News Briefs

Ascend Grocery, a group founded by a team of grocery and investment executives to acquire and open new Save A Lot locations in established and new markets, has promoted Dean Little from COO to president and COO.

A 40-year food retailing professional, Little is an owner and founding partner of Ascend Grocery, one of Save A Lot’s largest retail partners that currently owns and operates 33 stores in the greater Orlando, Fla., area. Over the past year, he helped establish clear operational standards to reinvigorate the Orlando locations. Little’s background also includes work with Vons/Safeway, Price Chopper and Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, where he served as COO.

“Since taking on the Orlando area Save A Lot locations in January, Dean has been instrumental in helping us to quickly elevate our operations and ensure we are delivering an outstanding experience for our customers,” said Chris Sherrell, Ascend’s CEO. “I’m thrilled that Dean is taking on this added responsibility as we build our leadership team to position Ascend for continued growth. I have great confidence in his leadership and his ability to execute our plan to expand our network and impact beyond Orlando.”

Save A Lot has more than 850 stores in 32 states. The Earth City, Mo.-based company is No. 60 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Amazon Fresh is adding to its stable of stores with the opening of two new locations in the East Coast region. A store in Broomall, Pa., near Philadelphia opened on Sept. 8 and an Amazon Fresh in Chevy Chase, Md., close to the Washington, D.C. metro area, welcomed its first customers on Sept. 1.

The Broomall store at 2924 Springfield Road is the second Amazon Fresh in Pennsylvania and the first to offer frictionless Just Walk Out shopping. The 40,000-square-foot store is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and includes competitively priced grocery staples as well as prepared foods and bakery items. Grand opening celebrations continue through the weekend of Sept. 9-11 and feature giveaway, discounts, free samples and children’s activities. 

Amazon Fresh’s site in Chevy Chase – the second such store to open in that city – is located at 8525 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace and spans about 46,000 square feet. Also open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., this one likewise includes Just Walk Out shopping as a convenient service for shoppers. Customers can browse a wide assortment of national brands and fresh produce, meat, seafood and prepared food offerings.  

Amazon Fresh stores accept cash, SNAP/EBT, credit or debit card payment. Customers shopping with Just Walk Out technology can use a credit or debit card, Amazon One, or the in-store QR code in the Amazon app to make their purchases.

With the opening of these two stores, there are now 43 Amazon Fresh locations nationwide. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100,  Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

The Raley’s Cos. is now working with DoorDash to offer grocery delivery from more than 117 Raley’s stores across Northern California and Nevada, and over 91 Bashas’ stores throughout Arizona. The on-demand service can also be used at Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Raley’s O-N-E Market, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods banners.

Participating stores will be available on DashPass, DoorDash’s membership program that offers $0 delivery fees from restaurants, grocery and convenience stores nationwide.

DoorDash also recently rolled out delivery service for Southeastern Grocers banners via its white label fulfillment platform DoorDash Drive. The partnership allows customers to order groceries online at the same price as in-store items for delivery within two hours.

With more than 21,000 employees, privately owned and family-run The Raley's Cos. operates 230-plus locations across four states and four Tribal Nations under eight banners: Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Raley’s O-N-E Market, Bashas’, Food City, AJ’s Fine Foods and Bashas’ Diné Market. In addition, the company bridges the divide between the physical and digital retail experiences through the operation of Apium Logistics, Fieldera and FieldTRUE. The company is No. 48 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Family-owned and -operated Stew Leonard’s has launched its newly redesigned website, StewLeonards.com, with new ways to shop. This includes delivery to homes up to a 45-minute drive away from Stew Leonard’s seven farm fresh food store locations.

Stew Leonard’s has stores in Norwalk, Danbury, and Newington, Conn.; East Meadow, Farmingdale and Yonkers, N.Y.; and Paramus, N.J. The relaunch of StewLeonards.com heralds in more than 150 new zip codes that are now eligible for same-day delivery, bringing the total of delivery-eligible zips to 500. Customers placing their orders online for curbside pickup will still have their groceries shopped for by Stew’s team members.

“With the launch of the newly redesigned StewLeonards.com, customers can shop Stew’s in a way that fits their lifestyle best,” said Jake Tavello, VP of stores and a grandson of Stew Leonard’s founder Stew Leonard, Sr.  “Whether they want to place an order for delivery, pick it up curbside, or stop in at the store, Stew Leonard’s legendary customer service and my family’s commitment to freshness are always the same.” 

To get started, customers must create a new login for StewLeonards.com. Once logged in, they can take advantage of seeing their past purchases and rewards, plus create shopping lists from weekly specials, recipes and any other item that’s available in-store. Customers can shop by category, with the ability to sort by product type – such as organic and Stew’s Naked – and will receive personalized product suggestions based on past purchases. Shoppers can also enjoy more videos, recipes and in-depth product descriptions, including profiles of the local farmers, fishermen and ranchers who supply Stew Leonard’s with fresh food.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Stew Leonard’s earned its nickname, the “Disneyland of Dairy Stores,” because of its country-fair atmosphere, with costumed characters and animated entertainment throughout the store that keep children entertained while parents shop. 

It looks like a new grocery store is coming to Madison, Wis. The city of Madison – Wisconsin’s state capital and home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison – announced this week that it is finalizing lease negotiations with a grocer to open a store in an underserved south side neighborhood.

The planned store at 815 Cedar Street is a Maurer’s Urban Market, which will span 24,000 square feet and take the place of a recently-shuttered Pick ‘n Save location. In addition to center-store groceries, the store will offer fresh produce, meat and seafood and include a deli and bakery.

“I am thrilled to be working on this project. This has been a dream of mine, and I could not be more excited to be opening my first grocery store in my hometown,” said owner Kristie Maurer. Maurer is part of a family business that operates Maurer's Market in the popular Wisconsin Dells tourist town. 

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said that the new grocery store would be a much-needed addition and will be part of a revamped condominium development with affordable housing. “I am very pleased that we are delivering on the city’s promise to ensure that a full-service grocery store will continue to serve all South Madison residents from now into the future," she remarked.

Norwalk, Conn.’s Planning and Zoning Commission has approved an application to open the first Wegmans Markets store in the Nutmeg State, according to a published report. 

The planned 91,000-square-foot store at 47 Richards Avenue was originally revealed in March, with an as-yet-undetermined construction and opening timeline. The store, which will feature a two-story parking garage, is slated to be built at the current 100,000-square-foot site of MBI’s Norwalk offices, which will relocate to the Merritt 7 complex in the same city. 

“What we see is that when Wegmans comes into the market, it’s a win-win for everybody,” Steve Leaty, the project manager for the grocer said during a July meeting of the commission. “Anybody that exists there today has to up their game, their experience needs to be better than Wegmans in order to compete.”

Family-owned Wegmans operates more than 100 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company is No. 34 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.