CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. said it has picked Scottsdale, Ariz., as the test market for a grocery delivery service using self driving vehicles. Kroger had previously announced a partnership and Nuro to begin testing grocery delivery using Nuro’s technology. The company announced Thursday that the pilot will involve a single Fry’s Food Stores location
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — United Natural Foods Inc. has agreed to acquire Minneapolis-based wholesaler and retailer Supervalu Inc. The deal is valued at about $2.9 billion, including the assumption of outstanding debt and liabilities. UNFI says the transaction represents an opportunity to diversify its customer base and expand its market reach and scale. The company said
The retail industry is a major employer of Americans, with the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimating that the retail trade (including food services and drinking places) accounts for 28,984,100 jobs in the United States. That compares to 19,855,000 jobs in health care and social assistance, and 12,596,500 jobs in manufacturing. It is possible to imagine
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has hired healthcare industry veteran Sean Slovenski to serve as senior vice president of health and wellness at Walmart U.S., effective August 1. He will report directly to Walmart U.S. president and CEO Greg Foran. “Sean is a proven leader and entrepreneur with an established track record in defining and building
KEASBEY, N.J. — Wakefern Food Corp. has tapped supermarket industry veteran Erik Keptner to serve as senior vice president of marketing. Keptner brings nearly 20 years of experience to his new role at Wakefern, the nation’s largest retailer-owned cooperative. He will be responsible for developing marketing and merchandising strategies for the cooperative, whose member companies own
WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation denounced new privacy legislation passed in California Thursday. The law has been described as the strictest online privacy law in the country, giving consumers more control over the data companies collect about them. NRF called it “deeply flawed” and said retailers’ ability to provide customer service could be severely
Bigger is not necessarily better anymore, at least when it comes to consumer packaged goods companies. According to research from the Boston Consulting Group and IRI, scale is not the competitive advantage it once was for CPG companies. In fact, one of the study’s key findings was that smaller companies are outpacing their larger counterparts
The National Retail Federation is once again using a funny TV commercial in an effort to send a serious message. Last year the trade group had a hit with what looked like one of those late-night commercials for dubious products. The commercial, which ran during the Fox News Channel’s “FOX & Friends,” and during NBC’s
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart on Monday said it has sold a majority stake in its Brazilian operations to a private equity firm. The move is the second pullback from an international market this year for Walmart, which in April announced that it would merge its ASDA division in the United Kingdom with supermarket rival J.
CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. is buying Home Chef, a Chicago-based meal kit company with $250 million in sales. The companies say the deal will position Kroger to take the lead as consumers change the way they shop for and prepare the meals they cook at home. Kroger will pay $200 million for the Home Chef,
Many companies today embrace some form of continuous improvement process, under which they strive to make their products, services and systems better over time. The CIP concept seems very professional and corporate, but former Dollar General Corp. chief executive officer Cal Turner Jr. had a blunter version of the same idea. “Would you like to
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans to merge its Asda unit in the United Kingdom with J. Sainsbury PLC, in a move that would unseat Tesco PLC as the country’s top retailer. Asda currently ranks No. 3 in market share, and Sainsbury is No. 2. Under the terms of the deal, Walmart would have a 42%