THE YEAR IN REVIEW

The year just ending provided plenty of excitement for supermarkets. Retailers survived a year of hefty mergers and growing threats from supercenters. Operators began to fathom the potential of interactive technologies and continued to marvel at the seemingly unstoppable force of fresh foods. Meanwhile, grocery and nonfoods departments enacted new strategies to head off major challenges to their growth. SN's review of 1995 begins on Page 10 with a big-picture retail focus. Separate 1995 recaps of specific supermarket sectors appear on the opening pages of each SN section this week.