Monday News at Noon: Gillibrand visits Staten Island ShopRite

Crain's NY: Fairway Negotiating for another NYC Site.
Upper East Side residents may soon have a better selection of produce and dairy products to choose from. Fairway Market is in negotiation for a lease at 240 E. 86th St., between Second and Third avenues, according to two real estate sources.

Pathmark is replacing a planned film studio in Philadelphia, plans on opening new store early 2011.

Walmart announced last week it plans to eliminate approximately 300 positions, primarily in the corporate support area at its main offices here, in an effort to be more efficient.

Senator at your Supermarket: Senator Gillibrand (NY) meet with Staten Island shoppers and ShopRite employees in Staten Island Saturday. 

UFCW Local 7: Colorado:  Safeway & King Soopers Ratify.
Safeway and Kroger-owned King Soopers grocery store clerks and meat cutters on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to ratify a four-year contract that they rejected in a vote late last year. The new agreement covers about 3,000 retail clerks and meat cutters in Denver, Broomfield, Parker and Castle Pines.

More: Union improves grocery contracts.

Stop & Shop provides tours to Elementary School children.
The tour is now called the “Stop & Shop Store Explorer Program,” and includes information about recycling, the environment and Stop & Shop’s Healthy Ideas shelf-tag program.

Stop & Shop has been advertising for new 'temporary workers' throughout New England, with contracts expiring on Feb. 20.

More @ The Provincetown Banner

BJ's Wholesale Club opened their store in Flushing on Saturday, instead of cutting a ribbon, they broke bread.

Fox News: Harlem Costco struggles to catch on.

Notorious developer Joe Sitt, plans on developing a $100 million shopping center in Bensonhurst, anchored by a BJ's Wholesale Club.

Tops Markets
Watertown Daily Times: Tops Markets is trying to find another unionized grocer to purchase seven former P&C stores in the north country, partly because they're too far from the Buffalo-based company's core service region, according to grocery union officials.

More @ Syracuse.com

More @ ABC News

A King Kullen Supermarket on Forest Avenue in Glen Cove held a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand re-opening on Friday, January 29 after the renovations of the supermarket were completed.

800 Superfresh workers in New Jersey will vote on a contract today with UFCW Local 152.

A look at the new proposed 11,000 sqft Foodtown in the Bronx, who applied for FRESH incentives.

Politics
John Durso, President of UFCW/RWDSU 338 Editorial: Focus on Green Jobs.

Philadelphia residents can now earn hundreds of dollars and gift cards for recycling with the city's new "Recycle Rewards" program.

NY Labor Commissioner (Patricia Smith) gets the nod for Federal job.

Soda Tax
State Sen. Brian X. Foley (D-Blue Point) last week, led a rally of beverage industry workers against Governor Paterson's proposed 50 percent tax on soda and other drinks.  Thomas Cullen, Vice President of Government and Industry Relations for the King Kullen Grocery Company, said: "This tax on beverages is a regressive tax that will hurt families during difficult economic times. The retail food industry works hard to keep prices down for our customers, but this tax will severely drive up cost to consumers."

Obama's Budget funds Food Retailers in Underserved Areas.
In his 2011 budget proposal, President Barack Obama has called for over $400 million in investments in new and expanded supermarkets, farmers markets’ and other food stores. A public-€private grant and loan program would significantly reduce the roughly 23 million Americans with limited access to full‐service supermarkets and create thousands of retail and construction jobs in low-income areas. The investment, split among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, includes $250 million in New Market Tax Credit allocations to encourage private investment in underserved communities.