Finance & Capital Management

Ahold, the international food retail and foodservice company, on Tuesday announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Bruno's Supermarkets Inc. and Alliant Exchange Inc., the parent company of Alliant Foodservice Inc.

Stamps.com on Friday announced that it has reduced its current headcount by approximately 25% in a continuing effort to streamline operations and achieve profitability. It also announced the appointment of Ken McBride as president and CEO.

With record earnings and its stock price surging, meat giant SmithfieldFoods Inc. plans to keep buying up companies andbuilding new facilities, the company's chairman toldshareholders Wednesday.

The Union representing workers at the Zallies and Ravitz Shop Rite supermarkets in southern New Jersey today hand delivered a seven-day strike notice to the company, as required by law. If no agreement is reached by midnight on Thursday, September 6, 2001 thousands of supermarket workers could be walking picket lines instead of checking out customer grocery orders.

Carrefour, Europe's largest retail group, on Thursday announced an almost 6 percent rise in interim profits and reiterated forecasts for the remainder of the year.

Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: DUCK - news) today announced that sales for the four weeks ended August 26, 2001 were $30.4 million compared with $28.6 million in the year ago period, anincrease of 6.1 percent.

Ahold 2nd Quarter 2001 Net Earnings Surge 37.2% on a gain of 29% in sales. Chain officials cofirm talks with several potential acquisiton candidates.

Nash Finch has filed a lawsuit alleging that "person or persons unknown--possibly employees--posted confidential information" about the company on a Yahoo! message board. The Edina, Minn.-based company's suit claims "breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets" and stipulates that if "the defendants turn out to be current or former employees, they would have violated Nash Finch's Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and Associate Handbook."