Nonfoods

CINCINATTI -- With a strong first quarter performance still reverberating, The Kroger Co.'s chairman and c.e.o. delivered a sunny outlook on 2005 to shareholders at the chain's annual meeting yesterday.

NEW YORK CITY -- The market for women's food and beverages grew at a compound annual rate of 80 percent between 2000 and 2004, and is now a $4.6 billion industry. At its current growth, it could reach as high as $7.7 billion by 2009, according to a new study by Packaged Facts.

NEW YORK -- Buoyed by three straight years double-digit gains, the market for natural personal care products reached $5 billion in 2004, increasing by more than 50 percent since 2000, according to a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts.

LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food LLC, this morning christened a new full-service food and pharmacy combination store at the historic Tivoli Theatre site at 1345 Park Road, N.W. in Washington, D.C.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --Winn-Dixie's taken out the pruning shears, in a recovery strategy that will radically cut back the organization before rebuilding it.

NEW YORK -- Total U.S. retail sales of pet oral care products hit $425 million last year, reflecting average annual growth of 35 percent since 2000, according to "Market Trends: Oral Care for Pets," a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts.

NEW YORK -- According to a national study, consumers are increasingly trusting food retailers and manufacturers to provide them with information on nutrition, health, and cooking. Conducted this month by knowledge services company FIND/SVP, among 1,000 consumers, the study found that 78 percent of those polled would have confidence in nutritional advice from a food retailer.

BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France -- Monoprix, a retailer that operates primarily in French urban areas, plans to deploy consumer demand management (CDM) software at its locations from San Carlos, Calif.-based CDM software provider DemandTec.