Supermarket/Grocery

Washington, D.C. -- The Consumer Intentions and Actions survey released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and conducted by BIGresearch found that, as of the second week in December, the average person has completed 46.5% of their holiday shopping.

Last year at this time, the average shopper had completed 49.5% of their shopping.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. said Wednesday it has appointed Al Duran to president of the company's Denver Division. He replaces Scott Grimmett, who is leaving Safeway for another opportunity.

Duran joined Safeway's Denver Division in 1979, and worked his way through the company's ranks including senior retail operations and marketing positions in the Safeway's Phoenix and Dominick's divisions. He joined Safeway's corporate team in 2009 as VP retail initiatives.

San Francisco -- Whole Foods Market partnering with EnergySmart Jobs and PECI on high-efficiency refrigeration retrofits. EnergySmart Jobs works with supermarkets and other commercial retail businesses throughout California to lower their operating costs by reducing the amount of energy they use.

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports should be up 0.3% in December compared with the same month last year as retailers head to the finish line of the holiday shopping season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores spent $1.49 million on lobbying in the third quarter on a wide range of issues including food safety, nutritional labeling and corporate tax reform, according to a recent disclosure report.

The total is the same as the $1.49 million the discounter spent in second quarter 2011.
 

New York City -- Retail sales rose 0.2% in November, following a 0.6% advance in October that was more than initially reported, according to figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department in Washington. The November increase was the slightest gain in five months. Economists projected a 0.6% November increase, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Purchases excluding automobiles also rose 0.2%.

New York City -- Chain Store Age invites design firms, architects, retailers and suppliers to submit entries for its 30th annual Retail Store of the Year Design Competition. Eligible projects are those completed between November 2010 and December 2, 2011. Deadline for submission is December 20, 2011. Extensions are available.

Twenty-one competition categories are featured, ranging from supermarkets and discount/mass merchants to specialty stores and pop-up stores.

The Holiday Shopping Season got off to a fast start with sales numbers increasing by 6.6% compared with last year, according to Shopper Trak. Promotional activity started earlier than usual and helped shoppers stay in the know as to where they could find the best deals. Leading up to Black Friday, increases were seen in print for both page counts and circular drops in many instances. In digital there were increases in volume and frequency of online, email and social promotions.  

Chicago -- Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category optimization solutions, announced that Morrisons, the United Kingdom’s fourth largest food retailer, will utilize its complete product suite to automate its merchandising strategy.

Mumbai, India -- A Monday report by Reuters said that the world’s third-largest retailer Tesco Plc has delayed its plans to set up wholesale stores in India, as it faces mountains of political red tape and controversy in the country.

Reuters, citing a report in the Business Standard newspaper, said that the supermarket giant will instead focus on setting up warehouses and back-end infrastructure.