Supermarket/Grocery

Asheville, N.C. -- Ingles Markets Inc. said Monday that its fiscal first-quarter net income increased 9%. The supermarket chain earned $11.6 million for the quarter ended Dec. 29, up from $10.6 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 2% to $932.8 million, from $918.2 million. Ingles Markets said that weekly customer visits increased 1.4% during the quarter, while the average amount that customers spent was nearly unchanged.

Ingles Markets operates 203 supermarkets in six states in the southeastern U.S.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens announced the promotion of Joseph Magnacca from SVP to EVP, effective Feb. 1. Magnacca also retains his title as president of daily living products and solutions.

Magnacca oversees Walgreens merchandising and inventory strategy, private brands, insights and analytics, and the New York-based Duane Reade drugstore chain, which Walgreens acquired in 2010.

Matthews, N.C. -- Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. reported that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose nearly 67%. The company earned $22.8 million for the quarter that ended Jan. 1, up from $13.7 million in the same quarter last year. The prior year's results included an $18 million cost to settle some pension liabilities and employee benefits in connection with the sale of its industrial thread manufacturing company.
    

New York -- A report released Thursday by PwC found that U.S. retail and consumer merger & acquisition activity in 2012 drove both deal volume and value up from the prior year as the number of larger deals over $1 billion almost doubled.

According to PwC’s U.S. retail and consumer M&A insights “2012 Year in Review and 2013 Outlook” report, private equity activity in the retail sector comprised nearly 40% of deal volume and 55% of deal value, and IPO volume increased 38%.

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko announced it has completed the conversion of 163 Pamida stores making it one of the largest U.S. retailers focused on serving smaller and rural communities. It was a year ago that Shopko and Pamida first announced their intent to merge the two companies and convert the existing Pamida locations to the Shopko Hometown store format. One year later, the conversion of the last group of Pamida stores is now complete with the final 36 stores celebrating their official grand openings as Shopko Hometown.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that same-store sales for the month of January edged up 0.3%, boosted by a 4.2% rise in front-end sales for the month along with increased prescription counts.

Total sales for the four-week period decreased 0.5% to $1.914 billion.

Hyannis, Mass. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said Tuesday that, as part of its major remerchandising of Southwind Plaza shopping center in Hyannis, Mass., Kohl’s and Whole Foods Market will be opening new stores at the Cape Cod property.

Kohl’s will begin construction of a nearly 55,000-sq.-ft. space in February with an opening planned for early October.  

Also joining the center with its first Cape location is Whole Foods Market, which will open a 26,000-sq.-ft. store in early 2014.
     

New York -- Retail design consultancy and brand agency CBX has been retained by hunger relief organization Philabundance to design a prototype for Fare & Square, a not-for-profit grocery store slated to open this summer in Chester, Pa.