BREAKING NEWS
Shoppers are wary of digital shelf labels, but a study found they don't lead to price surges
Read full article: Shoppers are wary of digital shelf labels, but a study found they don't lead to price surgesA new study that examined five years’ worth of prices at one U.S. grocery chain found that digital price tags haven’t led to demand-based pricing surges.
Consumer Reports investigation with 2 news outlets finds errors in Kroger sales tags
Read full article: Consumer Reports investigation with 2 news outlets finds errors in Kroger sales tagsAn in-depth investigation by Consumer Reports and two news organizations found that customers were often charged higher prices at checkout than what was listed on store shelves.
Kroger and Albertsons make a final pitch for their merger before a judge decides whether to block it
Read full article: Kroger and Albertsons make a final pitch for their merger before a judge decides whether to block itKroger and Albertsons have made their final argument in federal court in support of their proposed merger.
A state's experience with grocery chain mergers spurs a fight to stop Albertsons' deal with Kroger
Read full article: A state's experience with grocery chain mergers spurs a fight to stop Albertsons' deal with KrogerWashington state is in court to try to block a proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger.
CEOs of Albertsons and Kroger says shoppers would see lower prices after merger
Read full article: CEOs of Albertsons and Kroger says shoppers would see lower prices after mergerThe chief executive officers of Kroger and Albertsons have insisted that merging would allow the two supermarket companies to lower prices and more effectively compete with retail giants like Walmart and Amazon.
Kroger and Albertsons defend merger plan in federal court against US regulators' objections
Read full article: Kroger and Albertsons defend merger plan in federal court against US regulators' objectionsA lawyer for supermarket chain Albertsons has told a federal judge that the company might have to lay off workers and close stores if its planned merger with Kroger isn’t allowed to proceed.
FTC report suggests high grocery bills likely due to ‘greedflation’ caused by big corporations
Read full article: FTC report suggests high grocery bills likely due to ‘greedflation’ caused by big corporationsA new report from the Federal Trade Commission suggests grocery giants used inflation and supply chain disruptions during the pandemic to drive their profits and keep raising prices.
US sues to block merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, saying it could push prices higher
Read full article: US sues to block merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, saying it could push prices higherThe Federal Trade Commission is suing to block a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons.
Kroger ending some COVID-19 benefits for unvaccinated staff
Read full article: Kroger ending some COVID-19 benefits for unvaccinated staffKroger, the country’s biggest traditional grocery chain, is ending some benefits for unvaccinated workers as big employers attempt to compel more to become vaccinated with cases of COVID-19 again rising.
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Buffett's firm ups Kroger stake while trimming drug holdings
Read full article: Buffett's firm ups Kroger stake while trimming drug holdingsBillionaire Warren Buffett’s company has again increased the size of its bet on grocery giant Kroger, while scaling back several of its health care industry investments.
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Nervous workers struggle to adjust to new mask policies
Read full article: Nervous workers struggle to adjust to new mask policiesAn abrupt relaxation of mask policies at some retail and grocery stores has left workers reeling as they try to sort out what the new environment means for their own safety and relationship with customers.
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4 people in Michigan won January $1.05B Mega Millions prize
Read full article: 4 people in Michigan won January $1.05B Mega Millions prizeIn this Feb. 26, 2021, photo provided by the Michigan Lottery, attorney Kurt Panouses poses with a check on behalf of the winners of a Mega Millions lottery jackpot in Lansing, Mich. Four people in a suburban Detroit lottery club have won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions lottery jackpot and will share $557 million after taxes. (Michigan Lottery via AP)DETROIT – A four-member suburban Detroit lottery club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot and will receive $557 million after taxes, officials said Friday. After taxes, the $776 million payment was reduced to about $557 million, the Michigan Lottery said. The $1.05 billion jackpot was the largest in Michigan Lottery history and the third-largest in the United States. Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendable
Read full article: Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendableEven when grocery workers are prioritized, they still face long waits. "The politicians and the health departments have been singing the praises of grocery workers but now they have been silent.”Major food retailers say they are doing their part to get their workers vaccinated. But for many grocery workers, the realization that they won’t be eligible any time soon adds to the sense of being expendable. Over the past two months, there have been 137 COVID-19 outbreaks in Southern California grocery stores, and 500 Houston grocery workers have been infected, according to the UFCW. The union knows of 124 grocery workers who have died since the start of the pandemic.
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Michigan Mega Millions ticket wins $1.05 billion jackpot
Read full article: Michigan Mega Millions ticket wins $1.05 billion jackpotThe jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery game has grown to $1 billion ahead of Friday night's drawing after more than four months without a winner. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)DES MOINES, Iowa – Someone in Michigan bought the winning ticket for the $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. The winning ticket was purchased at a Kroger store in the Detroit suburb of Novi, the Michigan Lottery said. The Mega Millions top prize had been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. Three tickets for a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot were sold in January 2016, and one winning ticket sold for a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018.
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Asian stocks mixed after Wall St slips near record high
Read full article: Asian stocks mixed after Wall St slips near record highIn this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, specialist James Denaro works at his post on the trading floor, Thursday Dec. 3, 2020. U.S. stocks are inching further into record heights Thursday, as Wall Street continues to coast following its rocket ride last month powered by hopes for coming COVID-19 vaccines. The company told The Wall Street Journal testing and setting up a supply chain took longer than expected. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped to 3,666.72. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was 91 cents higher to $49.62 per barrel in London.
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Toilet paper limits, empty shelves are back as virus surges
Read full article: Toilet paper limits, empty shelves are back as virus surgesNEW YORK – Looking for toilet paper? Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels. The biggest supply issue seems to be paper products: 21% of shelves that stock paper towels and toilet paper are empty, the highest level in at least a month, according to market research company IRI. Amazon said its working with manufacturers to get items such as disinfecting wipes, paper towels and hand sanitizer in stock.
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Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limbo
Read full article: Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limboMany turkey farmers are worried their biggest birds won't end up on Thanksgiving tables. Fewer people at Thanksgiving tables means many families will buy smaller turkeys, or none at all. That leaves anxious turkey farmers and grocers scrambling to predict what people will want on their holiday tables. It’s a gamble, because the birds gain a lot of fat and flavor in their final few weeks, but she figures customers will want smaller birds. Butterball — which typically sells 30% of America’s 40 million Thanksgiving turkeys — said it’s expecting more gatherings, but it’s not convinced people will want smaller turkeys.
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Starting today, you’ll need a mask when you shop at Walmart
Read full article: Starting today, you’ll need a mask when you shop at WalmartLast week, Starbucks announced that customers who visit its company-owned café locations in the U.S. will be required to wear face coverings. Costco Wholesale Club was one of the first major retailers to require face coverings for customers at all of its stores. Walmart said that it's currently working on different options for customers who don't show up with a face mask. Social media is full of videos capturing clashes between those who are asked to wear masks, and employees who are under orders to make sure people wear them. About half of U.S. states require masks in public places, according to the RILA.

Target helping revive Toys 'R' Us brand online
Read full article: Target helping revive Toys 'R' Us brand onlineTarget is bringing Toys "R" Us back online in time for the holiday shopping season. (CNN) - Target is bringing Toys "R" Us back online in time for the holiday shopping season. Under the agreement, shoppers on the Toys "R" Us website, which relaunched on Tuesday, can complete their purchases on Target.com. Tru Kids, which won the rights to the Toys "R" Us brand in bankruptcy court in October 2018, is determined to revive the retail brand in the United States. Walmart was selling more toys in the US than Toys "R" Us even before its bankruptcy filing.

Walgreesn, Kroger will stop selling e-cigarettes
Read full article: Walgreesn, Kroger will stop selling e-cigarettesCopyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - Kroger and Walgreens are becoming the latest major retailers to stop selling e-cigarettes amid public concern over vaping-related illnesses and deaths. The announcements, which Kroger made on Monday and Walgreens on Tuesday, came just weeks after Walmart made a similar announcement, citing regulatory uncertainty. Walgreens said it will stop selling amid "developing regulations in a number of states and municipalities." Andrew Cuomo announced an executive action to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes in the state on September 15. In September, Kroger and Walgreens asked customers to refrain from carrying firearms into their stores, even in states where open carry is legal.

Impossible Burgers to hit store shelves
Read full article: Impossible Burgers to hit store shelves(CNN) - Impossible Burgers will hit grocery shelves for the first time on Friday. Impossible is launching its retail product as the meatless meat sector starts to become more crowded. The Impossible Burger debuted three years ago at Momofuku Nishi, a high-end restaurant in New York City owned by chef David Chang. Today, the Impossible Burger is served at over 17,000 restaurants, including Burger King and White Castle. It plans to make the Impossible Burger available in retail stores nationwide by the middle of next year.

Kroger to start selling longer-lasting avocados this week
Read full article: Kroger to start selling longer-lasting avocados this weekScott Olson/Getty Images(CNN) - Kroger will start selling longer-lasting avocados to reduce waste and save money. This week the company will start selling avocados treated with a plant-based solution that helps slow down decay. Kroger will sell the avocados, asparagus and limes at the same price as untreated versions of the produce. Last year, Kroger partnered with Apeel to sell avocados treated with the new product in about 100 of its midwestern stores. Apeel and Kroger expect the partnership to help prevent millions of avocados from ending up in landfills, which should help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Walgreens asks customers not to openly carry guns in its stores
Read full article: Walgreens asks customers not to openly carry guns in its storesJustin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Walgreens is asking customers to no longer openly carry guns into its stores in states where open carry is legal, the company announced Thursday. It joins fellow retailers Walmart and Kroger, which announced similar policies the day before. Watts said Moms Demand had been pushing Walmart and Kroger to stop allowing open carry since 2014, and Walgreens since 2015. Watts said that in addition to keeping employees and customers safer, asking customers not to openly carry guns in their stores puts these retailers on a new side of the gun debate. "Prohibiting open carry sends a very strong cultural signal that companies are siding with the safety of families," Watts said.

Kroger asks customers not to openly carry guns in its stores
Read full article: Kroger asks customers not to openly carry guns in its storesScott Olson/Getty Images(CNN) - Kroger is requesting customers no longer openly carry firearms into its stores, even in states where open carry is legal, the company announced Tuesday evening. Kroger stopped selling guns last year. The grocer had earlier stopped selling guns to people under 21 and pulled sales of magazines featuring "assault rifles." In its statement, Kroger said it would be "respectfully asking" that customers no longer openly carry guns in its stores, except for authorized law enforcement officers. Store workers can ask customers who do not abide by the signs to return the guns to their cars or leave the store, Scruggs said.

Retailers among 2019's worst stocks
Read full article: Retailers among 2019's worst stocksSpencer Platt/Getty Images(CNN) - Looking for more proof of just how hard it is for traditional retailers to compete in a world that's increasingly dominated by Amazon? Nordstrom and Gap are the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 so far this year. Several other big brick-and-mortar retailers are among the market's biggest losers of the first half of 2019. All of those companies have recorded sluggish sales and profits as consumers increasingly shop online. And Home Depot, which faces less competition from Amazon and online shopping in general, is up more than 20%.