South Bend, Indiana-based Martin’s Super Markets has opened its first Martin’s Café at Elkhart General Hospital in Elkhart. The new café is located in the hospital’s first floor public area. Recent renovation at Elkhart General Hospital made the new café location possible. It is the first partnership venture between Martin’s and the hospital. Martin’s Café […]
Category: Independent Store News
FDA Delays Menu-Labeling Rule
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on April 27 submitted an interim final rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget that signals a delay in the agency’s final menu-labeling rule set to take effect on May 5. While the FDA announced the submission that has yet to be published, the final rule […]
Michigan’s Busch’s Fresh Food Market Debuts First In-Store Restaurant
Busch’s Fresh Food Market recently opened a new location in Canton Township, Michigan, that has the company’s first in-store restaurant. J.B.’s Smokehouse seats 170 people and serves St. Louis-style barbecue ribs, Texas-style beef brisket, North Carolina-style pulled pork, mac ‘n cheese, sweet potato coins and fried pickles, and has a full bar with 22 Michigan draft […]
M&A Advisor Expects More Deals In Latino Grocer Circles
by Lorrie Griffith/editor-in-chief Scott Moses sees a parallel between natural grocers and Latino-focused grocers, anticipating that some of the same growth that has occurred for natural grocers in recent years will increasingly take place for Latino grocers in coming months and years. Moses, who is a managing director and the head of food retail and […]
Milam’s Markets To Open Its Fifth Supermarket In Miami-Dade’s Village Of Pinecrest
IGA retailer Milam’s Markets will open a new store in the Village of Pinecrest in the Miami-Dade community. The company announced the plans on its social media pages on April 20. The store at 11701 S. Dixie Highway in the Pinecrest Plaza is expected to open in summer 2018. Additional details were unavailable at the […]
Central Grocers Selling Strack & Van Til, Closing Nine Ultra Foods Stores
Twenty-two Strack & Van Til stores will be sold and nine Ultra Foods locations closed. The Northwest Indiana Times reports that parent company Central Grocers, based in Joliet, Illinois, is working toward a sale. The plan is to sell the 22 stores as “going concerns,” Strack & Van Til President and CEO Jeff Strack said […]
Florida IGA Operator Expands Online Services With Freshop
Freshop Inc., providing solutions for online grocery shopping, list building and fulfillment, recently launched an online grocery site for Mt. Plymouth IGA in Sorrento, Florida. With the Freshop site, the store is able to offer the conveniences of list building and online ordering to its customers. Mt. Plymouth IGA, which has developed a reputation based on […]
Metropolitan Market Gets New CEO
Metropolitan Market has named Ron Megahan CEO. The Seattle-based grocer says that Megahan, previously the company’s COO, has been an instrumental part of the executive leadership team for the past two years and worked closely with Todd Korman, who previously held the chief executive position. Korman remains an active company shareholder and will serve as […]
Walt Churchill’s Market Marking 100th Anniversary As It Eyes Ohio Expansion
Walt Churchill’s Market (WCM) will celebrate 100 years of serving the Toledo, Ohio, community on Saturday, April 15. This year also may mark another milestone, as the two-store operator looks to perhaps open a third store and fill “a gourmet food niche once occupied by The Andersons,” according to The Toledo Blade. The Churchill family […]
Supervalu 2017 National Expo Plans Announced
Supervalu has unveiled plans for its fourth annual National Expo, which will be held July 25-27 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The event will feature a day of educational seminars and workshops tailored to help independent grocery retailers serve their customers better, as well as access to more than 300 vendors across nearly […]
Two New Stores In The Works For PCC Natural Markets
Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets, the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., has two new stores on the drawing board. The first, in Burien, Washington, is expected to open in early 2018. The approximately 20,000-s.f. unit will be located in Five Corners Shopping Center at 15840 1st Avenue South and bring about 100 jobs to […]
Reasor’s Bakery, Deli Departments Recognized For Excellence
Reasor’s has won two national Excellence in Merchandising awards from Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) for its work in the bakery and deli departments. As Reasor’s wholesaler, AWG recognizes a select group of its retailers annually with the Excellence in Merchandising Awards. AWG currently is home to more than 3,800 independent grocery retailers in more than […]
Vowell’s Market Place Launches ‘Shop, Drop & Roll’ Online Shopping Service
Mississippi’s Vowell’s Market Place is adding online shopping at its stores in Forest, Byram and Starkville. The service, named “Shop, Drop & Roll Powered by Rosie” will allow customers to shop online (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) in the stores and have those items available for pickup within three hours. The service launches April 5. […]
Arizona Food Marketing Alliance Hosts Annual Golf Classic
The Arizona Food Marketing Alliance (AFMA) hosted its annual Golf Classic at the We-Ko-Pa Golf Club in the East Valley on March 23. This year’s sold-out event attracted more than 300 golfers, including AFMA’s retail partners and their premier vendors. With 12 sampling holes on the courses, vendors were able to connect with their grocery […]
NGA Aligns Its Fall Leadership Meetings With NACS Show
The National Grocers Association (NGA) is aligning its Fall Leadership Meetings comprised of the Trading Partner Business Sessions and Financial Management and Technology Conference with the NACS Show, which will take place Oct. 17-20 in Chicago. The strategic partnership brings together the leading small format and independent retailers to explore emerging trends in foodservice, consumer packaged […]
Festival Foods Recognizes Business Partner Of The Year
Festival Foods annually recognizes a key business partner who had a significant impact on its ability to provide outstanding service to customers over the past year. The grocer’s 2016 Business Partner of the Year is dairy product supplier Kemps. Festival Foods says it and Kemps share the philosophy of providing quality products at an exceptional value […]
Rosie To Serve As First Online Grocery Shopping Platform For Independents To Accept EBT/SNAP Payments
by Lorrie Griffith/editor-in-chief Independent grocers that use e-commerce provider Rosie’s app soon will be able to allow their shoppers to shop online and pay for SNAP-eligible items at-store using their EBT benefits. Jon Ambrose, co-founder and COO of Rosie, told The Shelby Report at his company’s booth at the recent NGA Show that Rosie has […]
Martin’s Opens South Bend, Indiana, Replacement Store
Martin’s Super Markets opened its newest store Thursday at 525 S. Mayflower Road in South Bend, Indiana—replacing the unit at 4401 Western Avenue, which opened in 1979. “This store is a celebration of, and renewed dedication to, Martin’s long history of serving South Bend’s west side community,” said Martin’s President and CEO Rob Bartels. “The […]
AWG Reports Record Net Sales For 2016
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, held its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, March 22, at the Overland Park Convention Center. The meeting was the 90th for the wholesaler, which reported record consolidated net sales of $9.18 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent, for 2016. Year-end patronage distribution was more than $201.7 million, […]
SpartanNash Expands Opioid Safety Project To 61 Michigan Pharmacies
In a continued effort to educate store guests and prevent accidental prescription opioid overdoses, SpartanNash says it is expanding its Opioid Safety Project to each of its 61 Michigan pharmacies. SpartanNash was the first major grocery retailer in Michigan to offer this kind of program and expand it throughout the state, with participating pharmacies located […]
