Supermarket/Grocery

Raleigh, N.C. -- Apple, Costco and The Container Store top the “2012 100 Best Retailers To Work For” list compiled by The Retail Life online retail community, which was developed by Headway Workforce Solutions. DSW and American Eagle outfitters round out the top five.

The list, derived from The Retail Life members, was based on a variety of criteria, such as: competitive salaries, employee reviews, company pride, organizational values and culture, socialization opportunities, and career advancement opportunities.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Carolina retailer Harris Teeter may be exploring a sale, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening. 

According to the report, Harris Teeter is being advised by JP Morgan. WSJ tabulated Harris Teeter's market value at $1.8 billion for its 200 supermarkets. 

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer is investing more than $160 million in new store construction and remodeling.

The investment includes the construction of six new Meijer supercenters, and five major remodel projects.  Michigan, Indiana and Illinois will each welcome two new Meijer supercenters. The remodels planned at an additional four Michigan stores and one Meijer location in Illinois.

CHICAGO — Though a 2% increase in payroll tax may seem insignificant for middle- and upper-income families, it can cause a major change in shopping behavior for lower-income families, a new study has found.

Chicago -- A new Symphony Consulting survey found that the new 2% increase in payroll tax is causing a major shopping behavioral change among lower-income families.

A division of SymphonyIRI Group, Symphony Consulting revealed Monday that dollar stores may be the biggest winners in the battle for the lower-income spenders’ purchasing power.

The year started on a positive note with increases in both number of flyers and pages released to market. More than half of the retailers (56%) maintained previous levels or showed an increase in size of their circulars in January 2013. In addition, the number of inserts per market also showed an increase with almost half (44%) of the advertisers showing a rise in flyer drops for this month. Overall, the number of pages increased slightly (+3.1%), and the number of flyers rose (+8.4%) compared to last year.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Amazon has extended its domination of e-retail into the mobile platform, according to the ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition, released on Tuesday by ForeSee.

In a survey of more than 6,200 consumers collected during the peak holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Amazon scored highest among 25 of the top mobile commerce companies.

New York -- A Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that Harris Teeter Supermarkets is considering putting itself up for sale.

Citing unnamed sources, WSJ reported that the grocer is working with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to pursue strategic options.

No one from Harris Teeter has commented yet.