Center Store

CHICAGO - Target Corp. is planning an expansion of a new prototype store model that it quietly unveiled in October, adding more food items and reorganizing departments in hopes of getting more shoppers into the discount stores.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. - Zocor, the cholesterol-lowering drug from Merck & Co. based here has been approved for over-the-counter use in the U.K., allowing British consumers to buy it without a prescription. According to reports, industry experts believe that may set the stage for Zocor eventually being sold over-the-counter in the United States.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. today cut its earnings forecast by 10 percent in its first profit warning since going public four years ago, citing the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets as a negative factor.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Birds Eye Foods, Inc., the nation's leader in manufacturing and marketing frozen vegetables and a major processor of other food products, said it intends to implement across-the-board price increases on all product categories, including store brands, effective June 28, 2004. The increases are expected to be in the range of 5 percent to 7 percent.

CHICAGO - Starbucks Corp. is considering a distribution deal with Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods, Inc., under which the latter company would distribute Seattle's Best Coffee to grocery stores nationwide, Reuters reports.

LARGO, Fla.- Breakthrough Engineered Nutrition, a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovative Companies, Inc., announced today that it has launched CarbSlim Bites with Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, the second-largest food-drug retailer in the United States, with about 2,300 stores in 31 states.

CHICAGO - If consumers in financial straits have to choose between buying gasoline or groceries, gasoline often wins out, a Food Marketing Institute study has found.

By selling previously viewed video and DVD titles that the big-box retailers don't carry, grocers can turn the category into a high-margin profit center.