National Co-op Grocers

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- SPINS, a leading information and service provider for the natural products industry based here, said yesterday it has expanded its partnership with the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA).

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The National Grocers Association, Affiliated Foods Midwest Cooperative, Coborn's Incorporated, D'Agostino Supermarkets, and other national trade associations and merchants have filed a consolidated amended complaint against Visa, MasterCard, and a number of major banks in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

WASHINGTON -- The Food Co-op 500 here has awarded four Sprout Fund grants and its first Sprout Fund loan to food cooperatives in Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Washington state. The aim of the program is to increase the number of retail grocery cooperatives from the current 300 to 500 in 10 years.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Dave Blackburn has been named director of purchasing and Kelly Smith the new director of marketing and communications for the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) here.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), a member-owned co-op with 101 independent food co-op members nationwide, said yesterday that current c.e.o. Don McLemore will retire effective Dec. 30, and Robynn Shrader, who has served as the co-op's director of marketing and communications since September 2004, will succeed him on Jan 1, 2006.

WASHINGTON -- The Food Co-op 500, a program to increase the number of retail grocery cooperatives from the current 300 to 500 in 10 years, said yesterday that it was awarding four Seed Fund development grants to the following projects: H Street Community Market in Washington ($10,000); MOON (Miami/Oxford Organic Network) Cooperative in Oxford, Ohio ($10,000); Soul Foods Cooperative in Oakland, Calif. ($10,000); and Vancouver Food Cooperative in Vancouver, Wash. ($2,000).

WASHINGTON -- Out-of-control credit card interchange fees aren't just a supermarket issue. Four major trade groups representing other retail industries have filed an antitrust class action alleging that Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Citibank, Bank One, Chase Manhattan Bank, J.P. Morgan, Chase, Fleet Bank, Capital One, and other banks are engaging in collusive practices by setting credit card interchange fees at "supracompetitive levels."

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Responding to a rapidly changing food industry and seeking to leverage their $626 million-a-year retail sales clout by speaking with one voice, 94 independent natural food co-ops with 111 retail locations among them coast-to-coast have voted to restructure the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) as a direct-membership cooperative.