Supermarket/Grocery

New York -- Whole Foods Market plans to open six new locations in Chicago, four of which will open in May, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

The new stores will be located in former Dominick’s locations.

“We took the time to design and build a brand new store for each community that would offer not just a full-service grocery, but also a place to meet friends and share each other’s company,” said Michael Bashaw, president of Whole Foods Market’s Midwest Region, in a statement.

Cary, N.C. – SAS Institute Inc. has recently completed rollouts of CRM, logistics and marketing solutions at several European retailers. For example, Milan, Italy-based online wine retailer Wineverse chose SAS Visual Analytics to increase customer insights and reduce supply chain costs that result in greater customer satisfaction.

The restructuring of Walmart’s senior executive ranks continues with the latest round of appointments involving some familiar leaders in new roles with curious titles as well as some key resignations.

It's the end of an era for Safeway and Albertsons, as the companies announced they have completed their merger, ending a nearly year-long process that began in 2014.

AB Acquisition LLC, the owner of Albertson's and New Albertson's, Inc., will acquire all outstanding shares of Safeway. The merger will create a diversified network that includes 2,230 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 19 manufacturing plants with more than 250,000 employees across 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) has publicly expressed disappointment at the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it would not review an appellate court ruling on whether the Federal Reserve set a 2011 cap on debit card swipe fees higher than the level sought by Congress in legislation passed the year before.

New York -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association announced that top executives from Target, Walgreens and Cabela’s have joined the association’s board of directors.

RILA announced four new members of its board, including Target chairman and CEO Brian Cornell, Walgreens president Alexander Gourlay, Cabela’s president and CEO Thomas Millner and Newell Rubbermaid president and CEO Michael Polk.

Bentonville, Ark. - The restructuring of Wal-Mart’s senior executive ranks continues with the latest round of appointments involving some familiar leaders in new roles with curious titles, as well as some key resignations.

Washington, D.C. – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will reportedly review a rule that allowed Whole Foods Market Inc. to block a shareholder proposal regarding director nominations. According to Bloomberg, the SEC said it will take another look at a regulation that lets public companies block proposals from shareholders if the company offers a similar proposal.

Deerfield, Ill. - Roundy’s Inc. has selected Market6’s retailer/supplier collaboration software platform, Market6 Foundation, to deliver a new vendor collaboration portal for Roundy’s enterprise-wide merchandising team and consumer goods supplier community.  Roundy’s needed a simpler, more efficient way to exchange information and work with its suppliers on a daily basis around shared high-value business processes, such as executing promotions, managing inventory, driving new item introductions, and reducing out-of-stock items.

With retail executive titles becoming increasingly exotic, credit Walmart for coming up with an unusual sounding title for a position that other retailers might describe as chief omnichannel officer.