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President Joe Biden stubbornly refused to admit Americans' struggles with inflation might cost him the election in a rare interview Wednesday. A growing economy could inspire confidence in Biden's leadership ahead of the election, but the issue of persistent inflation could ruin that. Biden, who was in Wisconsin to tout his record on the economy and to announce an investment by Microsoft to build a factory, defended his handling of inflation.

Want more food deserts in San Francisco?Here's how you get more food deserts in San Francisco.According to Reason magazine:The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a remarkable policy that would allow people to sue grocery stores that close too quickly.Earlier this week, Supervisors Dean Preston and Aaron Peskin introduced an ordinance that, if passed, would require grocery stores to provide six months' written notice to the city before closing down.Supermarket operators would also have to make "good faith" efforts to ensure the continued availability of groceries at their shuttered location, either through finding a successor store, helping residents form...

When in doubt, blame businesses for closing their doors instead of the crime that has made it unsustainable for them to operate. San Francisco might even do you one better: force the businesses to stay open anyway. One of the 11 members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is floating reviving a vetoed 1984 law that would force grocery stores to stay open against their will. Supervisor Dean Preston calls it a “good idea” because of the risk of “food insecurity” that comes with grocery stores closing. The law in question would require stores to give a whopping six-month notice...

Interactive Grocery Shopping List Comparing Prices During Trump Administration To Bidenomices Prices https://www.biden-mart.com/

In October 2022, I shared a big announcement in the retail world: Two massive, U.S. grocery store chains, Kroger and Albertsons, had agreed to merge, in a deal worth nearly $25 billion:CNBC:Rival grocers Kroger and Albertsons on Friday announced plans to team up.The companies said Kroger agreed to buy Albertsons for $34.10 a share in a deal valued at $24.6 billion. Albertsons shares had closed Thursday at $28.63 after surging on reports that a deal was imminent.Kroger is the second-largest grocer by market share in the United States, behind Walmart, and Albertsons is fourth, after Costco. Together, Kroger and Albertsons...

Lael Brainard: 'People are fed up with high prices,' especially for 'things that they buy on a weekly basis, groceries in particular' A top Biden economic adviser on Thursday pressed on with the administration's recent effort to go after grocery stores and food companies over elevated prices, as inflation remains a major worry for voters as November's presidential election nears. "Grocery prices, they are important to people because they pay those prices every week," said Lael Brainard, director of President Joe Biden's National Economic Council, during a news conference at a National Association for Business Economics event in Washington, D.C....

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit to block the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons because of the negative ramifications he says it would have for residents, such as fewer options and higher prices. In the suit, filed on Monday, Ferguson argued that the proposed $24.6 billion merger, announced in October 2022, "will likely substantially lessen supermarket competition or tend to create a monopoly in many Washington communities," where both companies currently compete. This would likely increase prices of food and other grocery products in supermarkets offered to Washington consumers while simultaneously decreasing "the quantity and quality...

PARIS (Reuters) -Carrefour is telling customers in four European countries it will no longer sell products, such as Pepsi, Lay's crisps and 7up because they have become too costly, in the latest tug-of-war over prices between retailers and global food giants. From Thursday, shelves for PepsiCo products at Carrefour stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will carry signs saying the store will no longer be stocking the brands "due to unacceptable price increases", a spokesperson for the French supermarket giant said. Carrefour's move impacts more than 9,000 stores across the four countries, amounting to two-thirds of the retailer's global...

As the United States strives to regain a sense of normalcy after the pandemic, a growing financial concern is looming over the nation. According to Bloomberg, the cost of living has surged in various aspects, with groceries marking a 25% increase, used cars seeing a staggering 35% climb, and rents escalating by approximately 20%. While daily routines may have returned to a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy, the financial burden on Americans is far from abating. A recent CNBC report reveals that a staggering 74% of Americans are currently experiencing stress due to their financial situations. The reasons behind this financial...

After being left alone for the holidays, eight-year-old Kevin McCallister famously went grocery shopping in the 1990 classic "Home Alone," purchasing a large haul of food and everyday household items for under $20. With today's prices, however, McCallister would need a lot more in his piggy bank and Americans are taking notice. Items including a half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, bread, frozen mac and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of army men and dryer sheets cost the character, played by Macaulay Culkin, $19.83. Last year, the same grocery...

We keep hearing that inflation is down, lower than a year ago or in the right direction or some other explanation like that. It's about what you'd hear from a White House managing a bad message. And then mom goes to the grocery store and comes home shaking her head and looking at the bill. This is when inflation goes from being a news story to a family conversation. This is from Steve Cortes: In fact, the latest survey results from the battleground swing states of America finds that food insecurity is a foremost worry of American citizens. My organization,...

A popular grocery chain in New York State is closing several stores and laying off more than 500 employees. It's not a great sign, especially before the holidays, that so many retailers are shuttering locations in New York State. Rite Aid and CVS stores will be closing in New York by the end of this year or next year. Two TJ Maxx and Marshal's stores will be closing. Now this. Shop-Rite Supermarkets Inc., the parent company for Shop-Rite stores has filed with the New York State Department of Labor. The company said in its filing that 567 employees will be...

As Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs become more popular, Americans might start buying less food, particularly high-calorie snacks and fast food. Why it matters: That could radically reshape the food industry, and investors and food industry executives are starting to pay attention. Ozempic is approved by the FDA to treat diabetes but is also prescribed for off-label use by doctors for obesity. Driving the news: Earlier this week, Walmart's U.S. CEO told Bloomberg that customers taking Ozempic buy less food. (Walmart mined its own pharmacy and grocery data to pinpoint customer buying patterns, per Bloomberg.) "We definitely do see...

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he had summoned five of the country's biggest grocers, including Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro, to address cost-of-living concerns at a time when his Liberal Government has been losing ground in opinion polls.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) is looking into opening taxpayer-funded, city-owned grocery stores in areas in which businesses have pulled out due to rampant crime. Johnson announced a partnership with the Economic Security Project to look into the possibility of opening city-owned grocery stores. The first step in the partnership will be to perform a feasibility study, but the city did not provide a timeline, the Chicago Tribune reported. Johnson claimed his administration is “committed to advancing innovative, whole-of-government approaches to address these inequities.”

Grocery price increases in the United States slowed down in August, up just 0.2% for the month. That’s an improvement from July, when grocery prices were up 0.3%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, released Wednesday. For the year, grocery prices are up a modest 3%. This time last year, prices were up 13.5% compared to 2021. *SNIP* Bacon prices jumped by 4% last month, the biggest monthly increase since June 2020. The increase comes as wholesale pork belly prices -— the cut of meat used to make bacon — hit a near-record high of $2.37 a pound last...

The Biden administration’s massive expansion of food stamp benefits is linked to at least a 15% rise in grocery prices, a new study said on Thursday. President Biden’s Department of Agriculture rolled out revised nutritional standards for federal food benefits in 2021 that expanded the program by roughly 25% from pre-COVID pandemic levels. Overall spending on the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to findings from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) previewed by Fox News Digital. It went from $4.5 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2022, the study said.

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...

The CEO of New York City grocery store chain Gristedes is sounding the alarm over all the "dumb things" the government is doing as inflation persists. When FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo asked John Catsimatidis when Americans will see a break at the supermarket he said: "When the food executives feel confident that Washington is not doing dumb things." "When they feel that their earnings… are going to survive," he continued. His comments came on the heels of inflation jumping 0.4% in April as prices remain stubbornly high. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the consumer price index, a broad...

Online grocery prices continued to rise by double-digits in March, as inflation continues to bite. Although online grocery prices have eased over the past six months, costs were up 10.3 percent in March from the previous year, according to the Adobe Digital Price Index on April 10. Adobe analyzed 1 trillion visits to retail sites and more than 100 million items across 18 product categories to track price changes. There was a 0.4 percent rise in the growth of food prices from February, which had been slowing since their height last September, when they hit a record 14.3 percent year-over-year...