Consumer Affairs & Relations

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway has introduced its new SimpleNutrition program, an in-store shelf tag system that makes it easier for shoppers to find better nutrition choices among foods and beverages. The SimpleNutrition green shelf tags on qualifying items are located throughout the store next to Safeway’s everyday low prices and club card specials.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax swung to a fourth-quarter profit as the company retailer continued to cut costs, though sales declined in both its contract and retail segments.

OfficeMax reported earnings of $12.7 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $2.58 million. Revenue decreased 2.4% to $1.77 billion. The chain expects sales to be flat for 2011.

New York City -- Months after a voter initiative to abolish North Dakota's strict restrictions on pharmacy ownership foundered, the long-running debate resumed Tuesday in the state’s legislature, the Associated Press reported.

North Dakota is the only state in the nation that requires pharmacists to have majority ownership of most pharmacies. The law prevents major retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores, from operating pharmacies in their own stores.

New York City -- For the first time in six years, the number of consumers who switched service providers as a result of poor customer service declined in 2010, according to the latest edition of an annual consumer behavior study by Accenture.

New York City -- Family Dollar Stores received a buyout offer on Tuesday from a New York hedge fund at $55 to $60 per share, a 36% premium over yesterday’s closing price. The offer, which values the company at up to $7.6 billion, was made by Trian Group, which is headed by activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Trian Group has been accumulating shares of the discount retailer in recent months, and Peltz has met with management to discuss ways to boost its performance.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The American Customer Satisfaction Index has dropped just 0.1% from the previous quarter to 75.9 on the ACSI's 100-point scale, indicating that customers satisfaction remains strong, the ACSI reported.

New York City -- A Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that hedge fund billionaire and Sears Holding Corp. chairman Edward Lampert has reported holding a 5.8% stake in Gap Inc.

Lampert reported the stake in a 13G filing, or a filing for passive investors, with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday.

His ESL Partners company and affiliates reported beneficially holding 35 million common shares.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Operations at Winn-Dixie Stores continued to improve across the second quarter, helping to drive shares up by 11 cents to $6.92 per share in mid-day trading.

“Overall I feel good about our progress this quarter,” Peter Lynch, Winn-Dixie chairman, CEO and president, told analysts Tuesday morning during a conference call. “[We] continued to improve sales through strategic adjustments to our promotional activity.”