Thursday Morning One Liners: Shaw's, Fairway & Fast Food in NYC

The CEO of Fairway Market ended months of speculation when he confirmed the supermarket chain will open a branch on the Upper East Side at a Community Board 8 meeting Wednesday.  More @ DNAinfo.

New Stop & Shop in Farmingdale: They are set to open for business late spring or early summer, a spokesperson said. The 74,000 square foot store will be housed on a nine-acre section of land and is expected to create 30 full-time management and 140 part-time jobs, according to Stop & Shop spokesperson Kevin Ryan.

Cheerios first honored employees in Philadelphia, now here in NYC, Staten Island, ShopRite employees are being honored with their photo's on new Cheerios boxes. “It’s a reflection of the Staten Island community and the associates creating these results,” said Kevin Mannix, owner of the Graniteville grocery store.

JetBlue's HQ lands in Queens: Queens beats out Orlando in hard-fought battle to house growing airline; New York City to keep 950 jobs as JetBlue relocates from Forest Hills to Long Island City.

Hyde Park Set to OK new Stop & Shop — The town Planning Board is poised to approve construction of a Stop & Shop supermarket in the Hyde Park Mall after several years of board review and site-plan modifications.

Shaw's Strike

Supermarket News: Shaw's has told the union representing striking workers at its distribution center here that it has "started the process of recruiting and hiring permanent replacement workers" at the facility.

Eagle Tribune: Shaw's says it will replace striking workers.

Boston Globe: Shaw's will layoff 4% of its workers.

Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc. said yesterday that it plans to lay off 4 percent of its store associates in early April in an effort to stay competitive and make its stores more efficient. The move comes more than two weeks after hundreds of its workers went on strike across New England.

Shaw’s spokeswoman Judy Chong said the cutbacks will take effect on April 10 and include “some full-time retail positions’’ in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. But she declined to say how many employees

UFCW Local 791 meanwhile has blasted Shaw's for issuing this threat:
“Many of these men and women have worked at the warehouse for many years. By threatening to bring in replacement workers, Shaw’s is jeopardizing the livelihoods of hundreds of workers and their families. It is long past time for the Company to return to the table and publicly demonstrate its commitment to their hard working and dedicated employees who have helped make Shaw’s a successful company,” Read more: Press Release



Progressive Grocer: UFCW 791 Rips Shaw's for Threatening to Hire Permanent Replacement Workers.

Supermarket News: Walmart On the Attack, Food Price Wars
“Wal-Mart is lacing up the gloves as it prepares to step back into the ring and win the modern-day price war in food retail,” said Deborah Weinswig, an analyst with Citigroup, New York, in a report issued last week. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores posted a rare dip in comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter — an event that served as “a wake-up call for management,” she said.

BJ's Wholesale Club will be moving into new corporate headquarters in Westborough, Mass., early next year, a spokeswoman for the chain told SN Wednesday. 

South Hampton Press: Is King Kullen in the plans for a new store at the new Tuckahoe Hamlet Center?
The hamlet of Tuckahoe, a mostly residential community without much of a commercial center, may soon feature a large shopping development that includes a King Kullen grocery store, as many as four restaurants, more than 10 retail shops and about a dozen new apartments.

Politics

Crain's: NYC Sick-Day Bill to be Reintroduced.

Speaker Christine Quinn on the Big Mac Attack:
Hoping to stop fast-food restaurants from saturating poor neighborhoods, she announced plans Tuesday to single out the junk-food joints in the city zoning code.  Read more:@ NY Daily News