Supermarket/Grocery

WASHINGTON -- Walmart joined First Lady Michelle Obama in Washington today to unveil a comprehensive effort to provide its customers with healthier and more affordable food choices. 

The program will involve five key elements:

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.  -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced that it has debuted the winning design from its first-ever Design-A-Bag contest in its stores this week. The new reusable bag retails for only 79 cents and has already been a big hit with customers with thousands already sold. The bag's creative design was hand-drawn by Los Angeles resident Josephine Close, who received a year's worth of free groceries for winning the contest.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Fast on the heels of her departure from Ahold USA’s Giant Foods of Landover supermarket unit, Robin Michel has been tapped for an increasingly critical role at retail giant Sears Holdings. Michel, who left as president of Giant-Landover in December 2010, will serve as SVP and president of food and consumables, health and beauty and pharmacy at Sears and its Kmart subsidiary.

Atlanta -- RedPrairie Corp., a productivity solutions provider, announced that it has finalized the acquisition of SofTechnics, a leading provider of integrated retail enterprise solutions that has been serving customers for more than 20 years.     

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart stores, and Steven Preston, president and CEO of OakLeaf Waste Management were named to the RILA board of directors, following the board’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Sarasota, Fla.

Simon replaces Walmart vice chairman and president and CEO of global e-commerce and global sourcing Eduardo Castro-Wright.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. said Tuesday it is resuming its search for a new president of its pharmacy operations in view of Wal-Mart Stores’ lawsuit to block its previous choice.

MINNEAPOLIS — During the Super Bowl, football fans look forward to guilt-free snacking and will fumble on healthy eating goals for the day, according to the 2011 Supervalu Snack Down Survey by Harris Interactive.

New York City -- Revionics said that it has been selected by Roundy’s Supermarkets as the retailer’s price optimization provider. The supermarket chain said it will leverage Revionics' analytic services, which will provide the retailer with insight into market patterns and consumer preferences to make better, fact-based decisions.