Supermarket/Grocery

The name for Whole Foods Market's new "streamlined and value-focused brand" is not exactly streamlined.

Slated to begin opening in 2016, the new stores, called "365 by Whole Foods Market," will offer "convenience and everyday low prices on natural and organic products that meet the company's industry-leading quality standards," the company announced Thursday.

Batavia, Ill. — Discount grocery powerhouse Aldi announced plans enter the nation’s most populous state, opening approximately 25 stores in Southern California by July 2016.      The chain’s expansion to California is an integral part of a five-year strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation. By the end of 2018, Aldi expects to operate nearly 2,000 stores.   

Austin, Texas — Whole Foods Market unveiled the name of its new banner of smaller, value-focused and millenial-targeted stores:  “365 by Whole Foods Market.”

Washington, D.C. – At least two new strains of POS malware are reportedly threatening retailers. According to Bank Info Security, the FBI has released a warning about a new form of memory-scraping POS malware called Punkey.   Punkey can infect any Windows-based POS network and encrypts the data it steals, making detection difficult. Punkey may have been used in a recent breach at an unidentified U.S. restaurant chain.  

San Francisco -- Volta Industries is launching a network of more than 100 free electric car charging stations across five cities. Participating retailers include Macy’s and Whole Foods.

Volta first began in Honolulu by offering free electric car charging services underwritten by local brands. Since then, Volta has deployed initial charging infrastructure in high-volume, retail locations in five major cities, including the San Francisco Bay area, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, San Diego, Phoenix, and Honolulu.

Whole Foods Market, whose mission includes a promise toward the humane treatment of animals, is winning accolades for its animal welfare practices.

The company has been recognized with a Good Sow Commendation and a Global Good Egg Award from Compassion in World Farming.

Chicago -- Retail was the most compromised industry in 2014, making up 43% of breach investigations, according to a study by Trustwave that gathered data from 574 breach investigations the company conducted in 2014 across 15 countries. Retail made up 43% of the investigations, followed by food and beverage, which made up 13% of the investigations.

The “2015 Trustwave Global Security Report” found that 64% of the breaches in the retail industry were of e-commerce assets and 27% were of POS assets.

Food Lion is celebrating the anniversary of its hunger relief program by donating more than 1 million meals.

In year 1 of the Food Lion Feeds program, the grocer donated more than 62 million meals and is on target to meet its commitment to donate 500 million meals throughout its 10-state operating area by the end of 2020.