Aldi To Reopen 30 Of 66 Shut Bottom Dollar Stores

Discount grocer Aldi said Friday that it will reopen 30 of the 66 former Bottom Dollar stores it took over in Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and northeast Ohio after the previous owner, the Delhaize Group, shut Bottom Dollar last year.

Five ex-Bottom Dollar stores in Philadelphia and 14 in the suburbs will reopen. Four Philadelphia stores will stay shut, along with 13 in the suburbs.

Aldi, an Illinois-based U.S. arm of Germany’s Albrecht family grocery conglomerate, said in 2013 it planned a $3 billion expansion, and Friday’s announcement is part of that effort.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150328_Aldi_to_reopen_30_of_66_shut_Bottom_Dollar_stores.html#PzL7PW1CHTgYrswX.99

Additional article about Lehigh Valley locations:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2015/03/aldi_to_convert_2_of_8_bottom.html

Grocery Prices Keeping Climbing; Up 7 Percent In Last Year

Mary Bouras never expected to get sticker shock from a pound of butter.

But when the grocery staple reached more than $5 a pound at most stores, the 66-year-old Dover resident said it was hard not to.

Last week, she paid $5.79 for butter at Weis, and three other grocery chains in the area had similar prices.

“I know it’s just life and prices go up, but $6 for butter is a lot for me,” Bouras said.

Six months ago, she would have paid $1 less for the same item at the same store. A year ago, it would have been $1.20 cheaper, and five years ago it would have been $1.80 less.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_26672787/grocery-prices-keeping-climbing-up-7-percent-last

Acme Parent Company Buys Safeway for $9 Billion

Acme Markets’ corporate parent, the Albertsons grocery-store chain, on Thursday purchased Safeway Inc., for about $9 billion.

Albertsons is controlled by an investor group led by Cerberus, a New York-based private-equity firm. Other investors included Philadelphia-based Lubert-Adler Partners, Kimco Realty Corp., Klaff Realty L.P., and Schottenstein Real Estate Group.

With the purchase of Safeway, the group will now control about 2,400 grocery stores, making it one of the largest chains in the country.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140307_Acme_parent_company_buys_Albertsons_for__9B.html#yfZ07Jksrr6jsbWd.99

Weis Markets In Muhlenberg Township To Shut Down

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Weis Markets, 3240 Fifth Street Highway, Muhlenberg Township, will close on April 14.

More than 50 full and part-time associates were informed of the closing and will be offered positions at other area Weis locations, said Dennis V. Curtin, director of corporate communications for Weis.

Curtin said the store is closing for business reasons and that it had been underperforming for some time.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=370695

Chester To Get First Supermarket In A Decade

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CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — A southeastern Pennsylvania city will soon be getting its first supermarket in more than a decade, the project of a nonprofit organization best known for collecting and distributing emergency food aid, officials said.

Philabundance announced Friday that it had purchased a mostly vacant building in Chester that housed the city’s last supermarket before it closed in 2001.

In about a year, the organization says it hopes to open a new 13,000-square-foot “Fare and Square” grocery store. Bill Clark, the group’s president, says it is believed to be the first supermarket in the country operated by a food aid group as a nonprofit venture.

Read more: http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20120301/NEWS01/120309982/se-pa-city-to-get-first-supermarket-in-decade

Giant Food Stores To Acquire 16 Genuardi’s Family Markets In Philadelphia Area

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Giant Food Stores, LLC, is making a competitive push into the suburban Philadelphia market.

The Carlisle-based chain announced Thursday it has entered into an agreement to acquire 16 Genuardi’s Family Markets in the Philadelphia area for $106 million.

The transaction is expected to close over the next six months at which point the ownership will be transferred from Safeway Inc. and the stores converted into Giant Food Stores.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/giant_food_stores_to_acquire_1.html

RELATED STORY

Royersford, Norristown and Exton Genuardi’s closing!

http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120105/NEWS01/120109752

Wegman’s Coming To Montgomery Mall

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Montgomery Mall has a big empty space.  When Boscov’s reorganized a few years ago, the Montgomery Mall store closed and has been empty ever since.  Now Wegman’s has announced plans to become the newest anchor store at the mall. 

Wegman’s will demolish the old Boscov’s and build a new store.  The store will be 125,000 square-feet, which is the same size as the former Boscov’s.  The opening date will be determined by how fast Wegman’s can fit this new store into their schedule.  2012 is out but 2013 is in the running.

Wegman’s is breaking ground by becoming the first supermarket to open at a Simon Property Group mall.

Wegman’s has a store open in Collegeville and another store opening (Spring of 2012) in King of Prussia.

Another Wegman’s Coming To The 422 Corridor

Not long after the Collegeville, PA Wegman’s opened, a second Wegman’s was proposed and approved for King of Prussia, PA in the Village at Valley Forge development, which runs along North Gulph Road.

The former Valley Forge Golf Course, nestled between 422 and North Gulph Road, will be the new home for the area’s second Wegman’s grocery store.  The store will be 107,000 square feet and situated on more than a hundred acres on the property.  A 2012 opening date is projected.

Reconstruction of existing roads in the area will take place to accommodate the traffic entering and exiting the development in the coming months.

There are six Wegman’s stores open in the Philadelphia region.  The Lehigh Valley has three stores in Allentown, Bethlehem and Nazareth.