Real Estate

CINCINNATI - As part of its continued expansion in Texas, The Kroger Co. on Monday announced it has reached an agreement to purchase seven Winn-Dixie supermarkets in the Dallas Metroplex.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Co. on Thursday said it will buy 17 Winn-Dixie stores in North Texas, the Associated Press reports.

LONDON - Britain's Marks & Spencer Plc has signed a three-week exclusivity deal with New York-based Gristede's Foods Inc. on the sale of its U.S. Kings supermarkets unit, UK papers said on Sunday.

NEW YORK - Leading pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. has sent a letter to Farmland Industries Inc., offering to buy the company's beef and pork operations, people close to the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

LONDON/JOHANNESBURG - South African Breweries Plc (SAB) today agreed to buy U.S. beer giant Miller Brewing for $5.6 billion. The move makes SAB the number two brewer in the world behind Anheuser-Busch.

BOISE, Idaho - Albertson's Inc. today unveiled a major commitment to its future in Southern California by committing more than $1 billion in capital investment during the next three years for new stores and remodels.

PLANO, Texas - J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has said it will overhaul most of its Eckerd drugstore chain this year and next, but Chief Executive Allen Questrom said on Friday the company hasn't ruled out selling the drugstore unit, Reuters reports.

LANDOVER, Md. - Giant Food, owned by Royal Ahold, has announced it will open a new fresh food distribution center in Howard County, Maryland that should be in operation by the mid-summer of 2003.