The National Grocers Association (NGA) is introducing a new education program that will provide in-depth training to develop a strategic business plan that addresses multifaceted business issues faced by independent supermarket operators. The Sustainable Business Growth Strategies program, sponsored by Unilever, is designed to provide independent supermarket operators with the necessary tools and resources to […]
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.
Albertsons Introduces Exclusive Private Label Line Called Signature
Albertsons Cos. has launched its new store brand, Signature—the largest private label across all 2,286 of its stores. Signature is a multi-category brand developed to address consumers’ growing appetite for quality private label products from stores they trust, according to the Boise, Idaho-based grocery chain. The Signature line includes more than 4,000 items—from coffee to juice, […]
USDA Extends Retailer Comment Deadline For SNAP Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has implemented a 30-day extension to the comment period for its proposed rule to change the requirements that retailers must meet to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Retailers will now have until May 18 to file comments on the proposal. This extension follows calls […]
Starbucks To Locate Large Roastery In New York City
Starbucks’ next Roastery location will be in New York City, in the heart of the Meatpacking District at 61 Ninth Avenue. Scheduled to open in 2018, the 20,000-s.f. location will get inspiration from the first Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room that debuted in December 2014 in the company’s hometown of Seattle, Washington. Starbucks officials describe the […]
Organic Valley Adds More Northeast Grassmilk Farmers For More Production
Organic Valley has welcomed 17 new Grassmilk farmers in the Northeast to increase production of its Organic Valley Grassmilk milk products. The organic farmer-owned cooperative now has a total of 81 Grassmilk milk farms producing Organic Valley Grassmilk milk products, including Grassmilk milk, Grassmilk Cheese and Grassmilk Yogurt. Additional Grassmilk milk products currently are in […]
Stop & Shop And Five Unions Reach Tentative Contract, And More…
Grocery News In Brief… Five branches of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with Stop & Shop New England on April 9. The previous contract expired in late February. If approved, the agreement covers Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The tentative […]
Rauch To Address Innovation Culture At PMA Symposium
Former Trader Joe’s President Doug Rauch will explain to produce and floral executives why innovation is critical to business success when he joins a top-level group of speakers in May for the Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA) 2016 Executive Leadership Symposium in Dallas, Texas. “Today’s executives lead in an era of ‘innovate or die.’ I will […]
Festival Foods Debuts Smaller Format Store In Madison
Festival Foods opened a new store Friday in Madison, Wisconsin, and its 50,000-s.f. size makes it unique for the chain, said Mark Skogen, owner and CEO. “It is a departure from our normal format, a little bit smaller, and we have fresh product on one side of the store, dry product on the other, which […]
Louisville’s First Fresh Thyme Coming This Month
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market will open its first Louisville, Kentucky, store, on Wednesday, April 27. It will mark the grocer’s second store in the Bluegrass State. According to Louisville Business First, Fresh Thyme renovated a 28,000-s.f. building at 4301 Shelbyville Road near Hubbards Lane in the East End. It was previously home to a Liquor […]
Next Round Of SoCal Aldi Stores To Open April 21
About a month after it debuted its first California stores, Aldi will open its next round of stores in the region on Thursday, April 21. Six of the 10 new stores will be located in Los Angeles County, three in Orange County and one in San Bernardino County. “California customers who are new to Aldi […]
Whole Foods Sets Opening Date For First 365 Store
Whole Foods Market will open its first 365 by Whole Foods Market on May 25 in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Two additional 365 by Whole Foods Market locations will open in 2016—in Bellevue, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Up to 10 stores are expected to open in 2017. (Update: See photos from the grand […]
Publix Will Distribute $3.7M To Southeastern Nonprofits From Latest Food For All Fundraiser
Publix Super Markets will distribute a total of $3.73 million from its Food For All 2015 fundraiser to nonprofit organizations across its southeastern footprint. The annual event distributes funds to support programs that fight hunger and advocate for self-sufficiency on a local and regional level. This year, the campaign funded more than 175 charities across the […]
Acosta To Acquire Ignite Sales Management
Acosta, a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry, is acquiring Ignite Sales Management in Minnetrista, Minnesota. “Ignite is an expert in helping manufacturers build and grow profitable brands and a long-standing business partner of Acosta,” said Acosta President and CEO Robert Hill. “By combining the strengths of both organizations, we […]
Wisconsin’s Woodman’s Markets Expands Online Ordering And Delivery Service
After successfully launching online ordering in Madison, Wisconsin, Woodman’s Markets is rolling out ShopWoodmans.com in Milwaukee, allowing shoppers to order items online to be picked up at the store or delivered to their home and office. Woodman’s says it is the first grocer in the area to offer online ordering and delivery to the entire […]
Survey: Many Industry Execs Unsure Of Cost Savings From Implemented Truck Technologies
Fleet Advantage, a leading innovator in truck fleet business analytics, equipment financing and lifecycle cost management, has unveiled the results of its latest survey—showing a percentage of the industry is still unaware of the savings achieved by incorporating new fleet technologies. The online survey, presented to more than 500 private and transportation fleet executives and managers, […]
Violette Named President Of AG New England
The board of directors of Associated Grocers of New England has named Mike Violette its new president. Violette has been acting COO and will continue in that role, reporting to Michael Bourgoine. Bourgoine will continue his duties as CEO until his retirement in early July. Violette has more than 30 years of experience in the food […]
Chipotle, Panera Bread Lead Fast-Casual Growth
Fast-casual restaurant chains continue to be on a winning streak, growing both in units and customer visits, according to The NPD Group, a national research and information company. The number of fast-casual chain restaurants rose by 5 percent to 19,043 total units, based on NPD’s fall 2015 restaurant census, which includes restaurants open as of […]
Bay Valley Foods To Close Ayer, Massachusetts, Facility, And More…
Grocery News In Brief… Bay Valley Foods, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TreeHouse Foods, intends to close its Ayer, Massachusetts, facility. Production is expected to cease in the first quarter of 2017 with full closure of the facility expected in the third quarter of 2017. The Ayer facility has approximately 100 employees and primarily produces regionally […]
Subway To Include Calories On All U.S. Menu Boards, And More…
Foodservice News In Brief… Subway says it will include calorie listings on menu boards across all U.S. restaurant locations in April, more than a year before the FDA enforces national menu-calorie labeling requirements. The new menu panels will be on display in all U.S. sandwich shops beginning April 11… The National Restaurant Association (NRA) has […]
Fareway First To Introduce Invisipon Digital Coupon Solution
Fareway Stores says it is the first supermarket chain in the U.S. to go live with Invisipon, a patent-pending digital coupon solution that automatically applies manufacturer coupons in a customer’s personal coupon account to the total at checkout without any effort on the part of the customer. The Invisipon system allows all Fareway customers to […]
