News Briefs

Lidl US will hold the grand opening of its newest store on New York’s Long Island, in Commack, on Wednesday, Aug. 31, during which local leaders will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:40 a.m. The store, at 210 East Jericho Turnpike, will operate daily from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The deep-discount grocer invested more than $7 million in the site. 

The store will provide  more than 50 jobs, with starting pay for all associates at $17.50 per hour, which includes comprehensive benefits. Lidl offers health care for all full-and-part-time positions, regardless of hours worked per week.   

At the grand-opening celebrations, customers will be able to take advantage of limited-time special offers at the new store. The first 100 customers in line before the ribbon cutting will receive a special gift card ranging from $5 to $100 each. Shoppers can also enter to win a $500 Lidl gift card, sample Lidl’s product assortment and receive special giveaways.  

The grocer is partnering with Long Island Cares to provide food to people in need in the community. Throughout the entire grand-opening weekend, Wednesday through Sunday, Lidl will donate $1 to the food bank for every new myLidl member who enrolls with Lidl Commack as their home store. 

The grocer’s last Long Island store opening in June in the town of West Hempstead. Other recent openings for the grocer include its first Baltimore location, while its inaugural Brooklyn, N.Y. store is slated to debut in 2024 in the Park Slope neighborhood. 

Neckarsulm, Germany-based Lidl operates around 11,550 stores and is active in 32 countries, employing more than 341,000 employees globally. With U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Va., the grocer operates about 170 stores in nine East Coast states. Lidl US is No. 89 on the PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

 

Pittsburgh has a fresh Whole Foods Market. The natural products retailer opened a 54,557-square-foot store on Aug. 10 at 5700 Penn Avenue in the East Liberty neighborhood, replacing a nearby shuttered location at 5880 Centre Avenue.

Befitting its construction, the latest Whole Foods location features a sleek, modern design with nods to Pittsburgh’s local culture and sites. The shelves are stocked with items from 120 Pennsylvania vendors chosen by the chain’s regional foragers, spanning locally produced fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood and artisan goods. As with other Whole Foods stores, the East Liberty market features a full-service meat counter, a full-service seafood counter, specialty food cases, a bakery, a beer and wine department, a full-service coffee bar, and a prepared food area.

Marking the opening, Whole Foods is giving $5,000 to a local community garden and donating $10,000 to other nearby nonprofit organizations that support community food systems, education and leadership development programs.

Grocery pickup will be available at the new Pittsburgh store. Shoppers who are Amazon Prime members can access deep discounts on select products every week and score an additional 10% off hundreds of in-store sale items.

The first certified-organic national grocer, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seattle-based Amazon, which is No. 2 on The PG 100,  Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Extreme-value retailer Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has teamed up with DoorDash to offer on-demand grocery delivery from more than 398 Grocery Outlets locations across the country. Now DoorDash customers can order groceries on-demand from local Grocery Outlet stores through the DoorDash marketplace app or website.

“DoorDash is committed to providing customers with all the selection they crave at affordable prices, in a way that’s convenient for them and their families,” said Shanna Prevé, VP, business development at San Francisco-based DoorDash. “As consumers face rising prices, we’re thrilled to partner with Grocery Outlet to provide consumers across the country with a new way to purchase more affordable groceries while maximizing their budgets. With this partnership, consumers can find and enjoy even more affordable grocery selection on our marketplace.” 

“Our partnership with DoorDash will help save shoppers time and money,” noted Grocery Outlet CEO Eric Lindberg. “In addition to bringing more of our great products direct to consumers, our DoorDash partnership will help Grocery Outlet reach more customers with great prices during a time where every penny counts.”

All participating Grocery Outlet stores will be available on DashPass, DoorDash’s membership program that offers members free delivery from thousands of restaurants, grocery and convenience stores nationwide. DashPass members receive these benefits on all eligible orders of $35 or more from Grocery Outlet.

Further, as part of the Summer of DashPass five weeks of DashPass member-only offers, from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24, DashPass members will get 30% off Grocery Outlet orders of $40 or more, up to a total value of $20. 

This past May, Grocery Outlet teamed with Uber to pilot on-demand and scheduled grocery delivery at 72 Grocery Outlet stores across California, Oregon and Washington, including in the cities of Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. 

Emeryville, Calif.-based Grocery Outlet offers products sold through a network of independently operated stores at more than 420 stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey and Maryland. The company is No. 70 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Midwestern grocer Hy-Vee will hold a product and services showcase next month in an effort to help advance local minority- and women-owned companies. The Hy-Vee OpportUNITY Inclusive Business Summit, set to take place Sept. 27 in Kansas City, Mo., will offer resources, learning opportunities and networking for small-business owners.

Local minority- and women-owned businesses are invited to apply for the opportunity to showcase their products or services during a pitch competition at the summit. Selected applicants will present to a panel of judges for the chance to win up to $30,000. 

Submissions for local products or services are being accepted on Hy-Vee’s website through Sept. 1 in the following categories: food and beverage, product innovation and technology, and health, wellness and beauty.

Employee-owned Hy-Vee operates more than 285 retail stores across eight Midwestern states and has a team of more than 93,000 employees. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based company is No. 30 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

In an effort to stem hunger in its communities, Stop & Shop is introducing a new seasonal program that provides locally grown fresh vegetables to families in need. This month, the retailer will hold distribution events in stores across its multistate footprint.

Consumers facing food insecurity in these areas can access locally grown produce such as corn, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers. Stop & Shop is working with regional and local food banks to coordinate donations in New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York.

The first event took place Aug. 12 at the Neptune City, N.J., Stop & Shop. Hundreds of clients of the Fulfill book bank could drive up and receive produce and other grocery essentials from the retailer’s team of associate volunteers.

At the same time, Stop & Shop is supporting local growers and farmers by sourcing fresh produce from their businesses. Shoppers can learn more about those products and suppliers via signage at Stop & Shop stores.

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA company that employs 58,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Its other brands are Food Lion, FreshDirect, The Giant Co., Giant Food, Hannaford, Peapod, and Retail Business Services.

 

Trader Joe’s Wine Shop in New York City’s Union Square has permanently closed. The unexpected move came on Thursday, Aug. 11, when shoppers encountered a letter posted on the door of the East 14th Street location.

“We have been operating our small Wine Shop in the Union Square neighborhood for over 15 years, and we thank you for your business and support throughout the years,” the letter noted. “It is now time for us to explore another location that will allow us to optimize the potential of our one and only license to sell wine in the state of New York.”

Wine shop associates will be paid for their scheduled shifts through Aug. 28 and have the opportunity to transfer to another New York City Trader Joe’s location, the letter added.

The Union Square wine shop opened in 2006 shortly after the East 14th Street grocery store location, which was the first Trader Joe’s in the Big Apple and remains open.

“We look forward to sharing with you our plans to offer an even better wine shop experience to our New York customers as soon as they are finalized,” the posted letter concluded, followed by the sign-off “All of us at Trader Joe’s.”

A company representative has confirmed the wine shop’s permanent closure to a local press outlet. 

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery stores, meatpacking plants and other industries across North America, has accused Trader Joe’s of “engaging in an illegal union-busting technique that has been utilized by other national corporations facing organizing campaigns of their own, like Starbucks and Amazon.” The wine shop closing was allegedly in response to employees’ organizing efforts and intention to file for a union election, according to Washington, D.C.-based UFCW. Last month, workers at a Trader Joe’s store in Hadley, Mass., voted to form an independent union.

With more than 500 stores in 40-plus states, Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe’s is No. 27 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.