by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Southwest Stores of all stripes are downsizing, including grocery and department stores. Some are shrinking and offering the extra space to other types of retail formats. The relationship between Kohl’s and Aldi is a case in point. In March of last year, Kohl’s announced a partnership with Aldi, the German grocer, to sublet […]
Category: Southwest
The Shelby Report of the Southwest covers grocery retailers, wholesalers and suppliers in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Follow the latest store openings, remodels, leadership changes and market news from the region.
Transportation Issues Felt Throughout Grocery Industry
Randy Arceneaux is president and CEO of Affiliated Foods in Amarillo, Texas. If there is one thing Texans understand, it is the oil business. The oil business had a good year in 2018, and so did Affiliated Foods. “We grew a little over 5 percent, and the encouraging thing for us this year is that, […]
Kibo To Acquire Certona To Form Single-Provider Digital Commerce
Kibo, a Dallas, Texas, cloud-commerce company, and Certona, the real-time omnichannel personalization solution of AI-driven experience individualization, are joining forces. The combination brings together Kibo’s cloud-commerce platform, comprising both e-commerce and order management solutions, and Certona’s personalization platform. The companies say that as the market becomes “more dynamic and competitive,” retailers need individualized ways to build loyalty, […]
I and Love and You To Debut New Dog Food Line In March
I and love and you, a Boulder, Colorado-based maker of holistic pet food and treats, will debut a new line of oven-baked dog food called Baked & Saucy at Natural Products Expo West in March. Baked in small batches with farm-raised meats as the first ingredient, Baked & Saucy features non-GMO produce and protein, is grain-free, and […]
Keurig Dr Pepper Relocating Texas HQ To Cowboys Campus
Keurig Dr Pepper announced Feb. 21 that it will move its Texas headquarters from Plano to a new 350,000-s.f., build-to-suit leased facility at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The new location will be ready in 2021 and serve as one of the company’s two headquarters; the other is located in Burlington, Massachusetts. The Star is […]
Walmart’s Revenue Up By $14 Billion In Fiscal 2019
On Feb. 19, Walmart reported its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2019 year ended Jan. 25. In the fourth quarter, total revenue was $138.8 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion, or 1.9 percent. Walmart U.S. comparable sales on a two-year stack of 6.8 percent is the strongest growth in nine years, the Bentonville, […]
The United Family Brings Texas-Born Culture To New Mexico Stores
The United Family’s parent company, Albertsons, handed United the reins to its stores in New Mexico in September 2014. Since then, United has worked to bring the culture it perfected in West Texas to the Land of Enchantment. “Your biggest fear is your culture, because you can integrate the systems and you can change the […]
Specialty Products Have Always Had A Home At Kaune’s In Santa Fe
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Southwest Kaune’s Neighborhood Market—and as stated on the company’s website, “if you’ve ever known a Connie, you can say Kaune’s”—is a small boutique grocery that has been in operation in Santa Fe since 1896. According to a story in Specialty Food Magazine, founder Henry Spencer Kaune, who was from Illinois, was known for […]
John Leevers Of Leevers Supermarkets Dies
John “Jack” Norman Leevers of Leevers Supermarkets Inc. died at his home in Mesa, Arizona, on Jan. 22. Mr. Leevers, was born on July 25, 1942, to Norm and Marge Leevers as the oldest of four children in Devils Lake, North Dakota. With the opening of Norm’s IGA store and the founding of Colorado-based Leevers […]
Blue Bell Introduces Limited Time Raspberry Fudge Brownie Ice Cream
Brenham, Texas-based ice cream maker Blue Bell is debuting a new flavor—Raspberry Fudge Brownie Ice Cream—which began arriving in stores last week. Raspberry Fudge Brownie is an almond ice cream combined with fudge brownie chunks, flakes of dark chocolate and a raspberry sauce swirl. “We are excited to add a flavor that features raspberry to […]
Edwards Food Giant Promotes Heathscott, Adds Special Projects Manager
Cathy Heathscott has been promoted to deli-bakery supervisor for Edwards Food Giant stores in Arkansas. In addition, Steve Edwards Jr. has joined the family owned company as special projects manager. Heathscott started her career with the Edwards family of stores in 2011 as a deli team member and soon was promoted to deli-bakery manager for […]
Symphony CPG|AI Welcomes Adeel Najmi And Rahul Bhattacharya
Dallas, Texas-based Symphony CPG|AI, a global provider of strategic revenue management solutions for CPG brands powered by machine learning and natural language processing, has named Adeel Najmi as chief product officer and Rahul Bhattacharya as chief analytics officer. Najmi and Bhattacharya bring with them close to 50 collective years of experience in consumer goods and […]
A Reawakening At Borden: Executives Plan Company’s Next Chapter
Tony Sarsam was looking for what he called the next “great adventure,” and he has found it at Borden Dairy. Now CEO of the Dallas-based company, Sarsam most recently was CEO of Los Angeles-based Ready Pac. Prior to that, he honed his turnaround skills at PepsiCo. He not only has the experience doing it, but […]
Wild Zora Transitions From Whole Foods To Walmart
Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods has forced Colorado-based Wild Zora off the healthy grocer’s shelves and into the unlikely arms of Walmart. Walmart’s recent shift toward domestic and healthy food brands is providing Wild Zora the opportunity to sell its flagship Original Meat and Veggie Bars at lower prices to a wider audience, the company says. […]
H-E-B Opens Multi-Level Store In Houston’s The Heights
H-E-B opened its newest multi-level location in the Heights community of Houston, Texas, at 2300 N. Shepherd Drive (at 24th Street) on Jan. 30 at 6 a.m. The new 92,000-s.f. store features expansive shopping options and covered parking. It is equipped with elevators and escalators so customer can easily navigate the double-story structure. “We appreciate […]
Viva Fresh Open Golf Tournament Continues To Expand
Registration is open now for the fifth annual Viva Fresh Open in San Antonio, Texas. Presented by BEBO Distributing Inc. and Wonderful Citrus, this year’s charity golf tournament will kick off the 2019 Viva Fresh Produce Expo on Thursday, April 25, and will be held at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort’s TPC golf club. […]
Harps Food Stores Thrives In Walmart’s Back Yard
Affiliated Foods President and CEO Randy Arceneaux, the current chairman of ROFDA, said asking a retailer to speak at the organization’s fall conference was “one of the beautiful things that we started a few years ago. They’re the true heroes of our business, especially independent operators.” Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) President and CEO David Smith […]
Reasor’s Donated More Than $300K To Oklahoma Food Bank In 2018
Throughout 2018 Reasor’s held many fundraising drives for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, raising more than $316,000. “We know that 17 percent of our statewide population is considered food insecure. One in 4 children are at risk of going to bed hungry and 1 in ten of our senior citizens struggle with hunger,” says […]
7-Eleven’s New Hot Chocolate Modeled After One Of America’s Favorite Cookies
Chips Ahoy! Hot Chocolate now is available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores. The recipe for the rich hot chocolate was created to taste like home-baked cookies fresh out of the oven. For a limited time, a small cup of Chips Ahoy! Hot Chocolate, or any other hot beverage, is $1 at participating stores. Americans love cookies, […]
Dollars Up While Volume Varies On Potato Sales During Holiday Season
The value of total store potato sales increased by 1.5 percent during the second quarter of the marketing year compared to previous marketing year. Quarter two ran October-December 2018 and included all holiday sales prior to the new year. Volume declined by 1.8 percent across all categories. Data was compiled by IRI and reported by […]
