Tops Friendly Markets is launching its annual Tops Totes for Change program as the school year kicks off for students throughout the country. The program, which encourages shoppers to purchase a special reusable bag with proceeds being donated to local community organizations, is adding a Tops in Education bag for the first time this year.

Tops has donated more than $1.5 million dollars to local schools to date through the Tops in Education program, with the new education tote fostering additional aid to the educational community. For each $2.69 Tops in Education reusable bag sold, $1 will be donated to local schools.

The new education-focused bag joins four other charitable bags, including ones that support United Way, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Feeding America and Children’s Miracle Network. 

“Our consumers have a wide array of reusable bags to choose from that consist of cloth and recycled materials which can easily and economically be purchased at the store. To see consumers make the choice, however, to give back to these charities by purchasing a Tops Totes for Change bag is truly heartwarming,” said Kathy Sautter, public and media relations manager for Tops Markets.

Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Markets LLC operates 150 supermarkets, including five franchise stores, and employs more than 14,000 associates in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The banner’s parent company, Northeast Grocery Inc., is No. 44 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Convenience and gas retailer QuikTrip has opened a location in Tulsa, Okla., that offers customers a checkout-free experience thanks to Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. The site, located in the BOK Tower at One Williams Center in downtown Tulsa, is the company’s second-ever non-gasoline store.

The Tulsa location is also the first QuikTrip site to utilize Just Walk Out technology, and includes a Nitro Coffee Station, a complete menu of grab-and-go items and customer favorites including mac and cheese, breakfast tacos, hardwood smoked BBQ sandwiches and more. 

“We are excited to expand our presence in Tulsa with our second non-gas location nationwide and we look forward to introducing this new innovative store experience to the downtown Tulsa community,” said Aisha Jefferson-Smith, QuikTrip’s corporate communications manager. “Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology is designed to eliminate checkout lines, enabling guests to enjoy a frictionless shopping experience and get what they need quickly.”

QuikTrip Corp. is a privately held company headquartered in Tulsa, Okla. Founded in 1958, the company has grown to more than 900 stores in 15 states. QuikTrip is No. 33 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100.

Several food retailers have been recognized on Forbes’ annual ranking of America’s Best Employers For Women.

Forbes teamed up with market research company Statista to identify the companies leading the way by supporting women inside and outside their workforces with the business publication's annual ranking of America’s Best Employers for Women.

Surveying 50,000 Americans — 30,000 women and 20,000 men working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees — the list focused on several areas. Respondents were asked to rate their organization on criteria such as working conditions, diversity and if they would recommend their employer to others. Statista additionally asked female respondents to rate their employers on factors such as parental leave, discrimination and pay equality, and to nominate organizations in industries outside their own. Executive and board-level representation was also factored into the score.

The America’s Best Employers For Women list encompasses 400 companies. Food retailers that made the list include:

• Trader Joe’s, at No. 117
• H-E-B, at No. 134
• Target Corp., at No. 222
• Publix Super Markets, at No. 225
• Wegmans Food Markets, at No. 275
• Festival Foods, at No. 325
• Costco, at No. 379
• Aldi, at No. 394
• Amazon, at No. 398

Wegmans also earned the No. 3 spot on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Other retailers included on Fortune's 2022 list include Target, at No. 12 and Publix, at No. 92.

To view Forbes’ entire ranking of America’s Best Employers For Women, click here.

Meanwhile, for insights of successful women in the food and grocery industries, listen to Progressive Grocer's Top Women in Grocery Podcast. 

Hilco Sweets has appointed a new national sales manager. The Louisville, Ky.-based novelty candy company hired industry pro Amy King to help sweeten deals and advance growth in the category just ahead of the busy fall and holiday merchandising seasons.

King brings more than 20 years of CPG sales experience to her new role, which will address sales opportunities in both seasonal and everyday segments. Prior to joining Hilco, she was a sales director at CandyRific. Her background also includes positions at Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Premier Nutrition and Kettle Foods.

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“Amy has spent years honing her skills in all channels of distribution, pioneering new sales, pushing established growth and managing the broker network. We are elated to have Amy join our team," said Lou DiMarco, Hilco’s EVP.

Echoed King: “The growth of the licenses and brands we partner with now and those on the horizon, makes it a very exciting time at Hilco, and I’m so happy to be a part of the team.”

Marketing company AdAdapted has expanded its solutions for CPGs, rolling out new add-to-cart shoppable video ads. The ads are designed to help brands create e-commerce campaigns based on AdAdapted’s shopping list marketing mobile ad platform.

Improved technology helps CPGs better target consumers based in their purchase intent behavior. Through a new one-click functionality, users can add branded items directly to their digital shopping cart.

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According to company information, the new solution helps ensure that ads are delivered to shoppers most likely to purchase the items. This enhancement also aims to optimize brand awareness, with videos that offer more than six times the viewing time found on social media feeds. CPGs can also assess the effectiveness of the ads after viewing post-campaign reporting.  

“In today’s digital age, brands must serve consumers compelling video content that encourages them to engage,” noted Mike Pedersen, co-founder and CEO of AdAdapted.

Utah-based pancake and waffle mix company Kodiak Cakes is one brand that has utilized the novel shoppable add-to-cart ads. “We have found significant positive results with AdAdapted campaigns over the years,” said Ali Fluke, senior advertising manager. “The launch of AdAdapted Shoppable Video Ads enables us to utilize AdAdapted’s 1-click Add-to-Cart user experience, while expanding the placement opportunities to mobile web.”

Publix has topped the 1,300-store mark with the opening of three new locations in the Sunshine State.

A new 46,811-square-foot store opened on Aug. 4 in the fast-growing community of Crawfordville, south of Tallahassee. Publix store #1798 offers the chain’s typical grocery and fresh food assortment, including a broad section of grab-and-go cut fruit containers, ready-to-heat prepared meals, a large bulk foods area and hot sandwiches and desserts from the expansive bakery, among a slew of other items. The Crawfordville Publix at 2343 Crawfordville Highway will be staffed by a team of about 150 associates and managers.

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On Aug. 11, the grocer unveiled a location in Jacksonville at 2039 Hendricks Ave. at the Shoppes of East San Marco. The 39,029-square-foot store is the 15th Publix in Jacksonville and features a sleek café area, wide array of center-store, fresh and prepared foods and convenient lower-level parking, among other amenities.

Meanwhile, Publix celebrated the grand reopening of a location in Orlando on Aug. 13. Set in the Suncrest Village development at 10115 University Blvd., the 48,387-square-foot store has undergone an extensive transformation over the past year and offers a host of convenient solutions for shoppers, from rows of take-home meal kits to a full-service seafood counter stocked with several varieties of fresh fish and shellfish.

The new Publix stores in Florida are open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and offer self-checkout and grocery pickup and delivery. Pharmacy hours vary.

Employee-owned and -operated Publix has supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix is No. 12 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.