At its 2016 Investment Community Meeting last week Walmart Stores outlined the company’s strategic framework to grow by serving customers across all channels, creating a seamless shopping experience. Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon outlined four key areas of focus to drive continued success: • Make every day easier for busy families; • Operate with […]
Tag: Midwest
News from the midwestern United States.
New IDDBA Officers And Board Of Directors Elected
The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) in Madison, Wisconsin, elected its 2016-17 officers and board of directors at its annual business meeting recently held in Chicago. Jewel Hunt, group VP-bakery for Albertsons Cos., was elected chair. Hunt has served on the board of directors since 2010 and has been involved in many committees. John Cheesman, VP […]
Velvet Ice Cream Completes Ohio Plant Expansion
Velvet Ice Cream has opened the largest expansion capital improvement in the company’s 102-year history. Velvet broke ground on the new 23,000-s.f. expansion, with a price tag of more than $3 million, last August. The expansion adds a new state-of-the-art warehouse freezer distribution facility to Velvet’s central Ohio plant at Ye Olde Mill in Utica, more […]
A Family Tradition: Staying True To Roots Keeps Metcalfe’s Ahead Of The Competition
Metcalfe’s Market may be nearing the century mark, but this is a family-owned business that always seems to be a step ahead of what’s next. A hot topic of late has been grocery delivery. Metcalfe’s Market has been doing that for 15 years. Grocers these days are putting a strong focus on perishables, including beautiful […]
TOMRA Piloting Grocery Recycling Loyalty Program
TOMRA Systems, Shelton, Connecticut, focused on beverage container recycling, has launched a pilot loyalty program in Michigan supermarkets. At the stores, consumers who bring their empty bottles and cans can deposit them in a redeem machine—also called a “reverse vending” machine, or RVM—and register to earn rewards. The program, called “TOMRA Makes Change,” encourages shoppers […]
SpartanNash Foundation, Customers Raise Nearly $300K To Help End Hunger
The SpartanNash Foundation’s scan campaign to end hunger was its most successful companywide retail fundraising effort to date—raising nearly $300,000 on behalf of more than 100 local food pantries and food banks in the communities it serves. Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 11, the SpartanNash Foundation hosted the companywide scan in each of SpartanNash’s […]
Food Retailers Week In Michigan Runs Through Sept. 30
Michigan’s food industry directly supports 198,000 full- and part-time jobs, along with an additional 75,000 indirect jobs. The food industry also contributes a gross total of $24.8 billion to the state’s economy through its direct sales, indirect economic impact on other industries and employment. These are among the reasons Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has declared […]
Emery Jensen Addition Means More Options For Grocers
Nearly 16,000 peopled attended the recent Ace Hardware fall show in Chicago, including retailers from across the country. The Oakbrook, Illinois-based company hosted more than 1,300 exhibitors offering springtime products like outdoor living and garden items, outdoor furniture, barbecue grills and plants and flowers. Among the Ace storeowners were several grocery retailers looking to differentiate […]
Fareway Golf Event Raises $78K-Plus For MDA
Fareway Stores recently partnered with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to host the 6th Annual Fareway Stores MDA Golf Classic at the Tournament Club of Iowa in Polk City. The event raised more than $78,000 for MDA of Iowa, making it the best year for the golf tournament. Funds raised at this event will fund […]
SuperFair Foods’ Collier Appointed MGA Chairman
Mark Collier of Collier’s Supermarkets in St. James, Minnesota, has been named chairman of the Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA). He takes over the position from Patrick Miner of Miner’s Inc. in Hermantown. Miner was honored for his two-year term as chair at the MGA’s recent convention in Brainerd, which was attended by more than 300 members […]
Wisconsin Lawmakers Will Again Take Up Minimum Markup Law
by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Midwest It is a fight that has gone on for two decades now, according to Wisconsin Grocers Association (WGA) President and CEO Brandon Scholz. The debate over whether to repeal the Unfair Sales Act is hotter in some years than others. This looks to be a hot one. Wisconsin’s Unfair Sales Act or […]
Coborn’s Opens ‘Next-Generation’ Supermarket Focused On Fresh
Coborn’s Inc. recently opened a “next-generation” supermarket in Isanti, Minnesota. It is a first-of-its-kind store format with a significant focus on fresh selections and an updated modern industrial design. “We are a company that is constantly striving to appeal to the changing needs of our guests,” said Chris Coborn, chairman, president and CEO of Coborn’s […]
Kroger Reports 2Q Results
The Kroger Co. has reported net earnings of $383 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, and identical supermarket sales growth, without fuel, of 1.7 percent in the second quarter of 2016 ended Aug. 13. Net earnings in the same period last year were $433 million, or $0.44 per diluted share. The company’s net earnings per […]
McLane Picks Up Two Major Distribution Accounts
Circle K’s new parent company, Alimentation Couche-Tard, has awarded distributor McLane Co. Inc. its supply-chain-services business in the eastern and midwestern U.S. McLane will begin serving 1,161 Circle K locations starting in January 2017 and an additional 982 locations in January 2018, totaling 2,143 stores. In addition, Circle K has extended a multi-year agreement with McLane Co., […]
SpartanNash Promotes Staples To President
Dave Staples, COO of SpartanNash, has added the role of president to his duties. Dennis Eidson, who held the president’s title, will continue to serve as the company’s chairman and CEO; the move enables Eidson to continue to focus on long-term strategic growth opportunities, according to the company. As president and COO, Staples will lead […]
Chris’ Food Center Bagger Is Minnesota’s Best
Seth Allen of Chris’ Food Center in Sandstone, Minnesota, is the state’s best grocery bagger. He bested the competition during the Minnesota Grocers Association’s (MGA) 28th annual statewide Best Bagger Contest, held earlier this month at the Mall of America. Allen won $500 cash, a trophy and a trip to Las Vegas next year to […]
Gordy’s ‘Meat Guy’ Completes Ultra-Marathon To Aid Grocer’s Food Bank Auction
Gordy’s Market held its 12th annual Feed My People live charity auction earlier this month, with all proceeds from the event going to the Feed My People Food Bank of Wisconsin. Feed My People is the only food bank in West Central Wisconsin, providing food to more than 125 hunger-relief organizations in 14 different counties. […]
Cox, Ritchie Recognized By Laurel Grocery With Retailer Of The Year Honors
Laurel Grocery Co. this week hosted its August Trade Show—“Building Brands Together”—at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. The London-based wholesaler recognized several retailers with awards, including Martin Cox of Cox Foods, which operates 10 stores in Kentucky, and Jamie Ritchie of Ritchie’s Marketplace in Piketon, Ohio, with Retailer of the Year honors. Cox Foods also was […]
Dollar General Will Debut First North Dakota Stores Next Spring
Construction is under way on five new Dollar General stores in southeastern North Dakota, marking the chain’s entry into the state. The stores are expected to celebrate grand openings in spring 2017 and, when completed, will expand the company’s presence to 44 states across the country. “Expanding our footprint into North Dakota provides Dollar General […]
SpartanNash Makes Fair Food Pledge To Support Fair Labor Practices For Farmworkers
SpartanNash has become the first food distributor in Michigan to sign Migrant Legal Aid’s Fair Food Pledge, affirming the company’s commitment to fair labor practices for the state’s more than 94,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. The Fair Food Pledge exemplifies SpartanNash’s commitment to corporate responsibility, including the fair treatment of farmworkers, according […]
