It’s funny how the little things get you thinking. There was a story in The New York Times about consumers who stubbornly refuse to wash clothes in cold water, even as popular detergent makers have developed formulas specifically for the job. Evidently, that’s too much of a sacrifice, or at least, that’s how it read […]
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.
Posted in, West
4th Annual Believe Walk
Presented by Stater Bros. and Inland Women Fighting Cancer • Downtown Redlands, Calif. • Oct. 2 Local community leaders and cancer survivors Annie Sellas, Cathy Stockton and Nancy Varner envisioned doing something in the community to raise awareness about cancer. During treatments, they had been each other’s support group and decided to do something for […]
Posted in, Northeast
Largest Wegmans Now Open in Massachusetts
Wegmans Food Markets’ newest store is its largest. And it’s also the New York-based chain’s first store that is classified as being in New England. The store that opened Oct. 16 in Northborough, Mass., is 138,000 s.f. A Wegmans press release says that shopping at the megastore will be “fun,” and that every customer will […]
Posted in, National
SymphonyIRI: Private Label Could Be Much More
Increasingly, private label products are strategic weapons that separate a retailer from its competitors in a way that helps to build loyalty and purchase behavior. But Symphony IRI Group states in its latest Times & Trend Report that private label can be—should be—even more. Much opportunity remains for private label marketers and national brand marketers […]
Posted in, Grocery Store Layout, National
FMI Energy & Store Development Conference: Integrated Design Can Change Everything
Rocky Mountain Institute’s Hutchinson says ‘put doors on everything’ by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor Grocers operate on paper-thin profit margins, and for the industry as a whole, those margins are trending smaller. Store profitability has slipped below 1 percent. Meanwhile, energy costs have, on average, risen well above 1 percent. Throw in the current regulatory environment, […]
Posted in, Southwest
Affiliated Foods at 65: A Passion for Business
by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor Ask Randy Arceneaux, president and CEO of Amarillo, Texas-based Affiliated Foods Inc., about his concerns for the grocery industry as a whole, and he will tell you that what keeps him up at night sometimes is “the fear that the independent operator, No. 1, loses the passion for the business. “Part […]
Posted in, Southeast
Ga. Crops Lose Nearly $75M Due to Lack of Laborers
Ag commissioner Black testifies before the Senate on immigrant labor On Oct. 4, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black testified before the Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee in the United States Senate. The hearing was called “America’s Agricultural Labor Crisis: Enacting a Practical Solution,” and Black spoke about the labor shortage in Georgia’s fields. [gn_box […]
Posted in, Southeast
Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open Raises Record Amount
With the $1.8 million check for the Winn-Dixie Foundation are (left to right): PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem; Mary Kellmanson, group VP of marketing for Winn-Dixie Stores, and the president of the Winn-Dixie Foundation; Peter Lynch, Winn-Dixie chairman, CEO and president; Nationwide Tour President Bill Calfee; and Ray De Riggi, president of Dole Fresh Vegetable, […]
Posted in, Northeast
OSHA Proposes DeMoulas Supermarkets Pay Half a Million in Fines
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited DeMoulas Supermarkets Inc., doing business as Market Basket, for 30 alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at its stores in Rindge and Concord, N.H. The Tewksbury, Mass.-based grocery chain, which has stores in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, faces a […]
Posted in, Southeast
Source Refrigeration & HVAC Opens New Branch in Georgia
Source Refrigeration & HVAC is further expanding into the southeast United States. Source will now service customers throughout the greater-Atlanta area from its new office in Norcross, Ga. This latest expansion is on the heels of recent growth into the Florida market. “Establishing a presence in the greater-Atlanta market has been part of our strategic […]
Posted in, National, Shelby Content
African-American Buying Power
In 2010, African Americans will constitute the nation’s largest racial minority market, but the buying power of Hispanics—an ethnic group—is larger. Despite the severe impact of the 2007-2009 recession, however, blacks’ economic clout will continue to energize the U.S. consumer market. The Selig Center projects that the nation’s black buying power will rise from $316 […]
Posted in, Southeast
Braselton Official Seek Reconsideration for Mayfield Closing
Braselton Mayor Bill Orr and members of the Braselton, Ga., town council are urging Mayfield Dairy’s parent company, Dean Foods, to reconsider its announcement to close the popular visitor’s center in Braselton. At its council meeting Oct. 10, Mayor Orr said, “We need the opportunity to work with Mayfield and to express our willingness to […]
Posted in, National
Study: Reusable Shopping Bags Could Harbor Bacteria
The International Association for Food Protection’s Food Protection Trends published a study in its latest issue revealing that most consumers surveyed never wash their reusable bags between uses, permitting bacteria to grow. The peer-reviewed study, completed by University of Arizona Microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba, found that large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all […]
Posted in, From My Point of View, National
Of Stellar Customer Service
My column this month will be in two parts, somewhat unrelated but as always, anything that affects our business is a part of us. A couple of years ago I wrote a column about an incident that happened one Sunday on the way home after church. We stopped at a supermarket to pick up a […]
Posted in, National
Allens Donates One Can of Popeye Spinach for Every New Facebook Fan
Arkansas-based Allens Inc., the parent brand of Popeye Spinach and a national leader in canned and frozen vegetables since 1926, hosts the “I Yam What I Yam, Donate a Can” virtual food drive benefiting regional food banks nationwide. Through the end of October, Allens Inc. will donate a can of Popeye spinach to a local […]
Posted in, Beverage News, National
Anheuser-Busch to Spend $30 Million on Los Angeles Brewery
Anheuser-Busch has announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in its breweries and other facilities nationwide that will support the growth of its brands and reinforce its commitment to local U.S. communities where it operates. These capital expenditures, according to a company press release, include resources spent or committed in 2011 toward projects to […]
Posted in, Albertsons, National
Supervalu Family of Stores Commit $1 Million
Supervalu Inc. has committed $1 million to sponsor 1,542 youth sports teams in markets where its Acme®, Albertsons®, Cub Foods®, Farm Fresh®, Jewel-Osco® and Shaws/Star Market® stores operate. The sponsorships underscore the company’s commitment to its local neighborhoods. The sponsorships, which began last spring, have helped to offset the cost of local youth baseball and […]
Posted in, National, Suppliers
IFBA Reaches Out to Manufacturers, Grocers
by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor [gn_pullquote align=”right”]Next year’s IFBA Top to Top will be held May 15-17 at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel. NARMS will hold its annual spring confernce April 14-17 at the Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Fla., which is north of Tampa.[/gn_pullquote]Independent food brokers are, in many ways, the last people for whom a […]
Posted in, From My Point of View, National
Of Fiscal Conservatism
It is time for those who are truly proud to be an American to take back our country from those who have betrayed us. There has never been an election in my lifetime that was any clearer than the one coming up in 2012. Let’s stay prayed up for America before it is too late […]
Posted in, National, The Independent Perspective
12 Members of Congress Who Could Have a Profound Impact
Back in early August, right before members of Congress hightailed it back to their districts for the August recess period, the Administration and Congress finally came to an agreement at the 11th hour to raise the nation’s debt limit. A major part of that agreement was the creation of a new 12-member “super committee”—formally known […]