Private Label

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. New research from The Nielsen Company finds that half (49 percent) of U.S. consumers are reducing their spending to compensate for rising gas prices, up four points from June 2007. Consumers are also battling high gas prices by combining shopping trips and errands (70 percent), eating out less (41 percent), and staying home more often (39 percent).

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- The world's largest retailer has confirmed that it's gearing up to introduce a new grocery format. The small-format stores will be known as "Marketside" and will debut as early as this summer in Arizona, according to a report yesterday in The Financial Times.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Target Corp. here said it is making its private label foods more heart-healthy by removing trans fats from its entire Archer Farms food line, which includes more than 2,000 items sold exclusively at Target's stores.

As consumers become more aware and discerning, it's prime time for more retailers to embrace the upscale meat movement.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Giant Food Stores, LLC here has launched a first-of-its-kind rack program in support of the PA Preferred program, a state effort to promote items produced in Pennsylvania.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Giant Food Stores and Martin's Food Markets are rolling out a tamperproof measure of egg freshness that is readily observable to shoppers: freshness dates and tracking codes etched into the shells of all store-brand and Nature's Promise eggs at the Ahold-owned chains' stores.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Meijer Inc. here is tapping into a new user-generated video solution to power its latest efforts to create tighter, more authentic relationships with customers.

LOS ANGELES -- The first of the long-awaited "Fresh and Easy" gates have swung open in Southern California. After much industry buzz and anticipation, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market officially welcomed customers last week, opening six stores in some well-studied niche markets of Los Angeles and Orange County.