Perimeter

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Consumer packaged goods manufacturers are responding in a major way to an increasingly obese and more health-conscious nation, according to new survey data released here by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

NEW YORK -- This is a tough town for c-store retailers, as Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. learned a long time ago. The company left the Manhattan market in 1982 and abandoned plans for a Times Square location in 2002. But now, after testing an urban format in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago, president and CEO Jim Keyes thinks his company has it right, and opened a new store in Manhattan yesterday.

REEDLEY, Calif. -- A&P, Safeway/Vons, Food City, Cub Foods, Hannaford; and Kroger and several of its subsidiaries are participating in a unique promotion from the California Tree Fruit Agreement here and Fresh Express, in which shoppers can download music from iTunes Music Store for free.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A 64,000-square-foot, 28-year-old Wegmans on Dick Road store in Depew, N.Y. closed Saturday evening so it could be torn down to make way for a bigger, better version.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- It's a good thing for Wal-Mart that people have to eat. The latest figures from ACNielsen's Wal-Mart Channel Service for the 52-weeks ended May 14, show that growth in food and beverage sales more than offset an actual decline in sales of UPC-coded general merchandise at Wal-Mart supercenters and discount stores over the past year.

QUINCY, Mass. -- As the July 4 three-day weekend approaches, Stop & Shop Supermarkets said it is expecting huge demand for barbeque-related items as grills are fired up across the Northeast.

NEW YORK CITY -- The market for women's food and beverages grew at a compound annual rate of 80 percent between 2000 and 2004, and is now a $4.6 billion industry. At its current growth, it could reach as high as $7.7 billion by 2009, according to a new study by Packaged Facts.

LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food LLC, this morning christened a new full-service food and pharmacy combination store at the historic Tivoli Theatre site at 1345 Park Road, N.W. in Washington, D.C.