Winter Holidays

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Pear Bureau Northwest will sponsor local U.S. National Ski Team athlete Torin Koos during the 2005/2006 season. Koos, a native resident of Leavenworth, Wash., will compete at the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. As part of the sponsorship, Koos will make appearances at schools and other events as a spokesperson for USA Pears.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Since specialty retailer Farm Boy, Inc., based here, retained Relizon last autumn to develop and implement a gift card marketing program to encourage customer acquisition and drive revenues, the business results have been impressive, the retailer revealed yesterday. For example, during the 2004 holiday season, Farm Boy reported a 28 percent rise in gift card sales over last year's holiday returns.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- March Frozen Food Month once again provided strong sales growth in the frozen food department, the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) here said yesterday. Dollar sales were up 4 percent vs. the prior year during the month of March, and units increased 2.4 percent, according Information Resources, Inc. data cited by the trade association.

CHICAGO -- At the 2005 FMI Show here the Food Marketing Institute has awarded the 2005 Neighborhood Partnership Awards (NPA) to five companies: Food Lion, LLC of Salisbury, N.C.; C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. of Keene, N.H.; Ukrop's Super Markets, Inc. of Richmond, Va.; Wakefern Food Corp. of Edison, N.J.; and White Rose Food of Carteret, N.J. The annual awards, now in their ninth year, honor quality and distinction in supermarkets' community-based initiatives in the areas of youth development, hunger relief, health and wellness, and urban economic development.

CHICAGO -- The votes are in and counted, and IGA yesterday named the winners of its 2005 National Hometown Holidays Recipe Challenge. A panel of culinary chefs from the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago's Culinary Arts program chose the seven finalists' recipes, which were culled from more than 500 original submissions from shoppers to IGA stores across the United States during the annual marketing event, held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13 last year.

SUNBURY, Pa. -- Weis Markets said yesterday its first quarter sales increased 5.6 percent to $549.7 million, and its identical store sales rose 5.3 percent compared to the same period in 2004.

CHICAGO -- IGA announced yesterday the finalists of its 2005 National Hometown Holidays Recipe Challenge. A panel of culinary chefs from the Illinois Institute of Art -- Chicago's Culinary Arts program selected the seven finalists' recipes out of the more then 300 original recipes that were submitted to IGA stores across the country during IGA's annual Hometown Holidays marketing event held Oct. 31 through Nov. 13, 2004.

CHICAGO -- IGA announced yesterday the finalists of its 2005 National Hometown Holidays Recipe Challenge. A panel of culinary chefs from the Illinois Institute of Art -- Chicago's Culinary Arts program selected the seven finalists' recipes out of the more then 300 original recipes that were submitted to IGA stores across the country during IGA's annual Hometown Holidays marketing event held Oct. 31 through Nov. 13, 2004.