Publix

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Natural and specialty food distributor Tree of Life, Inc. has made two key appointments to its East Region sales team. Ronald W. Turner has been named regional v.p. of sales, while James C. Ford has been named national account manager for Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Publix Super Markets here has expanded its assortment of regionally-produced White Oak Pastures premium grass-fed ground beef in 220 stores in North Georgia, North Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Building on the success of the Hispanic-centric format it introduced last spring, Publix Super Markets here is planning to open two additional Sabor units in Miami. The move will boost the Publix Sabor count to four.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Supermarket shoppers are a bit more satisfied with the quality of goods and services they're getting than they were a year ago, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of precuts and services available to household consumers in the United States.

NEW YORK -- Food retailers are acting like Cupid this year, by offering time-stressed shoppers easier ways to treat their sweethearts on Valentine's Day.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Publix Super Markets here said yesterday it has signed an exclusive agreement with The Little Clinic LLC in Louisville, Ky., to open medical clinics within an unspecified number of Publix stores this year. The regional retailer will place the first clinics in the Miami, Orlando, and Tampa markets in the first half of 2006.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- In yet another sign of supermarkets joining forces with foodservice companies, Publix Super Markets here said yesterday it will test an in-store Carrabba's Italian Grill takeout restaurant in one of its Sarasota stores this summer.

NEW YORK -- A handful of food retailers are among on Fortune Magazine's list of The 100 Best Companies to Work For, and the most prominent, Wegmans Food Markets, came in at No. 2, one off its lead position on last year's list.