Dairy […]
Raley’s Offers Free Fruit For Kids
Raley’s Family of Fine Stores is providing free fruit to kids in stores while parents shop. Baskets of fruit are placed in the entrance of each store, as a nutritious snack option for kids under the age of 12. “Raley’s wants to connect kids with fresh and healthy food, while enhancing our customers’ overall shopping […]
Sushi Fest At Wegmans In Fairfax, Virginia, Begins Friday
The Wegmans store in Fairfax, Virginia, will host Sushi Fest beginning Friday, Sept. 30. Guests can “experience the excitement of Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji Fish Market right in our store,” according to the Rochester, New York-based grocery chain. The free event will feature unique Japanese fish, sashimi and sushi, select cuts of Kobe Beef, Shabu Shabu, […]
SpartanNash Foundation, Customers Raise Nearly $300K To Help End Hunger
The SpartanNash Foundation’s scan campaign to end hunger was its most successful companywide retail fundraising effort to date—raising nearly $300,000 on behalf of more than 100 local food pantries and food banks in the communities it serves. Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 11, the SpartanNash Foundation hosted the companywide scan in each of SpartanNash’s […]
Whole Foods Market Promotes Lorenzen To Pacific Northwest Regional President
Whole Foods Market has appointed Angela Lorenzen regional president of the company’s Pacific Northwest region. She will oversee 22 stores in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, including a store that opened this week in Eugene, Oregon, and a store in Victoria, B.C., opening in November. Lorenzen previously served Whole Foods Market’s Northern California region in various leadership roles, including […]
Weis Markets Launches Certified Angus Beef Program
Weis Markets has introduced a new line of Certified Angus Beef products to all its 171 Weis Markets stores in its five-state service area of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia. Angus Beef is known for its 10 exacting standards designed to ensure flavor, juiciness and tenderness in the beef. Created by […]
Pinnacle Launches New Mobile App For C-Store Shoppers
Pinnacle Corp. has launched a new consumer mobile app solution for c-store retailers nationwide. The app addresses several key areas important in a consumers’ decision to visit a store: Location—easily identify where stores are located. Amenities—determine exactly what services each location provides. Gas Prices Promotions—digital offers to lure buyers into a stores. “Pinnacle’s mobile app […]
Chain Restaurants Support Overtime Pay Delay, And More…
Foodservice News In Brief… The National Council of Chain Restaurants sent a letter of support to members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of House Resolution 6094, the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools and Non-Profits Act. This bill, which the House is expected to vote on this week, would give chain restaurants […]
Kings, Balducci’s Parent Names VP Of Real Estate, And More…
Grocery News In Brief… KB Holding, the Parsippany, New Jersey-based parent company of Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s, has appointed Joel Chace VP of real estate. Judy Spires, president and CEO of KB Holding Inc., said, “The expansion of our Kings and Balducci’s brands remains a top priority for us, and Joel will play a […]
Two Retailers To Celebrate National Coffee Day, And More…
Convenience Store News In Brief… In celebration of National Coffee Day on Sept. 29, Cumberland Farms is offering its customers a free hot or iced coffee in any size via a mobile text coupon. The free coffee continues for coffee lovers throughout October, as the retailer is bringing back “Free Coffee Fridays.” Beginning Oct. 7 […]
New Boston HQ For America’s Test Kitchen, And More…
New Channels News In Brief… America’s Test Kitchen is moving its headquarters to Boston’s Innovation and Design Building. This news highlights the growth of the company and underscores America’s Test Kitchen’s ongoing commitment to providing home cooks with the highest quality content in a wide variety of media. The new headquarters will house 17,500 s.f. […]
Sprouts To Open 36 Stores In 2017, Including First Fla. And N.C. Units
Sprouts Farmers Market has revealed eight new locations to open in the first quarter of 2017. The list includes the Phoenix, Arizona-based chain’s first stores in Florida and North Carolina, marking continued growth in the Southeast. Sprouts will open a total of 36 stores in 2017. The eight new stores that Sprouts announced today will […]
Duke Food Productions Expanding Westward With Texas Plant
Duke Food Productions, one of the top industrial food manufacturers of branded and private label brands, is establishing a new manufacturing facility in Texas. The 110,0000-s.f. plant marks the company’s first expansion outside of South Carolina. Duke anticipates a $10 million capital investment and the addition of 200 new full-time jobs at the location over […]
Food Retailers Week In Michigan Runs Through Sept. 30
Michigan’s food industry directly supports 198,000 full- and part-time jobs, along with an additional 75,000 indirect jobs. The food industry also contributes a gross total of $24.8 billion to the state’s economy through its direct sales, indirect economic impact on other industries and employment. These are among the reasons Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has declared […]
FDA Will Redefine ‘Healthy’ Claim For Food Labeling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has started a public process to redefine the “healthy” nutrient content claim for food labeling. Redefining “healthy” is part of an overall plan to provide consumers with information and tools to enable them to easily and quickly make food choices consistent with public health recommendations and to encourage the […]
7-Eleven Of Oklahoma Continues To Grow, Adds Kitchens To Newer Stores
More than 60 years ago, the late Bill Brown and his wife, Carol, moved their family to Oklahoma City with an emerging business idea: a chain of conveniently located stores that stocked all the things people might want or need in the moment, from ice and refreshments to basic grocery staples, according to the company’s […]
