Supermarket/Grocery

Consumer packaged goods companies are poised to gain a more robust offering of shopper insights from an expanded relationship between TiVo Research and Analytics and DunnhumbyUSA.

City Of Commerce, Calif. — 99 Cents Only has announced the opening of two new stores. The retailer will open an 18,960o-sq.-ft. store in McAllen, Texas, and an 11,685-sq.-ft. store in Laveen, Ariz. The grand opening of each store will feature the sale of Westinghouse Flat Screen TVs for only 99 cents each to the first nine customers in line to visit the store.

Both stores will feature a perishable food department, including produce, dairy and frozen foods.
 

Whole Foods Market’s core values of local, natural and environmentally responsible commerce are showcased in its store in downtown Detroit. The 21,506-sq.-ft. store, the retailer’s first location in the Motor City, features lower pricing and combines its signature organic and locally-made/grown goods with a larger selection of private-label items and frozen and prepackaged foods.

Loblaw has announced a string of executive moves, including the appointment of Mark Butler as EVP integration, who is charged with integrating the recently acquired Shoppers Drug Mart.

In the newly created role, Butler will take on responsibility for planning the integration of Shoppers Drug Mart, while ensuring it remains an independent division. And subject to completion of the transaction following review by the Competition Bureau, Butler will lead the team charged with delivering synergies. He has 37 years with Loblaw, and most recently was EVP conventional division.

Tewksbury, Mass. – DeMoulas Supermarkets Inc., operator of the Market Basket supermarket chain, has reportedly been allowed by a judge in Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts to continue making a $300 million payout to shareholders.

According to the Boston Globe, Judge Judith Fabricant denied a motion by Arthur T. DeMoulas, president of DeMoulas Supermarkets, to stop the payout, which had been approved by a majority of the company’s board of directors. All nine shareholders receiving the payout are members of the DeMoulas family.

New York -- Canada’s Loblaw Cos. announced a series of executive appointments, including the naming of Mark Butler as executive VP integration.

In the newly created role, Butler will take on responsibility for planning the integration of Shoppers Drug Mart, while ensuring it remains an independent division. He has 37 years with Loblaw, and most recently was executive VP conventional division.

Former president of Giant-Landover, Anthony Hucker, has joined Schnuck Markets as EVP and chief strategy officer.

Hucker recently resigned as president of Giant-Landover, a chain owned by Ahold USA that runs 169 stores in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas.

"Anthony is a tremendous talent who shares our values; he's customer-focused and a true merchant in every sense," Schnucks chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck said. "We expect that he will add velocity to efforts that will ensure Schnucks' continued growth and success."

New York -- Governor Jerry Brown of California on Wednesday signed a bill approving a $2 hike in the state’s minimum wage, with the increase to be rolled out during the next three years. The increase will make California's minimum wage the highest in the country.

The wage increase will go into effect in two separate $1 increments, going from the current minimum of $8 to $9 on July 1, 2014, and then to $10, on January 1, 2016.