Sobeys

SAN FRANCISCO — A new bill introduced by a California assemblywoman aims to curb the sale of alcohol to minors by prohibiting sales at self-service checkouts.

Assembly Bill 183, introduced last month by Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, was passed by the assembly committee. Assemblywoman Ma said that self-service checkouts are susceptible to technological failures, allowing minors to purchase alcohol.

Rockville, Md. — Mike Jackson was named to the board of directors of iControl Systems USA where he will also serve in the capacity of senior advisor to iControl president and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky. Jackson is a 30-year veteran of Supervalu veteran who retired from the company in late 2009 as president and COO.

The 13.1% increase in same-store sales Target reported for April was toward the low end of the company’s projection of an increase in the mid-teens, but it doesn’t appear Walmart’s mid-month launch of a new marketing campaign contributed to the weakness.

The most recent pricing survey from the equity research team at Credit Suisse shows that Walmart is either 3.1% cheaper than Target or 1.9% more expensive. The firm compared prices at stores in the Dallas and Chicago markets, as it does every month, and during March discovered the gap between the two competitors narrowed considerably.

“Target’s price gap with Walmart tightened from 4.2% in February to 3.1%,” according to the firm. “Target’s basket price decreased sequentially by 0.8% compared with Walmart’s 0.3% increase.”

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that has teamed up with design expert Debi Lilly to launch an exclusive new line of entertaining and home décor products.

Target is the newest member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill organization. The decision to join the group comes as Target has been expanding the frozen and refrigerated capacity in its stores at a breakneck pace as part of the PFresh remodeling program. Greenchill is an EPA partnership with food retailers to help them reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

The most recent pricing survey from the equity research team at Credit Suisse shows that Target is either 3.1% more expensive or 1.9% less expensive than Walmart. The firm compared prices at stores in the Dallas and Chicago markets, as it does every month, and during March discovered the gap between the two competitors narrowed considerably.

“Target’s price gap with Walmart tightened from 4.2% in February to 3.1%,” according to the firm. “Target’s basket price decreased sequentially by 0.8% compared with Walmart’s 0.3% increase.”

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Taxes related to Safeway's effort to pay down debt reduced its first-quarter net income, but the company's adjusted results beat Wall Street's expectations as its revenue rose, the Associated Press reported.

The company earned $25.1 million for the quarter, compared with $96 million a year earlier. This includes a tax charge related to a plan to pay down its U.S. debt with part of a $1.1 billion dividend in cash and debt from its Canadian operations.