Executives and associates from Costco Wholesale’s Los Angeles-area buying office were the guests of honor at the Food Industries Sales Managers’ Club of Los Angeles luncheon on Jan. 25. Sarah Wehling, VP/GM for the Los Angeles regional buying office, introduced four guest speakers for the event—buyers in different categories. Wehling herself oversees the buying of […]
Tag: business
Stop & Shop Unveils Plans For Supermarket In Mixed-Use Development
Stop & Shop has filed a letter of intent with the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) outlining plans for a new state-of-the-art supermarket at the site of its existing store at 60 Everett Street in Allston, Massachusetts, as part of a broader, new mixed-use residential community. Known as Allston Yards, the proposed project is fully […]
Unified Grocers Goes The Extra Miles For Retailers In Alaska And Guam
by Alissa Marchat/staff writer The grocery industry is a tough one to succeed in, particularly when your store is located thousands of miles away from your wholesaler. That’s the challenge faced by those retailers in Alaska and Guam, which are served by Unified Grocers out of Seattle and California. Grocers and consumers alike face their […]
Kellogg Co. Doing Away With DSD Model For U.S. Snacks Biz, Will Close DCs
Kellogg Co. will begin to exit its Direct Store Delivery (DSD) network in the second quarter, transitioning the DSD-distributed portion of the company’s U.S. Snacks business to the warehouse model already used by Pringles and the rest of the company’s North American business. Kellogg says the new model will be “transformational for Kellogg, reducing complexity […]
Catagna Spagna Corp. Rebrands To Catania Oils
Catania Spagna Corp. of Ayer, Massachusetts, processor and packer of vegetable, olive and blended oils, has changed its name to Catania Oils. Fourth-generation brothers Stephen and Joseph Basile said it was time that the company’s image matched the significant advancements the company and its employees have made since their great-grandfather began selling imported olive oil and […]
Ahold Consolidating Stop & Shop Divisions
Ahold USA said Monday that it will consolidate its Stop & Shop New York Metro and Stop & Shop New England divisions “into one brand organization.” Offices will be in Quincy, Massachusetts. “Having a single brand organizational structure dedicated to Stop & Shop will strengthen the brand and will ensure it can better leverage its […]
Albertsons Touts Accomplishments On Two-Year Anniversary Of Safeway Acquisition
Albertsons Cos. says it has grown its workforce by 10 percent, creating 26,000 jobs, since it acquired Safeway two years ago. In addition, the grocery chain says it has built or acquired 174 locations; increased healthy food and financial donations; and elevated its commitment to sustainability. “We added an exceptional class of talented employees to […]
Q&A With ‘Joe The Grocer,’ A Man ‘Too Ornery To Die’
Joseph Welsh is a lifelong grocer with nearly 40 years of experience, holding virtually every position there is in a retail operation and many at the wholesale level. He got his start in the family business, which first was established in 1926 in El Paso, Texas. Welsh made the decision to sell the business after […]
McLane Inks Deal To Serve All Of Kroger Co.’s C-Store Business
McLane Co., providing grocery and foodservice supply chain solutions, has reached a service agreement with Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co. and its 787 convenience stores across 19 states. Kroger’s c-store banners include Loaf ‘N Jug, Turkey Hill Minit Market, Tom Thumb, Kwik Shop and Quik Stop. Core-Mark currently serves the majority (680 units) of Kroger’s c-stores; that […]
Market Profile: Georgia’s Economy Saw Modest Growth In 2016
by Alissa Marchat/staff writer 2016 ended as a positive year for the Peach State, which saw a slight dip in unemployment over the course of the year. The Georgia Department of Labor’s (GDOL) October report, released in late November, put the state’s unemployment rate at 5.2 percent—a few tenths of a percent lower than last […]
The Dakotas 2017 Market Profile
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Midwest North Dakota Grocers Association has a new president with deep roots John “Jiggs” Dyste began his role as president of the North Dakota Grocers Association (NDGA) on Jan. 1. But his experience with the organization goes back many years. He served on its board of directors for more than 15 years. He […]
Majority Of Industry Commends Trump’s Pick For Top Ag Post
President Donald J. Trump’s nomination of former Georgia Gov. George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III for Agriculture Secretary is being commended by the majority of the food industry groups and officials. Perdue will oversee a department of about 100,000 employees and about $140 billion across various programs. He also will have a significant role in the […]
Housewares And Supermarkets: Sales Opportunities Abound
When a shopper thinks of a place to buy housewares, supermarkets probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind; big-box retailers or department stores likely are. For specialty kitchen/cooking tools, gadgets and kitchen appliances, gourmet or specialty retailers might come to mind as well. But the supermarket channel is a major player in certain […]
New Mexico Profile: Lowe’s Signature Market In Alamogordo Is The ‘Nicest Store In The State’ By Design
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Southwest Lowe’s Signature Market is not just the nicest store in the Lowe’s Market lineup. It is the nicest store in New Mexico. Officially celebrated with a grand reopening in the summer of 2015, the ideas that turned the Alamogordo location into a Signature store started percolating well before then. “It took us […]
Up-And-Coming Buying Cohort Prefers To Shop In Store, Study Finds
Despite expectations that the first “digitally native” generation would want to shop online, a new study by IBM and the National Retail Federation (NRF) finds that nearly all members of Generation Z prefer to shop in brick-and-mortar stores. With the global Gen Z population set to reach 2.6 billion by 2020, retailers need to create […]
AB InBev, Keurig Partner To Create In-Home Alcoholic Drink Dispenser
Anheuser-Busch InBev and Keurig Green Mountain have entered into a joint venture focused on the research and development of an in-home alcohol drink system. The venture will build on the Keurig Kold technology and system innovations and AB InBev’s brewing and packaging technology, and evolve them within the realm of the full adult beverage category, including beer, […]
Ohio’s The Andersons To Shutter Four Remaining Retail Stores
The Andersons general stores will close their remaining four retail locations—two in Toledo and two in Columbus—in the second quarter, the company said Sunday. The stores, which average 140,000 s.f.—carry approximately 125,000 SKUs and sell everything from groceries to mattresses to clothing. “The decision to close The Andersons stores was not easy for anyone involved,” […]
Merchant Groups Ask New Congress To Protect Debit Reforms
Now that a new Congress is in session, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and 170 state and national merchant groups are communicating to both branches of Congress about the importance of keeping debit reforms intact, which were enacted as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In a letter sent […]
Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly To Host Sausage Cutting At Remodeled Store On Wednesday
Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly will host a grand reopening of its newly remodeled Jackson, Wisconsin, store on Eagle Drive on Wednesday. The public is invited to join the company at 3 p.m. for its first-ever sausage-cutting ceremony. With the notoriety and popularity of grocer’s award-winning brats, the grocer says a string of fresh bratwurst will be […]
Op-Ed: Will ‘Island’ Of California Drift Even Farther From The Mainland Under New Administration?
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association The idea of California as an island dates back to at least the 16th century, when cartographers mapped it as sitting just off the western coast of North America—a mini paradise unto itself. As technology and cartography became more advanced, this misconception was corrected on world maps. […]
