Nonfoods

Laws, taxes, and competition are cutting into supermarkets' cigarette sales. Manufacturers hope new products and merchandising techniques can relight the category.

Starting to wonder if the only direction cash flows is out? Consider some expert advice for trimming costs in half a dozen areas.

Tense times boost demand for greeting cards, and suppliers are coming up with new lines and lower price points to make it easier for people to connect.

NEW YORK - 7-Eleven Inc. said on Thursday it would sell its own beer, Santiago, in U.S. stores starting in June. A Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio under the new Regions brand will likely be available in August, the convenience store chain said.

RACINE, Wisc. - The doors open today at Uncommon Shop Girls' Atypical Market, a small gourmet grocery store concept developed by Jeanne Dillon and Roberta Schulz, co-owners of Out of the Pan restaurant and catering, next door.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Inner-city supermarkets can improve their profit margins and the health of the communities they serve by offering shoppers free transportation, according to a report released yesterday by researchers at the UC Davis Center for Advanced Studies in Nutrition and Social Marketing.

Newark, Del. -- The Produce Marketing Association stated a preference for an industry-driven, voluntarysystem for country of origin labeling (COOL) in its comments offered yesterday to the USDA.

NEW YORK - At least four major foodmakers -- Kraft Foods, Tyson Foods, General Mills and H.J. Heinz -- have acknowledged that they are cooperating with federal investigations into possible accounting fraud at U.S. Foodservice, Ahold's food distribution business.