Ahold Delhaize

SKOKIE, Ill. -- Peapod by Stop & Shop here has joined the Tri-State 5,000,000 Mile Rideshare Challenge, a regional transportation event bringing together New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut commuters, sponsors, and local government agencies to help ease some of the area's transportation and air quality problems in the near future. To that end, the Internet grocer has become a 150,000 Mile reward sponsor providing delivery service discounts to commuters sharing rides on NuRide, the country's first incentive-based ridesharing network.

AMSTERDAM -- Ahold said today that it's initiating the 1 billion-euro (US $1.36 billion) share buyback program as promised on Aug. 30. This program will be executed by intermediaries via on-exchange purchases and will end as soon as the aggregate purchase price of the common shares acquired by Ahold has reached 1 billion euros, or the company holds 10 percent of the issued shares.

AMSTERDAM -- Ahold yesterday released its interim financial report for the second quarter and half year 2007, revealing net sales for the quarter of 6.6 billion euros, up 2 percent from the year-ago period; and net income of 2.2 billion euros, up 2 billion euros from last year.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kash n' Karry said goodbye after more than 50 years in the Florida marketplace. Yesterday marked the end of a three-year transformation of the Delhaize Group-owned grocery store chain from the Kash n' Karry format to the food-centric Sweetbay Supermarket format.

SALISBURY, N.C. - Food Lion LLC's newest banner, the discount grocery concept Bottom Dollar Food, is scheduled to open 10 new stores in the Hampton Roads, Va. region on this Wednesday. The store openings mark the initial phase of the grocer's overall renewal efforts for the region.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Following in the footsteps of fellow Ahold banner Tops Markets, Giant Food Stores, LLC and Martin's Food Markets have teamed up with Commerce, Calif.-based Earthwise Bag Co., Inc. to launch a reusable shopping bag program at all of their stores. Retailing for 99 cents, the polypropylene bags made their debut Aug. 19.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Following in the footsteps of fellow Ahold banner Tops Markets, Giant Food Stores, LLC and Martin's Food Markets have teamed up with Commerce, Calif.-based Earthwise Bag Co., Inc. to launch a reusable shopping bag program at all of their stores. Retailing for 99 cents, the polypropylene bags made their debut Aug. 19.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Beefing up the talent in its financial executive suite, regional chain Food Lion LLC here has named Maria Lowder v.p. of financial planning and investment analysis.