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A&P CEO 'APPALED' BY WORKERS' YOUTUBE VIDEO - Eric Claus, chief executive officer of A&P, in a statement last week said he was at the support shown for two former employees whose spoof rap video shot in a New Jersey A&P store showed and handling of produce items. I find it disturbing that the focus of this story has not been on food safety, Claus said. This is in total contrast to the food

A&P CEO ‘APPALLED’ BY WORKERS' YOUTUBE VIDEO

MONTVALE, N.J. — Eric Claus, chief executive officer of A&P here, in a statement last week said he was “appalled” at the support shown for two former employees whose spoof rap video shot in a New Jersey A&P store showed “disgusting” and “deplorable” handling of produce items. “I find it disturbing that the focus of this story has not been on food safety,” Claus said. “This is in total contrast to the food safety standards that we uphold as a company.” A&P suspended and later fired the employees, Mark and Matthew D'Avella, who are brothers, shortly after their video was posted at youtube.com on Aug. 6. Last week, the retailer filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages and requesting that the video be removed from websites.

SWEETBAY CONVERSION ELIMINATES KASH N' KARRY

TAMPA, Fla. — A Kash n' Karry store in Crystal River, Fla., was converted to the Sweetbay banner last week, marking the end of a three-year transformation of nearly 100 former Kash n' Karry sites and the end of the Kash n' Karry name after more than 45 years in Florida. The retailer, founded as a wagon selling fruits and vegetables by Italian immigrant Salvatore Greco in 1914, took on the Kash n' Karry name in 1962. Belgium-based Delhaize Group purchased the chain in 2001 and created the Sweetbay brand to reinvigorate the chain in core markets.

FORMER WAL-MART VICE CHAIR COUGHLIN FACES PRISON

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Tom Coughlin, the former vice chairman of Wal-Mart who was sentenced to home confinement and probation after he pleaded guilty to stealing from the company, could be sentenced to prison after all, an appeals court ruled last week. In a filing reviewed by SN, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Coughlin, who was accused of stealing about $500,000 from Wal-Mart, deserved a harsher sentence. His attorneys had argued that his health problems, which include heart ailments, hypertension, obesity and gout, require that he take 13 different medications and that his life would be put at risk in prison conditions. The appeals court concluded that his health problems were not severe enough to keep him out of prison and that federal sentencing guidelines call for six months to a year of incarceration.