After selling off 50 stores earlier this year and pledging to redesign the rest, West Coast grocery chain Fresh & Easy has decided to throw in the towel: after eight years in the supermarket scene, the company says it will close all 97 remaining stores, laying off all its 3,000 employees in the process. [More]
supermarkets
Kroger Gets Rid Of Unrefrigerated Caramel Apples On Sticks Just To Be Sure
By 10.16.15
Is it possible that the caramel apples sitting on store shelves right now have been contaminated with bacteria, made worse because the fruits are impaled on sticks and coated with candy? The many grocery brands owned by Kroger aren’t taking any chances, and announced that they’re getting rid of all unrefrigerated caramel apples. [More]
Discount Supermarket Chain Aldi Prepping To Take On Walmart & Others In U.S.
By 9.11.15
When you mention the name of Germany-based supermarket chain Aldi to most Americans, you get one of three responses: “I love Aldi; it’s so cheap!”; “Aldi? No thanks, I prefer higher-end supermarkets”; “Aldi? Oh yeah, I remember that ‘Rock Me Amadeus’ song. Oh wait… that’s Falco.” The company, which already has some 1,400 stores stateside, is planning a large-scale expansion in the coming years that it hopes will win over those last two categories of consumers with low prices and make it a dominant player in the U.S. [More]
A&P Issues Layoff Notices To All Store Employees, Still Plans To Sell Stores
By 8.12.15
When layoffs are coming within 60 days, federal law requires employers to notify employees and their state labor department. An industry publication reports that yesterday, the venerable and bankrupt grocery chain A&P issued these layoff notifications, called Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices, to employees at all of their stores. However, most of the stores remain on the market, and A&P hopes to sell them to competitors soon. [More]
Surprise! This $200 Off Kroger Coupon Is Actually A Scam
By 8.10.15
This coupon promises to get you $200 off your next $20 shopping visit to the supermarket chain Kroger. Well, except for how the coupon doesn’t actually work at Kroger. Or exist. The promise of unrealistically amazing coupons is used to get people to click on a link that could harm your computer. [More]
Whole Foods Learns That Admitting To Overcharging Customers Can Hurt Sales
By 7.30.15
Since Whole Foods first became a household name, it’s been the butt of jokes — like the oft-repeated “Whole Paycheck” nickname — about the high prices it charges. Yet customers continued to come. It wasn’t until the grocery chain recently admitted to “unintentionally” overcharging on certain items that shoppers began looking elsewhere. [More]
Hawaii Becomes First State To Ban Plastic Bags At Grocery Stores
By 7.2.15 — Updated: 12.30.16
While some cities in the U.S. have passed laws that ban plastic bags at grocery stores, Hawaii now stands alone as the first and only state that prohibits supermarkets from handing out the non-biodegradable carriers at the checkout. [More]
Whole Foods CEOs Admit To “Unintentional” Overcharging
By 7.2.15
In 2014, California regulators caught Whole Foods overcharging customers, and things have only gotten worse for the upscale grocery store chain, which is currently under investigation for similar allegations in New York (where it also faces a civil suit from customers). That’s why Whole Foods’ co-CEOs issued a joint, heavily qualified, mea culpa about the situation. [More]
European Parent Companies Of Hannaford, Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant, And Peapod To Merge
By 6.24.15
You may not recognize the names Ahold and Delhaize, but you probably recognize some of the grocery brands that they own. Delhaize is the parent company of Hannaford and Food Lion, and Ahold is the parent company of U.S. chains Stop & Shop and Giant, as well as the online grocery delivery company Peapod. If regulators approve, the two companies will merge, and the transaction will become final in the middle of next year. [More]
Whole Foods Naming New Line Of Stores After Its “365” Brand
By 6.11.15
If you have been waiting on the very edge of your seat to find out what Whole Foods would be branding its new line of smaller stores with lower prices, today is your day. After filing various trademark names to throw everyone off, the company says it’ll be calling the chain “365 by Whole Foods Market.” [More]
Walmart, Pathmark, A&P, Waldbaum’s Bring Up Rear In Latest Supermarket Survey
By 4.2.15
Walmart may still be the nation’s most shopped-at supermarket chain, but it’s far from the most beloved. In fact, in the latest ratings of 68 supermarket chains published by our colleagues at Consumer Reports, Walmart had the worst satisfaction score from readers. [More]
Remembering Reusable Grocery Bags Makes Us Buy More Junk Food
By 3.24.15
Reusable shopping bags: they’re environmentally friendly, earn you a discount, and let you express your loyalty to your favorite grocery store when there isn’t a Wegmans available within a two-hour drive. Yet here’s an interesting question: do they have an effect on our behavior? Are there any major differences between shoppers who bring their own bags and those who don’t? [More]
Grocery Chain Fresh & Easy Closing 50 Stores In Three Western States
By 3.23.15
Shoppers in California, Arizona and Nevada should keep an eye out for disappearing grocery stores, after the Fresh & Easy chain announced it’d be closing 50 stores in the three states and redesigning the rest. That’s about a third of its total stores after emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership in the fall of 2013. [More]
5 Food Prep Tips For Reducing Pesticide Risks
By 3.20.15
When you buy a sack of potatoes with dirt still clinging to the spuds, you know they’ll need a wash before going into your dinner. But those completely clean-looking apples, peaches, and strawberries may carry a less-visible danger in the form of pesticide residues. [More]
Science Says You Shop Differently If You’re Looking Up At Products
By 3.4.15
Just about everyone knows that the vital shelf space on a supermarket shelf is right below eye level, where your eyes are naturally drawn to products and you don’t have to crouch or crane your neck to see. A new study claims that vertical positioning on a shelf doesn’t just impact whether or not we see a product, but what kinds of purchasing decisions we make. [More]
Reduced-Price Meat Means You Pay 4 Cents Extra
By 10.23.14
When perishable items are close to their sell-by dates, retailers mark them down to get them off the shelves faster. When this happens, everyone wins: customers get cheaper meat, and the store still makes money from the product. That’s how this is supposed to work in theory, at least. [More]
Publix Has Had It With Your Extreme Couponing
By 10.6.14
Publix is a grocery chain that operates in six southern states, and couponers in those states got some terrible news yesterday along with their newspaper coupon inserts. The chain announced last week that they’re tightening their coupon policies in some sensible ways, so master couponers will reap some less extreme bonanzas. [More]
This Supermarket Poster Was Not Meant To Be Seen By The Public
By 9.30.14
We all know that businesses have motivational signs and slogans that managers use out of sight of the public. But someone at this supermarket is probably going to get the boot after posting a sign on the front window encouraging employees to wring more cash out of customers. [More]
