Market Trends

DALLAS - 7-Eleven Inc., the world's No. 1 convenience store chain, today said it plans to close up to 120 stores to increase profits. The company also reported an 18 percent rise in fourth-quarter profits, which resulted in part from lower gasoline prices.

LONDON - British supermarket group J. Sainsbury Plc said today it plans to create more than 10,000 new jobs during 2002 as part of its three-year program to refurbish every Sainsbury's store in Britain, Reuters reports.

BOULDER, Colo. - Natural and organic foods retailer Wild Oats Markets Inc. has made changes in its organizational structure to further strengthen its merchandising department.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - UCCnet announced today that Wegmans Food Markets and the Nestle Purina PetCare Company (formerly Ralston Purina Company) are now using UCCnet services for communicating product information for all Purina product categories carried by Wegmans.

NEW YORK - Toys R Us Inc. said on Monday it is testing out kiosks at Ahold-owned stores in the United States in part to compete with Wal-Mart, whose toy sales now exceed those of Toys R Us, Reuters reports.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Ingles Markets Inc. today announced that its first-quarter earnings before extraordinary items reached $4.6 million, a 2.4% increase compared with the December 2000 quarter.

AMSTERDAM - Dutch supermarkets group Ahold said it expects to make sales of $30 billion at its U.S. food services business by the end of 2004, The Financial Times reports.

NEW YORK - The news that Fleming Cos., Kmart's major food distributor, had decided on Monday to halt shipments after the retailer failed to pay its weekly bill was the final nail in the coffin for Kmart, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, according to a report published by Retail Merchandiser magazine.