Peapod expands to N.J., Could a Fairway Market be coming to Bay Ridge?, Eli's adds a new 'energy tax', plus more one liners....

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For the Bay Ridge shoppers who lost a Key Food in June, rumors of a Fairway Market are now circulating.

Shoppers are less than amused about an energy surcharge passed along by a fancy food store in New York City. Eli's, on the upper East Side posted a sign saying: "An energy surcharge of 1.8 percent will be added to every purchase."  Owner Eli Zabar (ZAY'-bahr) concedes that it's "a very arbitrary number" _ but says it's actually low.

The New York Times and residents don't necessarily agree with it.

Supermarket news covered UFCW's NEPAC ceremony.

 

A Sacramento Superior Court judge has rejected an attempt by Ralphs Grocery Co. to restrict informational picketing at a Foods Co store in Sacramento.

A Los Angeles federal grand jury indicted several former Ralphs Grocery Co. employees Friday for conspiring to rehire hundreds of locked-out employees under false names and social security numbers during the Southern California grocery workers strike.

More on this story from the LA Times.

King Kullen was featured on a presentation of  'Going Green Long Island' which will air Saturday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m., late night Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 a.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. on WLIW21. The documentary will also stream in its entirety on www.wliw.org/goinggreenLI.

 

A new smaller Stop & Shop format is anchoring a new plaza in Mass.


They're also is expanding their Gluten Free Foods.

Internet grocer Peapod, LLC and supermarket chain Stop & Shop have opened a new facility to serve New Jersey's Monmouth and Ocean counties, following healthy sales in other parts of the state.

Here's more on the new Peapod in NJ.

Verizon Communications Inc. employees in two unions have ratified a 
three-year contract, giving higher pay and other benefits to about a quarter of the work force.

The Brooklyn Paper has a sneak peak of Trader Joe's in Brooklyn.

One more day until Trader Joe's in Brooklyn.

Article on Feds probing Food Prices, specifically in NYC.

More at AngryMob.

Organizing struggles and Company resistance to go union leads to a union election to take place in a car.

UFCW Strike authorization was approved in Canada for a local store..

Other

A coalition of 10 Northeastern states will take steps this week to check global warming when it conducts the nation's first carbon auction, taking the same approach that curbed lake-killing acid rain.

 New York’s commuter transit system just got a little easier to navigate. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new online service to help customers find their way around the region’s web of buses and trains.

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.

Whole Foods changes approach, Wal-Mart in China, Tuesday Morning One Liners....

Whole Foods tries to change their image and remove the stereo-type 'Whole Pay Check' in these harsh economic times.

Whole Foods struggles in the UK: The company behind London's largest organic supermarket has suffered a £10m loss in the store's first year, as cash-strapped shoppers start to turn away from expensive food.

Wal-Mart to sign collective contracts at all China stores.

As we reported yesterday, Gourmet grocer Balducci's here yesterday said it has sealed an agreement with a real estate developer in Dubai to open multiple locations in that United Arab Emirates city.
Read more of this story

Shaw's said workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 791 have ratified a new, five-year contract covering 5,500 employees at 38 stores in southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the Shaw's distribution center in Wells, Maine.
Read more of this story

On the recent contract Local 791 spokesman Peter Derouen said. "We were able to get rid of the bonuses and get general wage increases for everyone,” he said. “The company had really been pushing to freeze the pension plan and then introduce a 401(k) plan, which we were able to fight off.”

Must Read:

Supermarket News editorial: Economic Storm Finally Crashes into Supermarkets.

Verizon Communications' union workers stayed on the job yesterday as their leaders continued to meet with management to hammer out remaining sticking points and avoid a threatened strike.

More on Eli Zabar and his new farm.

Political

Nassau: Plan for tough '09