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CINCINNATI - The Kroger Co., known for its efforts in merchandising organics, on Monday announced the official national launch of Naturally Preferred, its own brand of premium-quality natural and organic products now available to all of the company's nearly 2,500 stores.

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - New England retailer Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. is opening the doors of its new 40,000-square-foot flagship store at the Prudential Center in Boston today.

SINGAPORE - A SARS outbreak caused the closing of Singapore's largest wholesale vegetable market this week, and a quarantine of all of its 2,400 workers.

CHICAGO & QUINCY, Mass. - Leading Internet grocer Peapod Inc. and New England grocer Stop & Shop today announced the expansion of their online service to the Hartford, Conn., metropolitan area.

NEW YORK - Grocery distributor Fleming Cos. Inc. said on Tuesday that the bankruptcy court has conditionally approved $150 million in financing the company needs to reorganize.

DALLAS - 7-Eleven, Inc., the nation's largest c-store chain, today reported that its first quarter core earnings, which exclude non-operating items, grew to $4.6 million or $0.04 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, versus $2.4 million or $0.02 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2002.

LONDON - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever is said to be looking to sell several popular toothpaste brands and other businesses worth a total of $300 million to $400 million, industry sources said on Monday.

CHICAGO - The bankruptcy of grocery distributor Fleming Cos. Inc. is having a ripple effect on its food suppliers as companies ranging from Kraft Foods Inc. to Hershey Foods feel the pinch, according to a recent report by Reuters.