Supermarket/Grocery

DALLAS — Three weeks after being named the first civilian director/CEO in the nearly 117-year history of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, Tom Shull officially took the reins today of the $10-billion military retailer. Shull replaced the Exchange’s last uniformed Commander, Brig. Gen. Fran Hendricks.

New Orleans -- Costco Wholesale Corp. will enter the state of Louisiana with a 148,000-sq.-ft. store at Carrollton Plaza Shopping Center in New Orleans.

The new lease, announced by center owner The Feil Organization, will add Costco to a lineup of retailers that includes CVS, Firestone, Family Dollar and Subway.

Costco is slated to open spring 2013.

An “extremely unusual circumstance,” is how police described the situation that unfolded this week in a Walmart parking lot where a Chicago couple was arrested after several of their children were discovered bound and blindfolded.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. reported Thursday that net income in the first quarter rose to $439.4 million, from $432.3 million last year.

The operator of namesake stores as well as Ralphs, Food 4 Less and others, also said it authorized a $1 billion share buyback.

Sales during the period were $29.06 billion, up from $27.46 billion last year but missing Wall Street’s expected $29.16 billion. Same-store sales rose 4.2%, the grocer’s 34th straight quarter of growth.

With Target set to open its first stores in Canada in less than a year, one source of competition will come from the rapidly growing Dollarama chain.

The 721 unit Montreal-based Dollarama chain said its first quarter same-store sales increased by a weather-aided 8.1%, and total first quarter sales increase 14.9% to $398 million for the period ended April 29. Earnings per share increased 40% to 56 cents from 40 cents. The gross margin rate increased to 36.3% of sales from 35.7% and expenses declined to 18.5% of sales compared to 19.7%.

By Jundong Song, songj@89degrees.com

Wal-Mart, the largest grocer in the world, does not run any traditional loyalty programs to enroll and reward customers for their loyalty. Will this prove to be a costly mistake?

Giving competitors an edge

Unfazed by Walmart’s resurgent customer traffic and same-store sales rebound, the nation’s second largest grocer this week hung its 34 consecutive quarter of identical-store sales growth on the board.

CINCINNATI — Fuel sales at Kroger helped drive the company's total sales up 5.8% to $29.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 from $27.5 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 4.3% over the same period last year.

Identical supermarket sales, without fuel, increased 4.2% in the first quarter over the same period last year, marking the 34 consecutive quarters of positive identical supermarket sales for Kroger.