Supermarket/Grocery

New York City -- Royal Ahold NV has agreed to acquire bol.com, the Netherlands’ largest online retailer, for about $470 million in cash.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway has named Brian Baer president of its Dominick’s Finer Foods division in the Chicago area.

Baer had been acting president of Dominick’s since last July when the previous president, Don Kperta, resigned.

Baer joined Safeway in 2001 as VP finance for the company’s Phoenix division. In 2008, he was appointed CFO at Dominick’s.

Wheaton, Ill. -- Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Mid-America Asset Management announced that the expansive renovation of Rice Lake Square, in Wheaton, Ill., has been completed.

The 251,313-sq.-ft. shopping center, renovated over a five-month period, received new roof uplighting and tower elements, two new pedestrian plazas, several parking spaces, improvements to traffic flow and landscaping, and new signage that was placed last December.

Waban, Mass. -- Research released Monday by Temkin Group, which ranked the customer experience at 206 large companies across 18 industries, found that several grocers are offering excellent customer service.

WAYNE, N.J. — Babies“R”Us launched the Very Important Baby (V.I.B.) program, designed to allow parents an opportunity to earn a 10% bonus savings on baby essentials.

The complimentary V.I.B. card is much like a debit card and can be used toward purchases of any brand of diapers, wipes, formula and baby food at “R” Us stores nationwide. Every time money is loaded onto the card, Babies “R” Us will add 10% – up to $200 annually.

Edens will unveil Mosaic in fall 2012. The urban grid design mixing hotel, office and retail, Mosaic is a 31-acre mixed-use development located in the heart of Merrifield, Va.

Mosaic offers a wide variety of on-site amenities including a diverse offering of restaurants unique to the community, shops and large-scale retailers, specialty services and more, all within walking distance.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway posted a drop in quarterly net income amid higher commodity costs.

The company reported net income of $215.6 million (67 cents per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of 2011. In the fourth quarter of 2010, Safeway reported net income of $229.6 million (62 cents per diluted share).

Total sales increased 6.2% to $13.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 from $12.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, helped by higher fuel sales and a 1.5% increase in identical-store sales (excluding fuel).

News this week that Walmart acquired a majority stake in one of China’s fastest growing e-commerce companies positions Walmart to become a dominant multichannel player in China far faster than it ever would have on its own.

Walmart’s U.S. stores regained customer traffic during the fourth quarter and president and CEO Mike Duke said the company had a great Christmas, but it didn’t feel that way to investors who couldn’t dump shares of the company fast enough after earnings were released on Tuesday.

Total company sales for the quarter increase by 5.8% to $122.3 billion and profits from continuing operations increased 3.4% to nearly $5.2 billion while earnings per share increased 7.5% to $1.44 from $1.34 if one time gains are excluded from both reporting periods.

St. Louis -- HBD Construction said Thursday that it teamed with grocer Dierbergs to build a freestanding store in St. Louis that features an underground parking garage.

The 80,000-sq.-ft. store, located on 6.5 acres, is the first St. Louis-area supermarket to offer covered parking, with 42% of its parking spaces planned for a brightly lit lower-level garage. The construction completion date is estimated to be July 31.