Real Estate

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Ingles Markets today reported higher sales and margins for the fourth quarter.

FLORIDA, N.Y. - Big V Supermarkets Inc. said today that, as part of its effort to work with its creditors toward a successful resolution of its chapter 11 case, the company has entered into a term sheet with Wakefern Food Corp., which, subject to the completion of definitive documentation and approval by the bankruptcy court, is intended to form the basis of a plan of reorganization for Big V.

MONTVALE, N.J. - The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Inc. (A&P) today announced it will close 39 stores to improve operating results. A majority of the closings will take place before the end of the fiscal year (Feb. 23, 2002).

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazil's largest retailer Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (CBD), popularly known as Grupo Pao de Acucar, today finalized negotiations to acquire 100 percent of supermarket chain Supermercados ABC, Reuters reported.

NEW YORK - A county commissioner in San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday criticized Albertson's Inc. for closing three of its San Antonio stores on the South Side of town, calling the decision a "planned attack" on the community.

BEIJING - A Wal-Mart executive said today the company hopes to open its first store in Beijing late next year or early in 2003, The Associated Press reported.

GUATEMALA, Costa Rica, The Netherlands - Paiz Ahold, the 50/50 joint venture of food retailers La Fragua and Ahold in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, has signed an agreement with Costa Rican supermarket and hypermarket company CSU to form a new joint venture, bringing together all of their operations in the Central American region.

NEW YORK - CVS Corp. today said it plans to cut staff and close about 200 of its drugstores in the first quarter. The news came with its report of a 16 percent drop in third-quarter earnings.