Aldi, Inc.

BATAVIA, Ill. -- Discount grocery chain Aldi, Inc. here is the target of a lawsuit that claims the retailer wrongly fired a cashier who said she couldn't work Sundays because of her religious beliefs.

ESSEN, GERMANY - Aldi Group, the German discount retailer with more than 800 U.S. locations, is eyeing Florida as its next lucrative market. The retailer plans to open at least 20 stores in the Orlando market and more than 100 stores in the state, according to published reports.

ROBESONIA, Pa. and CARTERET, N.J. -- Two major grocery distributors in the Northeast U.S. are joining forces. Cooperative food distributor Associated Wholesaler's Inc. (AWI) in Robesonia, Pa. is merging with White Rose Food, the largest independent wholesale food distributor in the New York City metropolitan area, sources told Progressive Grocer on Friday.

DETROIT -- Germany-based discount grocer Aldi plans to open six stores in the metropolitan area here by 2007, which represents the edited assortment retailer's most aggressive push in southeast Michigan since entering the state in 1994.

SAN ANTONIO -- Charles Butt, the chairman and c.e.o. of H.E. Butt Grocery Co. here, is the world's 350th wealthiest billionaire, according to Forbes magazine's 2006 list of the world's richest people. Butt, who inherited much of his wealth, according to the magazine, is estimated to have a net worth of $2.2 billion.

BURLINGTON, Iowa -- In a move that is expected to eliminate about 90 jobs, Aldi is closing its distribution center here and moving it to Faribault, Minn., according to local reports.

Some are painfully obvious, others will blindside you. But nontraditional competition means much more than Wal-Mart, and each grocer must decide which suspects most bear watching.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The landscape of the food retailing industry continues to change dramatically, with traditional grocery chains being squeezed out of the picture by the growth of alternative formats. A new report from global trade credit insurer Euler Hermes ACI, based here, emphasizes that these other outlets -- namely supercenters, warehouse clubs, dollar stores, drugstores, and convenience stores -- are increasing their grocery square footage and sales, thus taking a big bite out of the consumer base of the traditional grocery chains.