-By Michelle Moran

Progressive Grocer’s experienced staff not only provides the industry with the most up-to-date educational resources and daily news, we're also focused on providing an outlet for honors and awards. From our Top 100 Women in Grocery honors to Editor's Picks to Category Captains, our team is constantly working to provide you with competitive analyses of everything  —  from retail channels to new products.

In this issue, researcher Debra Chanil brings us "CES: Inside the Market Basket." This statistical analysis of grocery categories as defined in the Consumer Expenditures Study (CES) is packaged with “Inside the Market Basket,” our annual study of category performance, showing product penetration using the latest Nielsen Homescan Panel consumer data available, which tracks daily purchases of over 126,000 households. It's a comprehensive package surpassed only by the complete report available for purchase on our Web site.

Our Web site, Progressivegrocer.com, is also home to our new blog  —  Aisle Chatter. The grocery industry's newest in-depth blog, AisleChatter.com is written by editorial professionals with more than 100 years of combined journalistic experience. It is a place where PG's online staff and online visitors interact and share their opinions, ideas and stories. From current events to category management, to technology and operations, Aisle Chatter is a place that fosters communication to benefit the entire grocery industry.

On Aisle Chatter, you can also discover discussions of our 2009 Top 100 Women in Grocery review, including highlights of nominees who held nearly all of the cards for receiving the nod, but just barely missed making the cut into our Top 100.

One nominee that still holds a special place for me is Cynthia Danita Joice, who works for the Kroger Co. and was nominated by her management and then also by her husband of 30 years, Hubert L. Joice. Cynthia began working for Kroger in Houston a month before she married Hubert. She's spent the last 16 years in management, the last 15 as the manager of Kroger No. 990 in Nacogdoches, Texas. According to her husband, she was the first female manager at the store and still, by sales volume, heads one of the largest female-run businesses in the area.

Hubert writes, "Cin is a tough, hard-nosed businesswoman with the moxie and steely discipline of a Chicago Bears middle linebacker. Every day, she goes toe to toe with the world's biggest grocer (Walmart Supercenter is only a couple of miles down the road from her store). And yet, she is the first in line to cradle a newborn baby that a co-worker or customer brings into her store to show off."

So, congratulations to Cynthia and to all those nominees who may not have graced our pages, but certainly made our job extremely tough. While we weren't able to select each nominee for an official honor, the nod from your peers within your company should be — and is — the first reward. Until next year!


Another Call for Nominees

In its annual Outstanding Independent Awards, Progressive Grocer recognizes excellence from among the ranks of innovative and successful independent operators, as well as the wholesalers that work with them to maintain independents' key role in food retailing. Nominations for Outstanding Independent Awards are now open. Contact Executive Editor Meg Major at MMajor@progressivegrocer.com.