Nonfoods

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Vermont's biggest food show, the 71st annual Vermont Grocers exposition, hosted by the Vermont Grocers' Association (VGA), will take place Friday, Sept. 16 to Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Wyndham Burlington Hotel in Burlington, Vt. and the Robert E. Miller Exposition Center in Essex Junction, Vt.

BOISE, Idaho -- Adding more firepower to its premium store brand mix, Albertsons based here is rolling out Wild Harvest all natural ground beef products in its Philadelphia-based Acme Markets and Chicago-based Jewel-Osco divisions.

EDMONTON, Alta. -- Planet Organic Health Corp., based here, which owns and operates large natural food supermarkets under the Planet Organic Market banner, in addition to a chain of natural health outlets across Canada under the Sangster's Health Centres banner, said yesterday that it has completed its acquisition of health food store chain Newfound Health, also based in Edmonton, which has 14 franchise locations in the province of Alberta.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, Calif. -- Earthbound Farm, the nation's largest grower and shipper of organic produce based here, said it has selected a new location for its forward distribution center in Indianapolis, Indiana and opened a new facility in Atlanta, Georgia.

ZAANDAM, Netherlands -- Ahold will acquire up to 67 Julius Meinl supermarkets in the Czech Republic for an undisclosed sum, the global retailer based here said yesterday. As its first acquisition since embarking on its "Road to Recovery" three years ago in the wake of a major accounting scandal, the deal will increase Ahold's store count in the Czech Republic to about 300, and in Central Europe to approximately 520.

One retailer's firsthand account of devastation and recovery in the face of Hurricane Ivan shows how grocers both give and receive when disaster strikes.

SAN ANTONIO -- Central Market, the successful gourmet spinoff of H.E. Butt Grocery Co. here, continues to build a distinctive own-brand franchise for its seven Texas stores. The retailer last week brought shoppers up to date in its e-mail newsletter, touting an armload of products bearing the CM private label.

Clamping down on retail losses should be everybody's business.