Perimeter

PITTSBURGH -- Giant Eagle here is beginning a four-week test today of a program that will award additional fuel discounts to shoppers at 81 of its Pennsylvania stores. The new gas discount pilot, Bonus fuelperks, will be layered on top of the regional market leader's existing self-funded fuelperks! rewards program, which gives Advantage loyalty cardholders 10 cents off a gallon gas at Giant Eagle's GetGo c-stores for every $50 spent.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- As organic and natural foods move increasingly into the mainstream, Big Y here will introduce a new store format this autumn to tap into the trend. The new format, to be called Fresh Acres, is a smaller footprint than other Big Y units, offering fresh, natural, and easy-to-prepare items for busy shoppers, according to company executives.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Lund Food Holdings Inc. here is teaming with local marketing and branding firm Blackwatch to launch a new fruit smoothies beverage line this week, in a bid to tap into the lucrative health and wellness category.

UPPER DARBY, Penn. -- On the heels of opening its latest store May 24 in Villanova, Pa., Fresh Grocer, based here, said it will open five new stores throughout the Delaware Valley.

A new program from Glaceau hopes to educate young consumers on the benefits of healthful consumption.

Healthy snack manufacturers and retailers have started wooing the back-to-school market with new products, packaging, promotions, and displays.

STELLARTON, N.S. -- In what the retailer is touting as a first for Canadian private label brands on a national level, Sobeys, Inc. here yesterday said it had expanded its private label portfolio, Compliments, to include a line of good-for-you products, known as Compliments balance-équilibre. All Compliments balance-équilibre items sport the Health Check symbol under the aegis of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

With Wal-Mart gung ho on organics, suppliers and retailers alike will need to rethink their strategies.