Weeks End One Liners: ShopRite may open in Patchogue, A&P Sells Six Properties

Walmart Wage & Hour suit Settled in CA

A U.S. District Court judge in Oakland, CA granted final approval this week to the settlement of a wage-and-hour class-action suit against Wal-Mart's California operations.

The settlement, which provides for a payment of between $43 million and $86 million, concludes more than four years of litigation concerning payment of wages to California workers. As part of the settlement, Wal-Mart also agreed to continue to maintain electronic systems that will protect the rights of workers. 

The Observer reports on Wal-Mart's latest sales pitch to enter NYC...a great read that counters the NY Post's endless Walmart support:

Yet it is just as possible that Walmart could undermine other city retailers who pay better wages, which gives people more money to spend at other stores, which also helps drive the economy. Less disposable income, less taxes, a greater housing burden, more welfare and so on

ShopRite rumored to open in Patchogue:

A ShopRite may be the previously unconfirmed supermarket to be moving in next to the Raymour & Flanagan furniture store that is under construction on the site of the former Home Depot on Sunrise Highway in Patchogue.

The struggling A&P announced on Tuesday they have agreed to sell six Pathmark locations to Winstanley Enterprises in a sale- leaseback transaction for $89.8 million. 

More @ Reuters.

Meanwhile yesterday A&P announced a new in-store marketing partnership.

Wal-Mart Opens New $115M Distribution Center Outside Calgary

Wal-Mart Canada officially opened today its new $115-million fresh-food distribution center in Balzac, which will serve as a hub for its wester Canadian stores. 

City Officials Try to Win Over Walmart Opponents

Baltimore, MD -- A proposed Walmart in the heart of the city is a step closer to becoming reality. The mayor and council said they believe the 11-acre complex will be a valuable economic engine for the for the city and they've managed to win over many community members who initially opposed the project. 

BJ's Wholesale Club is for Sale?[Buisness Week]

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. plans to run an auction to sell itself after receiving an offer from private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP in recent months, said three people with knowledge of the situation.

BJ’s hired Morgan Stanley to help sell the company, said two people, who declined to be identified because the matter is private. Morgan Stanley will also offer to provide financing to potential buyers, or so-called staple financing.

More @ Bloomberg

Another report citing Chicago's Food Deserts Shrinking @ SN

Costco Argues Before Supreme Court For Ability to Sell Imported Goods For Less

Did the Issaquah box-store giant go too far by undercutting the manufacturer itself? That was the retailing quandary before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in the oral arguments in the copyright feud between Costco and the Swiss watchmaker Omega. 

The Examiner.com thinks Balducci's will return to Manhattan, sooner than later.

Battle between a Duane Reade and a Mom & Pop pharmacy in Williamsburg is growing...

Trader Joe's in Lake Grove (Long Island) will be moving closer to competitor, Whole Foods, into a vacant Toys 'R Us at the Smithhaven Mall plaza, the move will be finished in the coming weeks.

RetailWire: Trader Joe's moves in on Fairway's turf, Upper West Side.

25,00 members of UFCW Local 21 have been voting this week on an offer from four major chains: Safeway, Albertsons, QFC and Fred Meyer. They recently OK'd a Strike.

Pathmark opens in New Dorp, Pomegranate turns one, Garment workers in LIC owed backwages

Image via Wikipedia

Pathmark will re-open in New Dorp Staten Island this week. Grand Opening will be Friday at 10 AM

The Progressive Grocer looks at 'Pomegrante' the kosher and gourmet supermarket in Brooklyn, New York, turns one this month.

Supermarket News picked up the Wal-Mart looking into NYC story.

Queens Crap has a healthy discussion on Wal-Mart in NYC.

Long Island City: Garment workers owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages.
Local garment workers staged a protest against two clothing factories in Long Island City, Queens, on Tuesday. They were rallying for the rights of six Chinese workers, who allegedly are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages and allegedly were fired unlawfully from Great Wall Corp., a garment manufacturer, and Silver Fashion, a subcontractor which produces for Great Wall.

Is CVS moving into the former elegant, marble 14th Street Balducci's?

The Fresh Market is opening their second store in Philadelphia this week, the company continues to expand to the north east.

The latest government report shows more than 50% of peaches hold pesticides.

Upper West Side Whole Foods gets their own wine store.

Fresh & Easy will be launching their own private label beer.

Politics

Mayor Bloomberg will maintain control of schools until 2015.

The mayor in Houston wants to follow Bloomberg’s lead on term limits.

Christine Quinn, Marty Markowitz and Lew Fidler endorsed Darlene Mealy for re-election.

Gourmet Garage will open in about a month, New Farmers Market on Long Island, UFCW Local 7 Contract updates...

Image by stijn via Flickr

Workers in King Soopers, Denver voted on the company's latest contract proposal on Tuesday, in a letter to members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, union President Ernest Duran said King Soopers’ proposal “slashes pensions, fails to preserve health care benefits, maintains the unfair two-tier system and penalizes the corporation’s workers.”

A Farmers / Flea Market will be opening every Saturday at SUNY Old Westbury on Long Island.

Woodhaven Lanes, well what was formerly Woodhaven Lanes, may soon turn into retail space in Glendale Queens.

The New York Times looks at how the recession has hit Jamaica Queens.

Smith’s Food & Drug yesterday came to a tentative agreement on a new contract with United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1564 of Albuquerque, N.M
Supermarket News has more.

Albertsons will close another store in Florida.

Gourmet Garage will open up at the former Balducci's in "about a month"

UFCW 1776 has until today to vote on Acme Markets' "last, best and final contract offer"

Politics

A New York Times/Cornell/NY1 poll shows seven in ten New Yorkers don’t want to elect David Paterson as governor in 2010.

Carolyn Maloney is persistent on running against Kristin Gillibrand.

Recycling water bottles put on hold, UFCW merge in Ohio, Non-Union supermarkets not paying baggers, Wednesday Morning One Liners...

Image by quaisi via Flickr

Peapod has introduced a line of six ready-to-heat, healthy prepared meals by celebrity Chicago chef Michael Foley. Exclusive to the e-grocer, the restaurant-quality entrees are available for

delivery in the Chicago market under the Peapod’s Chef Express Smart Selections brand.

The New York State Department of Labor announced a major settlement with supermarkets (non-union) that were not paying their baggers an hourly wage.

Newsday: The future of the Supermarket: Hand Scanners.

NY Times Dining section says goodbye to Balducci's and Hello Gourmet Garage.

More on the Ohio UFCW merger.

IGA opened a store in Guam last week.

This week the National Association of Chain Drug Stores sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking for pro-patient, pro-pharmacy provisions in healthcare reform.

The Illinois Food Marketing Task Force is calling on lawmakers to create a new “Illinois Fresh Food Fund” initiative to stimulate supermarket development in underserved areas across the state while simultaneously improving health in low-income communities and attracting significant private investment and jobs

A new Stop & Shop in Orangeberg...

Politics

The expansion on NY State's recycling laws has been halted by a federal judge, putting a stop to recycling water bottles, which the state anticipated to receive millions of dollars from to aid the budget.

Environmentalists are upset that a court has delayed the state's bottle deposit law.

New York City is the safest of the 25 largest cities in the United States.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city labor officials announced a tentative agreement Tuesday to amend health benefits for more than 550,000 current and retired city employees, guaranteeing the city $400 million in savings over the next two fiscal years.

The Governor of Colorado has turned his back on UFCW members.

Thursday Morning One Liners...

Image via Wikipedia

Wal-Mart continues to pursue building a store on a Civil War battle field for some reason.

Gourmet Garage will take the upper west side Balducci's location, they have also made an offer on the 14th St. location. Here's a photo of the sign in the window of the UWS location.

The Upper East Side Informer has more on what this means to the UES.

King Soopers workers reject another contract offer in Colorado.

Meanwhile the companies advertisements for 'temp jobs' drew crowds.

Out in Riverhead Long Island, communities are begging for a Trader Joe's to open.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the strong earnings of Supermarkets.

Senator Harkin is considering a compromise on Employee Free Choice
More here

Toys 'R' Us selling Groceries, Another Target in Staten Island, Thursday One Liners...

Image by matneym via Flickr

Aisle 4 in Toys 'R' Us: Groceries?, Toys 'R' Us announced they will begin selling groceries in 260 stores.

Kohl's and Target are looking for new stores in Staten Island.

Here's more from the 2009 Staten Island Conference.

A protest is set for tomorrow at Representative Peter King's office in light of his flip flopping views on the Employee Free Choice Act.

A Garment Factory raided by the DOL yesterday had been producing NYPD uniforms.

Supermercado de Wal-Mart, the new Hispanic-focused food concept from Wal-Mart, opened its first location in Houston Wednesday, bringing what Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart, called “the most dramatic expression” of its recent efforts to improve fresh food merchandising

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has given Ohio $1.7 million as repayment for a tax credit on an optical lab that the company closed in March.

Suffolk County makes a deal with union to avoid layoffs.

The Daily News writes on the future of the stores at Atlas Park.

Safeway workers overwhelmingly ratify a contract.

Duane Reade inks another deal in NYC.

NY Times: Cheap meat at the supermarkets.

Foxwoods and UAW talk, for 6-months now.

The group buying Balducci's chose to close the under performing stores.

The record online reports on the UFCW Local 1262 contract.

The city’s 59 community boards face budget cuts of around $7,000 each.

Marty Markowitz threw out plans for 10,000 square-feet of retail space along Surf Avenue, in Coney Island.

And finally a Nintendo DS was sold in a Wal-Mart full of rocks and Newspapers.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Unions push on Wal-Mart (dailyfinance.com)

BJ's inks a deal in Flushing, Bye Bye Bye to Balducci's, Miami Wal-Mart may organize soon, Tuesday Morning One Liners...

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BJ's Wholesale Club inks another lease in the NYC Metro area.

BJ's to take 170,000 sqft in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

An 89 year old widow is suing BJ's Wholesale Club in an age biased firing.

Balducci's

Village Voice: Bye Bye Balducci's

New York Times: A quiet exit for Balducci's

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge here yesterday declined to void the labor contract that Bruno's Supermarkets has with its employees as the company prepares itself for auction this week.
Read more of this story

The end of Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC in its present form could begin as early as this week as a bankruptcy court auction scheduled for Wednesday gets under way, according to a published account. The auction is expected to result in some stores being sold off and others shuttered.

A&P establishes a new age policy for purchasing alcohol and tobacco.

A California UFCW Local may be absorbed by 2 others.

UFCW Local 371 approved a contract with A&P.

More detailed look at the newly approved contract from the Advocate.

King Soopers and Safeway have agreed tentatively with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local No. 7 to include more preventative health care in the new contract.

Costco last week agreed to settle a lawsuit over the sale of "hot gasoline,” -- gasoline above 60 degrees Fahrenheit that expands but is not accounted for at the pumps, resulting in consumers receiving less gasoline than they pay for.

Miami may be the first Wal-Mart to unionize in the United States.

Walmart Workers for Change, a new campaign claiming to represent thousands of the Bentonville, Ark.-based mega-retailer’s 1.3 million associates across the United States, the campaign has employees in over 100 stores in 15 states who have signed union representation cards, alleging a lack of respect from the company, in addition to low wages and inadequate benefits as reasons to become unionized.

Check their new video here.

Chicago's Wal-Mart super-center is now back on the table.

Bashas' plans to cut under performing stores.

The Fresh Market will expand to Philly.

Trader Joe's will open a new NJ store this summer.

A new Sam's Club will be opening in Edison N.J.

Fresh Direct responds to the anti-idling law.

Ruben Diaz Jr. is officially a borough president.

Local 1262 extends negotations, Monday Morning One Liners..

Image via Wikipedia

Supermarket News picked up Friday's Pathmark protest.

UFCW Local 1262 extends their contract negotiations.

Exon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart Stores to top the Fortune 500.

UFCW steps up organizing efforts at Wal-Mart.

More Wal-Mart's around the country are showing signs of organizing.

The Henry Street Gristedes was damaged by a fire last week.

Safeway and Trader Joe's named most ethical.

Another supermarket ends online delivery.

BJ's eyes are still on Pittsburgh.

If you were wondering John Catsidmatids (Gristedes) did sleep in the Lincoln bedroom during the Clinton administration.

Woman was charged with embezzling $147K from the Fresh Market.

Dick Cheney has been caught shopping at Balducci's.

The closing fire sale at Balducci's has begun.

Progressive Grocer has more on the store closures...Balducci's has said they are “look[ing] forward to making an exciting announcement about the six continuing stores soon.”

The economy has stalled the progress of the Hyde Park Stop & Shop.

And finally a study has confirmed that teens tend to be "fatter" when a fast food restaurant is within one block of their school...

Wegmans Food Markets is testing new, larger shopping carts at a store here, the company said in a local news report last week.
Read more of this story

Wal-Mart workers get a union contract in Canada, Balducci's gets a buyer, BJ's accepting Food Stamps, Thursday Morning One Liners...

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Industry

Wal-Mart gets a union contract in Canada. More from Supermarket News.

An investor group buys Balducci's remaining stores.

Update on UFCW Colorado negotations.

Stop & Shop Hampton Bays opens doors tomorrow (Friday).

Fairway in Paramus donated food to families in need during Easter.

UFCW 1500 files charges against Pathmark [Supermarket News]

Sedano’s Supermarkets (Miami) on Wednesday said it would begin making a $30 monthly gift card donation to all of its hourly employees.

Judge OK's Bruno's decision.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court yesterday ordered Bruno’s Supermarkets to auction itself next week.
Read more of this story

Island Park getting a King Kullen.

Stop & Shop announces appointments to their leadership team.

A look at the correlation between Big Box stores and Crime.

BJ's Wholesale Club will begin accepting Food Stamps at all 180 locations.

They're also exploring expansion into Pittsburgh.

Politics

Long Island Business News: Albany needs to back local produce.

Bridgeport Connecticut needs and wants a grocery store.

Mitt Romney slams binding arbitration.

Former Governor Spitzer won't run in 2010.

Brookhaven Politics update: As a brand-new supervisor with a town board majority of the opposite party, Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko has to find a way to work with the Republicans...His first move, appointing Republican Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh as his deputy supervisor, is a bold opening gambit. If it works out, it's bipartisanship in action, not just in words.

The AFL-CIO and Change to Win (CtW) announced a historic joint unity framework for immigration reform. The joint announcement and proposal is a critical sign of support for the Obama administration and Congress to address immigration reform and to ensure that the issue remains a priority. It also signals that immigration reform is an important part of economic recovery. Read the entire blog here.[AFL Blog]

Happy Friday Morning One Liners...

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Costco invades Harlem.

Toys 'R' Us is exploring groceries?

They're also promoting low price items in their stores.

Balducci's is closing a store...It's one of four closings the company will make by June of this year.

UFCW Local 555 files an unfair labor practice against Kroger.

Bruno's is asking federal bankruptcy judge to change their union contract in order to aid the sale of the company.

Jim Donald, former CEO of Starbucks and Pathmark gives some tips for tough times.

Brooklyn's Pomegrante is highlighted in Supermarket News for their Passover specialties.

Wage and Hour Watchers in New York City.

When a workers salary is lighter...

NY Times (Michael Barbaro): Grocery Workers to Back Bloomberg, Slighting Democratic Rival

In the first labor endorsement of the mayor's race, the union representing 12,000 of the city's supermarket workers will back Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for re-election....

Tuesday's News, Politics, Politics.

Image via Wikipedia
In a letter sent to President-elect Barack Obama last week, the National Grocers Association urged the incoming administration to maintain a level playing field for independent grocers through an economic stimulus, fair employee-employer legislation, federal regulation of credit card interchange fees and enforcement of antitrust laws.
Read more of this story

A former Wal-Mart and Fresh & Easy exec joins Walgreen's.

Balducci's is offering their own caviar line.

Politics
New York City’s budget gap may reach $8 billion in 18 months as the city’s Wall Street-dependent economy deteriorates, Tom DiNapoli.

Clinton is $13 Million she lent campaign.

Bloomberg defends Kennedy's bid for Clinton's vacated seat.

Kennedy spokesman Stefan Friedman said Ms. Kennedy fully intends to support the Democratic nominee for NYC Mayor, after the would-be senator avoided answering the question over the weekend.

Bj's in Brooklyn, Wal-Mart heading to court again and Monday Morning One Liners..

Where and what is local in your supermarket? NY Times highlights the trend of using the word 'local' in supermarkets.

How one business man helped saved the Long Island Farms: Mr. Casa is being hailed as a hero to Long Island growers, having devised a creative way to move local produce to the shelves of 50 King Kullen supermarkets without the farmers having to deal with the false promises of other buyers or unscrupulous brokers.

NY Times continues to cover the illustrious Eli Zabar and his new Farm.

NY Times: Brooklyn residents admit 'Big Box isn't that bad'.

A car plowed through a CVS next to a King Kullen in Staten Island yesterday.

The Daily News covers BJs' Plan to open two stores in Brooklyn, "BJ's wants to put in two stores, but it doesn't answer the needs of the community - they need a supermarket," said Grocery Workers Union organizer Pat Purcell.

The Real Deal covers the story as well... "A lease has been signed at a Thor Equities-owned former bus depot at 1824 Shore Parkway, near Ceasar's Bay shopping center in Bensonhurst. No lease has been signed yet at the Brooklyn Terminal Market on Foster Avenue and Avenue D in Canarsie, the site of an old Key Food storage facility. "

A UFCW protest in Binghamton is getting press.

The NY Sun writes on Balducci's expansion to Dubai. Eventually Balducci's will have three outlets in Dubai.

The NY Times compares Porchetta prices in Gourmet NYC stores, including Fairway, Grace's, Agata....

Honeywell International is moving some manufacturing operations out of the company's central New York plant, eliminating nearly 300 jobs. Honeywell officials announced Thursday that the Morristown, N.J.-based company will shift some operations in the town of Skaneateles (skan-ee-AT'-les), 15 miles west of Syracuse, to a location in China within a year.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Tyson Foods have reached an agreement in Tennessee.

US employers and unions battle over proposed labour laws [Guardian (U.K.)]

Verizon And 2 Unions Reach Pact For 3 Years

Wal-Mart

Canada's highest court agreed to hear an appeal by former employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who say the company closed a Quebec store because of a union drive.

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear two cases stemming from Wal-Mart’s controversial closing of a unionized store in Quebec, the court here said.
Read more of this story

Wal-Mart Stores told SN Friday the small-format Marketside stores it plans to unveil this fall in the Phoenix area are part of "a small-scale pilot, and we have no plans [for the format] beyond a handful of stores." The comment, from a Wal-Mart spokesman, came in response to a report published in the Financial Times of London that quoted the Marketside website as saying the company expected to start with 10 stores and evolve to between 1,000 and 1,500 locations with more than $10 billion in annual sales.

A UFCW protest on the opening day of a 'Fresh & Easy' was effective.

Politics

Lawmakers who supported a property-tax-cap bill while the Senate was in Albany last week could pay a steep political price.State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes said it's possible the 2 million-member labor federation will withhold endorsements in key races that involve senators who voted "yes" on the cap when its member unions meet for their annual convention next week. "There's talk about holding back," Hughes said.

Four members of the New York City congressional delegation stood on the steps of City Hall August 4 to endorse State Sen. Martin Connor (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan), a 30-year incumbent who faces a grueling primary against a feisty insurgent, for reelection.

How much for Milk? & Friday 11 AM One Liners...

A survey of 50 sellers showed that 86% overcharged for milk, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.

Here's a more interactive report on the Milk study by Eyewitness News.

& Here's AM New York's take.

Daily News Pols sour on high milk costs

Representatives of Local 359 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union visited Montauk on Thursday to urge commercial fishermen facing $5-per-gallon fuel prices and ever-more-restrictive regulations, to join. The meeting has generated considerable interest.

Balducci's is welcoming the Chilean ambassador on Saturday in MD.

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Ahold NV, the owner of Albert Heijn and Stop & Shop supermarkets, said first-quarter profit gained 8.9 percent and raised its full-year operating margin target after selling a Dutch chain.

Councilman Hiram Monserrate officially announced his second bid for state Sen. John Sabini’s seat on Monday, surrounded by local supporters....

While the Bloomberg administration pushes its Willets Point redevelopment plan by attempting to acquire businesses in the gritty industrial zone, it also has begun touting efforts to retrain workers who may soon lose their jobs.

Politics (Courtesy of the NY Observer)

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had a secret meeting last night.

John Edwards does not want to be V.P. again.

Republicans created a web site called ClintonsforMcCain.

In another push against the 100-years-in-Iraq criticisms to come, John McCain just put out a new TV ad in which he says, "I hate war, and I know how terrible its costs are."

Mike Allen reports that the spot will get a "significant buy" in swing states, and also that the campaign plans to release more details later today.

Enjoy your hot weekend...

Balducci's Infamous "Chanukah Ham"

By: JOE FEDELE
www.ufcw1500.org

Yesterday it was the worker who wasn't normally in the Meat Departments fault...Today Balducci's blames their employee in training program. If you haven't heard or seen this popular story picked up yesterday by the NY Daily News, Balducci's on 14th St. had this Chanukah Ham on display.

The article read

"A Balducci's official was so verklempt about the error he didn't want to speak on the record. He fessed up that "it was a mistake," blaming it on a stock clerk who normally doesn't work the meat department.. "

Today Balducci's came out with this apology on their website, noting they are reviewing their "employee training policy" the story was also picked up by the AP. It's no wonder that the employees at Balducci's are voting to Unionize on December 17th. The company continues to treat them with disrespect, as seen in this case when a Balducci's official quickly pushes the blame of a pre-made sign to a someone who "normally doesnt work in the meat department" Their slogan seems to be "When in doubt, Blame the worker" Gourmet grocery workers are constantly mistreated, whether it be in pay rate or ethically, they're viewed as a lower class person by the managment. Mygourmetgrocer.com is working to bring workers rights to the gourmet industry in Manhattan.

This simple corporate mistake by Balducci's is evidence enough to what Gourmet workers go through everyday, being blamed for mistakes they had nothing to do with and essentially having no rights in the workplace. If you'd like to help more workers like the ones at Balducci's please get involved by signing up here. Don't let Balducci's get away by passing blame on the people that make their company what it is, we need to come together in solidarity to show that corporations cannot walk all over the working class.

Check out our leaflet here, and if you happen to be by Balducci's this weekend please tell a worker that you support their campaign!