NEWS WATCH 2002-03-25

Court Upholds Damage Award Against Winn-Dixie

re said last week it was "disappointed" -- and is considering its options -- following a court ruling that upheld a lower court judgment against the chain in a case involving an 18-year-old boy who consumed alcohol purchased at a Winn-Dixie store shortly before he died in a single-car accident in 1998. In last week's ruling, the Cumberland County Superior Court in Raleigh, N.C., said the boy's parents are aggrieved parties under the law and are therefore entitled to damages totaling $100,000.

Supervalu WILL Close PA. Distribution Center

MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu here said last week that it will close its distribution center in Belle Vernon, Pa., transferring all operations to its nearby Pittsburgh facility by the end of the summer. Approximately 300 jobs will be lost as a result of the consolidation, Ray West, spokesman for Supervalu, told SN. "The move just makes more sense from an efficiency and cost-cutting standpoint, since the facilities are only about 15 miles apart," he said.