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☆ I read my grandparents' love letters from the 1920s. It was a gift to see how their relationship began.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Courtenay Rudzinski | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But tucked away securely in a string-wrapped envelope was a stack of love letters my grandfather wrote to her when they were dating. These treasured notes from the 1920s were fragile and falling apart — and a time capsule of what dating was like 100 years ago. I know how it ended — my grandparents sitting at their Formica kitchen table, watching the hummingbirds and sharing the daily newspaper — but what a gift to see how it began. I saved notes my husband wrote me when we were dating, but my kids and their friends don't communicate this way anymore. Love letters, written in cursive and sealed with a kiss, may truly be a relic of the past.

Persons: She'd, Austin — Uber, Alice, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Texas, Sears Roebuck, tote Locations: San Marcos , Texas, Austin, Fort Worth, Waco

☆ US government sues to block largest supermarket merger in history
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block the $25 billion deal between Kroger and Albertsons, alleging the largest supermarket merger in US history would lead to higher prices for consumers. The merger, announced in 2022, sought to combine the fifth and tenth largest retailers in the country. “This supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years. With the FTC’s blessing, Haggen, a small supermarket chain in the Northwest with just 18 locations, bought 146 of the former Albertsons and Safeway stores. She criticized the FTC’s handling of Albertsons’ deal with Safeway, pointing to it as a prime example of the limitations of divestitures.

Persons: Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Kroger, Rodney McMullen, Henry Liu, Piggly, Khan, Lina Khan, Haggen, ” Khan, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Trade Commission, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FTC, Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Competition, S Wholesale Grocers, Democrats, Republicans, Capitol Locations: New York, United States, Aldi, FTC’s, Northwest

☆ Kroger and Albertsons sell 400 stores to Piggly Wiggly’s parent company
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Kroger and Albertsons are selling roughly 400 stores to Piggly Wiggly’s parent company in an attempt to win antitrust approval for the mega merger between the grocery stores. C&S, a privately held company, operates 500 grocery stores under the Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union banners and is also a major grocery wholesaler. On Friday, Kroger reported $33.85 billion in revenue for the second quarter, slightly under analyst estimates of $34.63 billion. Company executives said part of the quarterly loss related to economic headwinds, organized retail theft and opioid settlement payments. The largest to date is a $26 billion settlement involving several companies that began paying out last year and continues for 18 years.

Persons: New York CNN —, ” Kroger, ”, Mark McGowan, Kroger Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York CNN — Kroger, Albertsons, S Wholesale Grocers, Union, Walmart, Costco, Aldi, ., Kroger Locations: New York, Arizona , California, Colorado, Wyoming, Amazon, Aldi, Dixie, ” State

All fuel centers and pharmacies associated with the divested stores will remain with the stores and continue to operate. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, bid $20 billion for Albertsons. C&S, which was founded in 1918, is a supplier to independent grocery stores, supplying more than 7,500 independent supermarkets, retail chain stores and military bases. It currently runs Grand Union grocery stores and Piggly Wiggly franchise and corporate-owned stores in the Midwest and Carolinas. Shares of Kroger Co., based in Ohio, rose 5% Thursday and Albertsons Cos., based in Idaho, rose 3%.

Persons: Debi Lilly Design, Primo Taglio, Kroger, ” Kroger, Rodney McMullen Organizations: Kroger, Albertsons, S Wholesale Grocers, Waterfront Bistro, Walmart, Amazon, Aldi, Winn, Dixie, Federal Trade Commission, Union, Kroger Co, Albertsons Cos Locations: Cincinnati , Ohio, Midwest, Carolinas, Ohio, Idaho

☆ Slowing inflation is dragging on Kroger sales, even as consumers still feel a pinch
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But it has created risk that customers could turn to retailers known for lower food prices, such as Walmart, Aldi or Dollar General . Kroger reaffirmed its full-year guidance, saying it expects identical sales excluding fuel to range between 1% and 2%. In an earnings release, he said the grocer expects inflation to "continue to decelerate" and expects a tougher backdrop for consumers in the months ahead. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said on an earnings call that slowing inflation could lift sales in another way. He said Kroger has stepped up security and added new tech to try to fight crime, but said Kroger expects the theft trends "will continue to be a challenge for the remainder of the year."

Persons: Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, King Soopers, Gary Millerchip, Rodney McMullen, McMullen, Millerchip Organizations: Kroger, LSEG, Target, Walmart, Aldi, Express, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Albertsons, S Wholesale Grocers, Grand Union Locations: U.S, Florida, Washington ,

The deal would give privately held C&S, primarily a supplier rather than an operator of grocery stores, a much more significant footprint. The stores that Kroger and Albertsons plan to shed are primarily in the Pacific Northwest and the Mountain states, along with some in California, Texas, Illinois, and the East Coast, the sources said. Bloomberg News reported about the talks between C&S, Kroger and Albertsons on Monday, as well as SoftBank's involvement but gave no information about the deal terms. Previously, Kroger and Albertsons said they may divest between 100 and 375 stores by placing them in a new company that Albertsons shareholders would own. In a regulatory filing Kroger said the upper limit for divestitures was 650 stores.

Persons: Rick Cohen, Cohen, SoftBank, Kroger, Ahold, Anirban Sen, Abigail Summerville, Juby Babu, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Rashmi Aich, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Kroger, Albertsons Cos Inc, S Wholesale Grocers, Grand Union, Piggly, SoftBank Group Corp, Symbotic Inc, Albertsons, Bloomberg News, Thomson, & $ Locations: Pacific Northwest, California , Texas , Illinois, East Coast, New York, Bengaluru

☆ What happened to shut down Toyota's production in Japan?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WHAT HAPPENED TO SHUT DOWN TOYOTA'S PRODUCTION IN JAPAN? Toyota's production has been recovering this year, so the outage could be potentially more costly than the 2022 shutdown. Toyota's production in Japan - about a third of its global output - averaged about 13,500 vehicles a day in the first half of the year, Reuters calculations showed. WHAT IS TOYOTA'S PRODUCTION AND SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM? Toyota's system of lean production and just-in-time parts delivery has been adopted across the auto industry and widely studied.

Persons: Taichi Ono, Wiggly, Koji Sato, Akio Toyoda, Tesla, Daniel Leussink, Satoshi Sugiyama, Kevin Krolicki, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Toyota, Kyodo, REUTERS Acquire, Kojima Industries, Lexus, Daihatsu, Hino, TOYOTA, ITS, Thomson Locations: Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, JAPAN, United States

☆ I live in a town of 1,100 people. Inflation has changed the way I grocery shop — here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I live in Altamont, Tennessee, a small rural town with a population of around 1,100 people. The closest grocery stores we have near us are The Dollar Store and Piggly Wiggly, which are walking distance from my house. I usually buy a protein like chicken or beef, vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts, and occasional carbs like potatoes. If I buy beef, that will usually put my bill over my $100 weekly limit. The cost of Starbucks ground French roast that I buy from the grocery store has increased by more than 50%, from $6 to $10.99 per 12-ounce bag.

☆ Stores say shoplifting is a national crisis. The numbers don’t back it up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Videos of brazen shoplifting incidents, like this one posted to social media in 2021, have turned retail theft into a national issue. The metric incorporates inventory losses caused by external theft, including organized retail crime, employee theft, human errors, vendor fraud, damaged or mismarked items and other losses. Whatever the numbers say, though, retailers maintain that organized retail crime has gotten worse. Organized retail crime typically refers to large-scale retail theft and fraud by groups of professional shoplifters who conspire to steal and resell stolen merchandise. The NRF estimates that organized retail crime costs companies an average of just 7 cents for every $100 in sales.

☆ How Yasmin Curtis turned her Chicago restaurant's seafood boil into a frozen product and made $2.6 million in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

During the pandemic, she broadened her customer base by selling her seafood boil in grocery stores. Creating a frozen product from her signature seafood boilTwo Fish sells seafood boil with shrimp and snow-crab legs. Two FishBefore the pandemic, Two Fish Crab Shack had an average wait time of 2 ½ hours to get a table. Two Fish Crab ShackBillboards to reach new demographicsWhen Curtis was first getting her frozen product into stores, she turned to an old-school marketing method: billboards. She's also expanded her frozen seafood boil to include corn and potatoes, which appealed to customers who wanted quick, complete dinners.

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