NEWS ROUNDUP 1994-01-31 (1)

Furr's to Pay FTC Civil Penalty

Furr's Supermarkets Inc. and Rubus Development Corp., both based here, have agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges.

FTC charged Rubus and Furr's Inc., a Lubbock, Texas-based predecessor company to Furr's Supermarkets, with violating provisions of a previous settlement. Rubus was formerly known as Supermarket Development Corp.

In 1988, FTC ordered Furr's Inc. to divest supermarkets in 12 New Mexico and west Texas towns. The order was part of a settlement over agency concerns that Furr's acquisition of the El Paso division of Safeway would lessen competition.

According to the FTC complaint, Furr's of Lubbock violated the original order by not maintaining -- financially or otherwise -- the viability of six stores it was required to divest.

The agency also alleged that Furr's misstepped by not keeping management of the stores separate. Specifically, the agency said Furr's took over responsibility of staffing these stores and otherwise managing them in violation of the order.

Furr's Supermarkets, which was formed in a management buyout of Furr's Inc., said it inherited this problem and is now attempting to bring the situation to a close. By settling the case, Furr's Supermarkets did not admit any wrongdoing. Furr's Supermarkets currently operates 70 stores in New Mexico and Texas.

Harp's Agrees to Buy 3 Phillips

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Harp's Food Stores here has agreed to acquire three Phillips Food Centers in Arkansas from Phillips Cos.

Phillips is a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark.

Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close Feb. 21, were not announced.

The three Phillips Food Centers -- in Bella Vista, Bentonville and Rogers -- are the last three conventional supermarkets operated by Phillips, although Phillips continues to operate about 12 stores under the Food 4 Less banner.

Gerald Harp, vice president of operations at Harp's, said the acquisition of the three stores "was a perfect fit with the company's strategic objective" to expand into northwest Arkansas. The addition of the three stores, which will be operated under the Harp's banner, raises Harp's store count to 28.

Grand Union to Pay Labor Fine

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Grand Union Co., Wayne, N.J., agreed last week to pay a $147,500 fine to settle charges by the U.S. Department of Labor that the chain violated child labor laws.

The charges, which arise from the agency's 1991 supermarket industrywide inquiry, involved minors throwing cardboard into paper balers and working beyond the federally permitted number hours per week.

A&P, Food Lion and Winn-Dixie are among the other retailers that also have settled similar charges with the department.

In settling the case, Grand Union did not admit guilt. Store officials view the more than 100 citations as highly technical violations of the law, which prohibits operation of paper balers by anyone younger than 18.

Don Vaillancourt, Grand Union corporate vice president of communications, said the teen-agers were not in danger when throwing cardboard into the open balers since the machines can't be operated in the open position.

Big V Opens Connecticut Store

FLORIDA, N.Y. -- Big V Supermarkets here has opened its first store in Connecticut, a 58,000-square-foot ShopRite unit located in Milford.

The store opened early this month with a number of specialty departments, including a video section, a New York-style deli and a warehouse aisle with merchandise displayed on pallets.

Big V, a member of the Wakefern Food Corp. cooperative, Elizabeth, N.J., expects to open a second Connecticut store in West Haven later this year.

Excluding the Milford store, Big V operates 26 ShopRites, primarily in the Hudson Valley region of New York, and a single PriceRite club, located in Fishkill, N.Y. The Milford store is the first Big V ShopRite to offer a single Price Plus card that combines check-cashing privileges with merchandise discounts.