Idaho independent grocer Archie McGregor Jr., 75, president of Archie’s IGA in St. Maries, Idaho, and Dissmores IGA in Pullman, Wash., has been awarded the 2012 Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence Award. First presented in 2009, the award is given each year by Kraft Foods Inc. at The National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) Show to an […]
Tag: management
Posted in, Southwest
Michael Besancon Retires From Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market, a leading organic and natural foods supermarket, has announced that Michael Besancon, senior global VP of purchasing, distribution and communication, will retire from the company after more than 17 years of service. “Having worked in our line of business from soup to nuts, Michael is absolutely one of the most knowledgeable natural […]
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, 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, Equipment & Technology, National
EPA Recognizes Ahold USA for Leading Green Power Purchasers
Ahold USA appears for the first time on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of the largest green power purchases. The company ranks No. 7 on the EPA’s Top 20 Retail list and No. 30 on the National Top 50 list. Ahold USA is purchasing more than 149 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power […]
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, Southwest
Austin Bag Ban Could Cost Texas 8,800 Jobs, Group Says
An alliance of plastic bag manufacturers estimate that a bag ban in Austin, Texas, could cost the state 8,800 jobs, reports the Austin Business Journal. The Journal reports that the American Progressive Bag Alliance is against the city’s proposed ordinance to tax and ban single-use plastic bags that Mayor Lee Leffingwell has been pushing for. […]
Posted in, West
Ocean Mist Farms Receives Economic Vitality Award
Castroville, Calif.-based Ocean Mist Farms has been honored by the Monterey County Business Council for its contribution to agriculture in Monterey County. Ocean Mist Farms was one of six organizations selected to receive the Economic Vitality Award at the council’s annual awards ceremony last week in Monterey. The Monterey County Business Council is an alliance […]
Posted in, Perishables, Southeast, Suppliers
Annual National Retail Beef Backer Awards Announced
Broulim’s Fresh Foods, Haggen Food & Pharmacy/TOP Foods, Harris Teeter Inc., and Safeway were given the National Retail Beef Backer awards during the 2012 Cattle Industry Annual Convention & NCBA Trade Show in Nashville, Tenn., last week. Funded by the Beef Checkoff Program, this effort recognizes grocery establishments that are doing an outstanding job of […]
Posted in, Midwest, New Products, Perishables, Southwest, West
Better Whey of Life Launches New Whey-Infused Greek Yogurt
Evanston, Ill.-based Tula Foods Inc.®, a healthy foods manufacturer, has launched Better Whey of Life® (BWoL), the first all-natural brand of Greek yogurt made with whey protein from grass-fed cows. Hitting regional shelves in Chicago, Denver and San Francisco are six “twist-on-the-familiar” varieties: blackberry pomegranate, strawberry goji berry, raspberry white grape, acai mixed berry, vanilla […]
Posted in, Southeast, Southwest, West
More Than 500 Walmart Women File EEOC Discrimination Charges
In a move to protect their right to pursue individual and class-action pay and promotion claims against Walmart Stores Inc., more than 500 former and current Walmart women employees who had been part of a national class-action lawsuit have filed a charge of discrimination against the retailer with the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission […]
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 […]