United Supermarkets and Red Mango are embarking on a test of a store-in-store concept offering healthy frozen treats to United shoppers. United is slated to open its first Red Mango counter later this month at its Judge Ely Boulevard location in Abilene. Construction begins inside the store today, Feb. 13. This is the first Red […]
Tag: economy
Posted in, Northeast
Safeway Selling Three Genuardi’s Stores to Weis Markets
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to sell three of its Genuardi’s stores in Pennsylvania to Weis Markets Inc. Safeway will continue to operate these stores until the transaction closes, and the company is working through an orderly transition for the stores, according to a news release. The transaction is subject to […]
Posted in, Southeast
Box Tops for Education Lets Harvey Be Principal For A Day
Laughter literally filled the hallways of one Birmingham school, as it received a special visit from comedian, author and syndicated radio personality, Steve Harvey. Box Tops for Education enlisted the help of the Steve Harvey Morning Show to award one school 100,000 Box Tops in the national Principal-for-a-Day contest. Phillips Academy’s principal, Mark Sullivan, relinquished […]
Posted in, West
Fresh & Easy Opening Five Sacramento Stores in March
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans March openings for its first five locations in the Sacramento, Calif., region. The U.K-owned grocery chain, which opened its first stores in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona in 2007, announced expansion into Northern California last year. The first stores set to open March 7 will be at Mack and […]
Posted in, West
NorCal Grocery Workers Want to Block Walmart’s Neighborhood Markets
Unionized grocery workers in Northern California have come out against the introduction of Walmart neighborhood markets into the region. Walmart Stores, based in Bentonville, Ark., has said that it intends to build up to 30 Neighborhood Markets—stores averaging 30,000 to 40,000 s.f. that will compete directly with unionized companies like Safeway and Lucky. This is […]
Posted in, West
Eggert Retires from New Seasons Market
Co-founder and board member Chuck Eggert has retired from New Seasons Market, the 12-store grocery company based in Portland, Ore. He has sold his shares back to the company, but Eggert is not completely severing his ties with the grocery company he helped create more than a dozen years ago. He will remain as a […]
Posted in, West
San Francisco Bans All Plastic Disposable Bags
The Wall Street Journal reports that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make it illegal for any shop in the city to offer disposable plastic bags to customers. The law expands a 2007 bag ban that applied to large grocery stores and pharmacies, and also mandates stores charge customers 10 cents apiece […]
Posted in, National
Supervalu Eliminating 800 Jobs
Supervalu Inc. plans to eliminate 800 jobs in the U.S., the company announced Feb. 7. Most of the reductions will take place by the close of the company’s fiscal year on Feb. 25. Cuts include both current positions as well as open jobs that will not be filled, the company said. The moves are part […]
Posted in, Beverage News, Marketing News, National
Coca-Cola Profit Down 27 Percent On Charges
The Atlanta-based beverage giant, Coco-Cola, reported that its profit for 2011 was hurt by restructuring charges and other charges. It also reported a program to save $550 to $650 million by the end of 2015 and reinvest that savings into systemwide brand building initiatives and to mitigate potential incremental near-term commodity costs as necessary, the […]
Posted in, Southeast
Southern Family Markets To Come Under New Ownership
A new company has been formed to purchase all 57 Southern Family Markets (SFM) stores. Belle Foods LLC was formed in Birmingham, Ala., by William “Bill” White, a longtime industry veteran who has worked in both the Bruno’s and Piggly Wiggly organizations. According to the Feb. 7 announcement, Belle Foods is buying stores in Alabama, […]
Posted in, National
CRA: Sugar Industry’s Strategy to Pose as ‘Safer’ Sweetener
In a bid to revive litigation claims that a federal judge had dismissed, the refined sugar industry’s latest maneuver actually underlines its true objective: to confuse American consumers by suggesting that cane and beet sugar is healthier than sugar made from corn—at least according to the Corn Refiners Association (CRA). “The refined sugar industry’s latest […]
Posted in, Southeast
Aldi Opening New Store in Greensboro, N.C.
Greensboro, N.C., is getting yet another grocery store. The Business Journal reports that Aldi, a Batavia, Ill.-based subsidiary of Germany’s Aldi Group, plans to open a new store at 1507 New Garden Rd. sometime in 2013. Aldi bills itself as a super-discount chain with a no-frills approach and a limited selection of 1,400 items. The […]
Posted in, Southeast
Chiquita Offers Incentives for Execs to Move to Charlotte
Chiquita Brands International Inc. is offering incentives to entice its executives to move to Charlotte, N.C., reports The Charlotte Business Journal. In a securities filing Tuesday, the company spelled out the relocation benefits it will offer key employees who choose to transfer. Those benefits include payment for the costs of searching for a new residence […]
Posted in, National
Study: Food Safety is Tops for Manufacturers, Consumers
In a new global study from UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a leader in advancing safety, food manufacturers identified product safety as a top business priority, but the majority of consumers believe food manufacturers can do even better to earn their confidence. The new study, “Navigating the Product Mindset,” explores the connections and contradictions between perceptions of […]
Posted in, Northeast
Giant Food Acquires Two Fresh & Green’s in Baltimore Region
Giant Food of Landover, Md., has entered into a definitive agreement with Mrs. Green’s Management Corp. to acquire two of the company’s Fresh & Green’s supermarket locations currently serving the Baltimore market. The following locations are part of this acquisition: • Fresh & Green’s of Hampden, 1020 West 41st St., Baltimore; and, • Fresh & […]
Posted in, Southeast
Publix Deal Brings New Owner At Celebration Shopping Center
A shopping center in Celebration, Fla., has a new owner after Publix signed up to be a 50,000-s.f. anchor tenant, reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal. A group based in New York bought the 124,000-s.f. Water Tower Shoppes from General Electric Credit Equities in January. The center had been struggling for nearly seven years since […]
Posted in, Equipment & Technology, National
Mobeam Raises $6.4M For Mobile Coupons
Mobeam Inc., a San Francisco technology platform for delivering coupons to mobile phones, has beamed a $6.4 million Series A round of venture capital on board from investors, reports the San Francisco Business Times. The company, founded in April 2010, has added new investor DFJ Athena, a Korea-focused venture fund affiliated with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, […]
Posted in, Southeast
Carney To Assume CFO Job Following BI-LO, Winn-Dixie Merger
Brian Carney, current EVP and CFO of BI-LO, will soon be taking on a bigger role—pending the merger of the South Carolina-based grocery with Winn-Dixie. Carney will assume the CFO position of the combined companies. Winn-Dixie CFO Bennett Nussbaum is leaving the position to become integration lead following the completion of the merger. Before joining […]
Posted in, National
Food Groups Urge Administration to Reject New Food Taxes
The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and a coalition of more than 30 food groups urged senior administration leaders to develop a fiscal year 2013 budget request that fully funds U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety programs without saddling consumers and food makers with burdensome new taxes or fees. “Food safety is the […]
Posted in, Equipment & Technology, Northeast, Southeast
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Expands Online Grocery Service
After successfully offering online shopping in 10 stores for the past four years, Piggly Wiggly Carolina has expanded its Click’n Shop program to 26 additional locations, nearly tripling Piggly Wiggly’s eCommerce presence in South Carolina. With MyWebGrocer’s Click’n Shop online shopping solution, Piggly Wiggly Carolina shoppers can purchase groceries online and choose to pick up […]