The Kroger Co., parent of Smith’s Food and Drug Stores, King Soopers and City Market, are buying its corporate brands at a faster rate than national brands, and the grocery giant is working to expand its offerings, reports the New Mexico and Denver business journals. Corporate-brand sales by Cincinnati-based Kroger represented 27 percent of grocery […]
Category: West
The Shelby Report of the West covers grocery retailers, wholesalers and suppliers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Follow the latest store openings, remodels, leadership changes and market news from the region.
Posted in, West
California Walmart Expanding
The Folsom, Calif., Walmart is getting an expansion and a facelift starting today. The company said the expansion at the location at 1018 Riley St. will bring about 85 new jobs to the city. The store will stay open during the expansion that will add about 26,796 s.f. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, construction […]
Posted in, West
Sunflower Farmers Market Moving Regional Headquarters
Sunflower Farmers Markets is moving its regional offices to Phoenix, reports the Phoenix Business Journal. The company is leasing 23,214 s.f. on the northwest corner of 19th Avenue and Loop 101 in the Deer Valley Office Park in Phoenix. The Boulder, Colo.-based company had been housed at a site near Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix. Financial […]
Posted in, West
Associated Food Stores’ Parkinson Retiring
Associated Food Stores President and CEO Richard Parkinson, who led the grocery cooperative to notable growth and also oversaw the purchase of the financially troubled Albertsons’ Utah supermarkets, is retiring.
Posted in, West
Kroger Names Joe Fey President of QFC Division
The Kroger Co. has announced the promotion of Joe Fey as president of the Quality Food Centers (QFC) Division. Fey, 57, has been VP of merchandising for the company’s Michigan Division. He succeeds Donna Giordano, who was recently promoted to president of the Ralphs Division in California. “We are pleased Joe has agreed to join […]
Posted in, West
Fresh & Easy Starts in Oak Park, More Locations Planned
Fresh & Easy got started on its first store Wednesday in Oak Park, but that’s just the beginning, in more ways than one, reports the Sacramento Business Journal. The grocery chain also plans six other stores in the area in 2012, according to a statement from the store. The stores are expected to bring another […]
Posted in, Shelby Content, West
Rite Aid Workers Approve Labor Agreement
About 3,500 workers at Rite Aid in Northern and Central California—including 450 in the Sacramento region—have voted to ratify a new labor agreement according to the Sacramento Business Journal. The contract includes across-the-board wage increases and a ratification bonus. It also maintains a comprehensive union pension plan and health care benefits. The union declined to […]
Posted in, West
Fresh & Easy Opens in Bayview-Hunters Point
On Aug. 24, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened its second store in San Francisco, in the underserved Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. Crowds of welcoming neighbors in the Bayview neighborhood came out to celebrate the first new grocery store to open in their community in the past 20 years. The Bayview is traditionally an underserved neighborhood, […]
Posted in, Southwest, West
Sunflower Farmers Market Promotes Black to VP, Ops
by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor Steve Black, a supermarket veteran with 34 years in the industry, was promoted this week to VP of operations for Sunflower Farmers Market. Sunflower is opening a new store in Oklahoma City Aug. 31, and it will be a homecoming for Black. He spent 30 of those 34 years in Oklahoma, […]
Posted in, West
Rose Brown, Mother of Stater Bros.’ CEO, Passes at 91
Rose Brown, a native of Cucamonga, Calif., died of natural causes Aug. 20 at the age of 91. Brown was the mother of Jack. H Brown, chairman and CEO of Stater Bros. Supermarkets, the Inland Empire’s largest employer with more than 18,000 employees, sales of $4 billion and the tag of being a Fortune 500 […]
Posted in, West
New Negotiating Meeting Set for California Grocery Workers
In a bid to avert a work stoppage at the Big Three supermarket chains in Southern California, federal mediators on Aug. 22 set an Aug. 29 meeting to begin “intensive” talks to try to resolve differences between management and the union representing 62,000 food workers, reports the North County Times. The food workers voted overwhelmingly […]
Posted in, Albertsons, West
Possible Strike Has Vons, Albertsons Seeking Temporary Employees
According to an Aug. 20 article in The Orange County Register, “Albertsons and Vons have begun seeking job applicants in case employees strike.” This a day before clerks and meat cutters in Southern California voted to authorize a strike for the second time in four months. Before any strike can occur, the United Food and […]
Posted in, West
Ralphs Charitable Campaign to Benefit Susan G. Koman
Ralphs Grocery Co. has begun a fundraising campaign to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure® affiliates in Southern California and their work to fight breast cancer. Customers and Ralphs associates can support their local Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliate through the supermarket chain’s nonprofit arm, The Ralphs Fund, by donating their spare […]
Posted in, West
Stater Bros. Holdings Announces Increased Sales
On Aug. 9, Jack H. Brown, chairman, president and CEO of Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., announced financial results for the 13-week and 39-week periods ended June 26. The company’s consolidated sales in the 13 weeks ended June 26 were $939 million up $39 million or 4.33 percent from the 13 weeks ended June 27, 2010. […]
Posted in, California Perspective, West
Redistricting Creates New Problems
For the first time, California’s once-a-decade reapportionment process is being undertaken by an independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission. The Commission, created in 2008 by voter-approved Proposition 11, is a 14-member panel charged with redrawing California State Assembly, Senate, Board of Equalization and Congressional districts to reflect population changes noted in the 2010 U.S. Census. In prior […]
Posted in, Market Profile, West
Grocers Fine-Tune for Future Success as Recovery Inches Along
While economists are hopeful that Oregon is poised for recovery, that recovery is coming a bit slowly.
Posted in, West
Whole Foods Market Coming to Fashion Island
Whole Foods Market® and the Irvine Co. revealed July 28 that the companies have signed a lease for a new Whole Foods Market in Newport Beach, Calif.
Posted in, West
New Rules May Force Egg Prices Higher
Enjoy the price you pay for eggs today, because they are likely going up according to a July 21 report in the Phoenix Business Journal. An agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers could result in additional costs for farmers, including the Valley’s Hickman’s Family Farms, as new […]
Posted in, Midwest, West
Safeway Announces Change in Leadership at Dominick’s Stores
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc. July 15 that the president of its Chicago-area Dominick’s Finer Foods division, Don Keprta, has resigned. “Don has contributed significantly to the Dominick’s stores. His commitment and innovation helped the stores evolve to best serve the Chicagoland customers. We are fortunate that he has produced a team that is prepared to […]
Posted in, West
Produce Exports to Mexico Expected to Rise
The Produce Marketing Association (PMA), the United Fresh Produce Association and the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) are among the groups applauding the proposed resolution of a two-year-long dispute over cross-border trucking services between the U.S. and Mexico.