Whole Foods to Open Canadian Store
arket here said last week it plans to open its first Canadian store in Toronto in the spring. A spokeswoman said the company has not announced any additional Canadian locations at this time. She said the Toronto store will be similar to the newer stores Whole Foods has been opening in the United States, with some adjustments for local demographics, as at all stores.
Food Lion Donates Product
SALISBURY, N.C. -- Food Lion here, a division of Delhaize America, said last week it has donated nearly 5,000 pounds of product to three nonprofit organizations in the Jacksonville, Fla., area from the warehouse it shut down in Green Cove Springs, Fla. The products donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of northeast Florida, the Salvation Army of northeast Florida and Quigley House included meat, produce, juices, canned goods, paper products, baby care items and cleaning materials. Food Lion announced in April it would close the 832,000-square-foot warehouse because it was underutilized and, as the smallest of the chain's eight distribution centers, handled the lowest volume. Service from that facility was shifted to a distribution center in Elloree, S.C.
Grocers Oppose Meat Labeling
WASHINGTON -- Regulations proposing grocery-like Nutrition Facts on all meat and poultry received mixed support from the food industry, as government regulators prepared to close the public comment period. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Englewood, Colo., said the initiative is an "opportunity to emphasize the nutrients found in beef," though the rancher group wants to see the list expanded to reflect all of beef's nutrients. The National Grocers Association, Reston, Va., opposes the measure, arguing cooperative efforts and voluntary guidelines "are far more cost effective than governmental mandates that create competitive imbalances and, ultimately, negatively impact the consumer."
Pharmacy Groups Sue Government
WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and National Community Pharmacists Association, both in Alexandria, Va., said they filed a lawsuit last week against the federal government seeking to block President Bush's plan to promote discount prescription drug cards for elderly Americans. The suit was filed against Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and former Health Care Finance Administration Administrator Tom Scully in U.S. District Court here. It alleges that the administration lacks the authority to implement the program and that doing so would violate the Administrative Procedures Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Bi-Lo To Offer Full Banking Services
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Bi-Lo here will begin providing a complete array of financial services in about 10 South Carolina stores through a partnership with National Commerce Financial Corp., Memphis, the bank said last week. The in-store banks, the first of which are scheduled to open as soon as November, will offer such services as savings deposits, consumer loans, home equity loans and investment services. All 10 of the Bi-Lo locations are expected to be open by the end of 2002. Officials at Bi-Lo, a subsidiary of Ahold USA, Chantilly, Va., were not available for comment.
