News Briefs

Latino-owned supermarket chain Vallarta Supermarkets celebrated the grand opening of its newest location, in Van Nuys, Calif., on April 27. The new store, Vallarta’s 53rd, is located at 16040 Sherman Way, not far from where the very first Vallarta location opened more than 30 years ago.

To mark the occasion, representatives from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office and other officials joined Vallarta’s executive team for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The location offered a free bag of groceries to the first 300 customers, along with free samples, a photo booth, mariachi music, ballet folklorico dancers, and a performance by the Van Nuys High School marching band. Vallarta also donated a total of $5,000 to local schools.

Additionally, just a few miles away on the same day, Vallarta officially reopened its newly remodeled store at 9136 Sepulveda Boulevard, in North Hills, Calif., celebrating that event with giveaways, raffles and live entertainment.

Vallarta’s newest location will offer a wide variety of food products and services including La Cocina, its authentic in-store Mexican taqueria and kitchen; fresh sushi prepared in-house daily; a full-service Carniceria (meat department); a Panaderia (bakery); a Tortilleria producing freshly made tortillas and masa; a produce department; and a Cremeria (deli) where customers will be able to find a wide selection of fresh Latin-style cheeses, cremas, store-prepared chorizos, salsas, guacamole and pico de gallo; an in-store juice bar, La Isla, serving made-to-order fruit juices, including agua frescas, as well as ice creams; a full-service floral department; and an expanded liquor/wine selection.

Further, through the Vallarta Go delivery service, customers can shop from home and have their groceries and prepared foods delivered to their homes or made available for pickup.

Founded in 1985, Sylmar, Calif.-based Vallarta is a full-service independent grocery chain with 53 locations throughout California.

Revol Greens is growing. The greenhouse lettuce grower has named Kathy Flores (at left) as its chief of staff and tapped Amanda Crews (at right) to serve as its VP of people.

The Owatonna, Minn.-based Revol Greens has enhanced its leadership team at a time of new development and expansion. The company recently added salad kits to its line and is set to open its fourth greenhouse in Temple, Texas, this fall.

As chief of staff, Flores will lead the financial, operational and administrative departments that support the company’s growth. She comes to Revol Greens from Benson Hill, a food tech company aimed at unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, and has also worked at Perdue Agribusines. She brings with her extensive experience in acquisition integrations, the launch of new business units and supply chain management.

The new head of human resources, Crews will bolster the company’s organizational structure and work to ensure compliance, build candidate pipelines and establish productive and fulfillment work environments. She joins Revol Greens from her most recent position at US Foods, and also held HR roles for the state of Texas and at other corporate organizations.

“I admire their impressive backgrounds and the impact they will make within our rapidly growing organization,” remarked Michael Wainscott, Revol Greens’ CEO. “We’ve hand-selected the best-of-the-best to guide our company forward. Kathy is tenured in the leadership within the agribusiness industry and Amanda has a strong reputation for recruiting and retaining employees.”

Texas-based grocery chain United Supermarkets has revealed plans to open its fourth retail store in the Wichita Falls, Texas, community, joining two other United Supermarkets locations and a Market Street. Coming in early 2023, the new store will be located at 2720 Southwest Parkway.

The new store will feature a full-service pharmacy with prescriptions and immunizations, a drive-through window, and United’s Streetside grocery delivery and pickup service, along with a ready meals section, a full-service deli and hot bar, fresh sushi, an in-store bakery, and an extensive craft beer and wine selection.

“United first came to Wichita Falls in 1963, and we have greatly enjoyed that partnership,” said Sidney Hopper, CEO of the Lubbock, Texas-based chain. “Wichita Falls was also the location of the first Market Street in our company back in 1998, and today we are glad to announce that we will open our fourth store at this location.”

The new store is expected to create about 200 jobs in the Witchita Falls community, providing a boost to the local economy.

A self-distributing company, United currently operates 96 stores under five separate banners, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Amigos, Albertsons Market and United Express, along with ancillary operations R.C. Taylor Distributing, USM Manufacturing, United Food and Beverage Services and Llano Logistics. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos. Inc., which operates more than 2,200 retail stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia with 1,700-plus pharmacies, 400 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 20 manufacturing facilities. Albertsons is No. 8 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

In an advertorial published on April 28 in the Des Moines Register, Hy-Vee has revealed that it intends to let go up to 500 professionals from its corporate offices.

The Midwest grocer cited such economic issues as supply chain challenges, ongoing inflation, and direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees in its pharmacies pushing it to make this dramatic move. 

Hy-Vee will ask those laid off from their corporate positions to make a transition to work at its retail stores, even providing incentives and moving bonuses to entice office workers to relocate.

“With unemployment at record low in almost every state we do business, our No. 1 priority is helping our stores find the staffing we need,” said Hy-Vee Vice Chairman and President of Subsidiaries and Supply Chain Aaron Wiese.

This isn’t the only move that Hy-Vee is making to be as lean as possible. According to the advertorial, the grocer is is pausing several projects, including its new warehouse in Cummings, Iowa, due to high construction costs.

The Midwest grocer already eliminated more than 100 corporate positions in March. At that time, the grocer also asked these associates to transfer to its retail stores.

In retail, Hy-Vee debuted a new reimagined store format in September 2021 in Grimes, Iowa, touting such features as new dining experiences, expanded departments and digital shopping. It has since opened the same format in other locations in its operating region. Hy-Vee also recently said that it would be entering new market areas in Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Employee-owned Hy-Vee has a team of more than 93,000 employees and operates 285-plus retail stores across eight states. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based company is No. 34 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

Lunds & Byerlys is outsourcing its deliveries. In an effort to expand its capabilities and reach, the Edina, Minn.-based grocer is replacing its in-house deliveries with service by third-party Shipt.

A division of Target Corp. – also based in Minnesota and a fellow retailer – Shipt will take over deliveries of Lunds & Byerlys groceries beginning May 10, with a full changeover expected by June 7.  While delivery services are changing, shoppers can still place orders through Lunds & Byerlys website and app, as well as through third-party platforms Shipt and Instacart.

In an email to its customers, the grocer said that its former delivery drivers "will be provided the opportunity to work in other roles at Lunds & Byerlys or continue to be a driver by joining the Shipt team."

According to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the move allows Lunds & Byerlys to reduce delivery times to as little as one hour and to fulfill products from 18 stores instead of the current six locations. In addition to the change in delivery, Lunds & Byerlys is also tweaking its customer service by adding new shelf-scanning technologies to its locations.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 2,000 locations.

Meijer is expanding its apparel offerings, adding private label intimates and sleepwear. The new Tranquil & True line is designed to fit a greater cross-section of women and is part of the retailers’ overarching efforts to carry products that best reflect the diverse audience it serves.

Items within the line range from size S to 3X. Bras are available up to a 42-band size and DDD cup.

“Confidence is at the core of the new Meijer Tranquil & True brand,” said Annette Repasch, group VP of Softlines at Meijer. “We know that finding intimate apparel that fits well, is comfortable and reflects a woman’s inner style is not always easy so that’s why we designed Tranquil & True. We think that all women, whatever their size or shape, will find pieces they feel effortlessly great in.” 

The addition aligns with Meijer’s approach to fashion inclusion. The retailer launched a "Confidence Beyond Measure" campaign in 2020 spotlighting models across size, shape, race and ability. In 2016, Meijer was the first major retailer to remove its plus-size department for women and stock clothing from size XS to 3X on the same rack for the same price.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer operates more than 258 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The company is No. 18 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food retailers in North America.