Marketing

Albertson's Inc., one of the world's largest food and drug retailers, on Tuesday reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded both company guidance and First Call consensus estimates. Sales in the quarter totaled almost $9.6 billion.

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.

Two of the nation's leading supermarket retailers avoided a potentially crippling strike over the weekend when more than 22,000 employees of Albertson's and Safeway agreed to extend their contracts until midnight Sept. 8.

Wild Oats Markets Inc. on Thursday announced the retirement of Jim Lee, Chief Operating Officer of the company since September 1996.

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.

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.

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.

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.