SN Top 10: Amazon, Walmart, Smart & Final top the week's headlines

In this week’s recap of the Top 10 most popular Supermarket News articles, the top story was private label sales surge. The surge in grocery prices is having a powerful, and positive, impact on the merchandising of private label products. The typically lower cost of store brands contributed to an 11.3% sector sales increase in 2022, resulting in record revenues of  $228.6 billion from all U.S. retailing channels, the New York-based Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) reported in its 2023 Private Label Report.

Among other top stories:

In other news, Walmart has confirmed that it plans to close five store locations in several different markets and what appear to be its last two pickup/delivery-only concept stores in the Chicago area and in Bentonville, Ark. The pickup/delivery-only locations were part of a test the company had launched in 2014, before the pandemic accelerated the demand for grocery e-commerce. The first such facility opened in the company’s headquarters city of Bentonville, followed by a location in Metairie, La., and the location outside Chicago in Lincolnwood, Ill., which opened in 2019 in a former Dominick’s supermarket.

Other stories: