Market Trends

HAMMOND, Ind. - Food 4 Less, a price-impact supermarket chain owned and operated by the Kroger Co., is expanding its reach in the greater Chicagoland area with a new store in Hammond, Ind.

WASHINGTON, DC - A General Accounting Office (GAO) report released on Friday is exploring for the first time the costs, benefits and legal issues involved to speed the settlement of the hundreds of billions of dollars collected in weekend transactions by food retailers.

MONTVALE, N.J. -- Based on successful tests in Passaic and Paterson, N.J., the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is opening three additional no-frills supermarkets in North Jersey in the next month.

WASHINGTON -- The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) recently named Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., the winner of the first-ever Awards of Excellence competition, in recognition of the company's successful practices and accomplishments in human resources and training and development fields of the food retail industry.

AMSTERDAM -- Shares in the world's third biggest food retailer Royal Ahold NV fell sharply on Friday as disappointing U.S. sales figures and disclosure concerns combined to rattle already anxious investors.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fleming Companies c.e.o.Mark Hansen told analysts yesterday that there are a number of suitors interested in purchasing its Rainbow Foods chain, which operates 44 supermarkets in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

HARRISBURG, Pa -- Gubernatorial candidate and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell has received strong opposition to his proposal to move state-controlled liquor retail operations into supermarkets.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A pharmacists' walkout that looked to be averted last month by Raley's Supermarkets could still happen as the pharmacists' union has failed to ratify a new contract, according to a report in today's Sacramento Bee.