Free Republic

One grocery chain is fighting hard to keep stores open despite rampant shoplifting and an uptick in violence forcing many retailers to leave major cities across the country. Giant Food, which operates 165 supermarkets in D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, has taken multiple measures to combat theft and keep stores safe, according to a report in The Washington Post. That includes limiting store entrances; hiring security guards; restricting the number of items at self-checkout stands; putting less high-value items on shelves; and securing razor blades in containers that make noise if opened. Company president Ira Kress said he's seen theft...

A new 162,000-square-foot meat processing plant opened Oct. 21 in Camp Hill, Pa. The factory, off Lisburn Road, is owned by Ahold USA, which operates grocery store chains Giant, Martin’s and Stop & Shop, and is managed by Vantage Foods. The plant will cut and package beef and pork products for distribution to Giant’s stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and surrounding states, said Tracey Pawelski, Ahold’s vice president of external communications. No animals will be slaughtered at the factory. The carcasses will be brought in from the company’s current suppliers, including Pennsylvania-based brands such as Hatfield and Berks as well as...

. . .Mr. Saint, a former newspaper reporter and political press secretary, founded his firm 26 years ago. It specializes in using political-campaign tactics—petition drives, phone banks, websites—to build support for or against controversial projects, from oil refineries and shopping centers to quarries and landfills. Over the years, it has conducted about 1,500 campaigns in 44 states. Mr. Saint says about 500 have involved trying to block a development, and most of those have been clandestine. For the typical anti-Wal-Mart assignment, a Saint manager will drop into town using an assumed name to create or take control of local opposition,...

<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The NCAA said Tuesday it will continue its ban on awarding championships to South Carolina because of the Confederate flag flying on Statehouse grounds.</p> <p>In August 2001, the NCAA executive committee voted for a two-year moratorium on selecting sites in South Carolina for things like basketball championships. NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard says the August 2001 decision called for "significant change" from the state of South Carolina. That has not occurred, he said.</p>

Ahold wants to sell all or part of US Foodservice, the distribution unit where the discovery of an $880m accounting scandal plunged the Dutch grocery group into financial crisis, according to people familiar with the situation. The plan has been mapped out by Dudley Eustace, Ahold's interim chief financial officer, and other executives as part of a strategy to reduce 12bn Euros ($14bn) in debt and regain credibility with investors, these people said. Mr Eustace, who is understood to have received expressions of interest in a range of assets from private equity and venture capital groups, has "made it...