Finance & Capital Management

The Union representing workers at the Zallies and Ravitz Shop Rite supermarkets in southern New Jersey today hand delivered a seven-day strike notice to the company, as required by law. If no agreement is reached by midnight on Thursday, September 6, 2001 thousands of supermarket workers could be walking picket lines instead of checking out customer grocery orders.

Nash Finch has filed a lawsuit alleging that "person or persons unknown--possibly employees--posted confidential information" about the company on a Yahoo! message board. The Edina, Minn.-based company's suit claims "breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets" and stipulates that if "the defendants turn out to be current or former employees, they would have violated Nash Finch's Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and Associate Handbook."

The Board of Directors of Philip Morris Companies Inc. on Wednesday announced that William H. Webb was elected to the position of Vice Chairman, Philip Morris Companies Inc., effective immediately.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, representing over1,100 workers at Laneco stores in eastern Pennsylvania today announced that it was willing to recommend that the workers whowere recently laid off accept a severance proposal made by Supervalu.

Furrs Supermarkets announced today that the sale of stores to Fleming Companies Inc. is projected to close onFriday, Aug. 31.

workers at Rice Epicurean Markets walked off the job and marched in picketlines Monday after contract negotiations with the supermarket chain collapsed.

The purchase of O'Malia Food Markets by Marsh Supermarkets Inc. is now officially complete, according to Don E. Marsh, chairman, president and CEO of the acquiring food chain. O'Malia's will continue to operate under that name as a separate division of Marsh Supermarkets.

Local 1564 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union today announced that it had negotiatedto retain nine former Furr's supermarkets under union contract. Union President Diane Vigil-Kimberle said that Smith's Food and Drug had agreed to union contracts for seven former Furr's stores. Raley's markets has agreed to twostores under contract.