Grocery

Contract negotiations between management and the union representing workers at Giant Food and Safeway are expected to continue Tuesday, said a union spokeswoman, who added that no progress had been reported so far. The contract between the grocery chains and the union, which represents 23,000 employees in the Baltimore-Washington region, expires March 31. On Monday, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 in Landover said five...

James F. Bray, a retired grocery store manager, died Tuesday of an aneurysm at his Jessup home. He was 76. Mr. Bray was born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina and Baltimore, where he graduated from city public schools. He served in the Army for three months and was honorably discharged in 1958. Mr. Bray worked for Food Fair and later as an evening grocery manager at Pantry Pride from 1952 to 1981, when he retired. During the 1980s, he worked for several years for Valu Food as a manager.

Baltimore County police are searching for a suspect wanted in connection with the armed robbery of an Arbutus grocery store in June, according to police. A warrant has been issued for John David Lamont Caldwell II, 41, of the 1900 block of Wilkins Ave. in Baltimore. Caldwell is wanted on two counts of armed robbery and felony use of a handgun in the robbery of the Mars supermarket in the 1000 block of Maiden Choice Lane at 6:52 p.m. June 21, police said. Police say Caldwell and another man entered the store, and one went behind the counter and demanded cash from an employee.

If local pharmacists could write the regulations, Marylanders probably wouldn't ever have been allowed to get their prescriptions filled at chain stores like Walgreens and Rite-Aid. Independent video stores probably would have liked to outlaw Blockbuster, just as small bookstore owners probably would have been just as happy if the state had a ban on Barnes & Noble. (For that matter, Blockbuster might like an injunction against Netflix and Barnes & Noble on Amazon.com.) And most of all, Main Street merchants everywhere would probably love a world where Walmart was illegal.

Baltimore's first Lowe's home improvement store and a supermarket would anchor a $65 million mixed-use project straddling Charles Village and Remington under a retail developer's plans to transform the site of Anderson Automotive, a fixture since the mid-1950s. Developer Rick Walker unveiled plans Wednesday to build the home improvement store and a grocer, along with 32,000 square feet of specialty shops and up to 60 apartments on 11 acres roughly bounded by 25th Street to the north, Maryland Avenue to the east, 24th Street to the south and the CSX rail line to the west.

Your gushing about the arrival of Wegmans ("Counting down the days until Wegmania finally hits Howard County," Feb. 9) left off another important fact: the insane traffic congestion on Snowden River Parkway that the opening of Wegmans will cause. Don't get me wrong. I like Wegmans, too, as a grocery store and I have been known to drive to Hunt Valley to go to Wegmans. But that's just the point. As you mentioned in your article, people will come from great distances to go to the store, i.e. like the 1,500 shoppers you mentioned for opening day in Landover.

Like actor Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day," Geoffrey Glazer, vice president for development of Kimco Realty, seems doomed to relive the same moment over and over — whenever he visits the Village of Wilde Lake in Columbia. "Why are you so stubborn and decided not to have a grocery store?" Constantine Philippedes asked Glazer, to loud applause from a large segment of the roughly 100 people seated behind him. "You insisted again and again and again, no grocery store.

Jittery shoppers were crowding grocery and hardware stores early Thursday, stocking up on food and anything that would make it easier to clear their driveways and sidewalks. The area's Home Depot stores have been shipping in snow shovels, snowblowers and other items from stores in New England to keep up with the demand. Jim Emge, district manager of the Baltimore-area stores, said snowblowers are especially popular: People's backs and spirits might not able to bear yet again digging out of mounds of snow with an old-fashioned shovel.

From The Consuming Interests blog: Higher food prices are being passed on to customers by supermarkets, meaning some of us may start to see costlier bills. But there's no need to panic. There are ways to keep your bill down without completely giving up your splurges. Here are some of the tips I've learned over the years. Maybe some of you frugal grocery queens can pass on your suggestions as well. Plan your meals around the sales circular that week. Black beans and chicken on sale?

With the stagnant economy hanging like a dark cloud over the negotiating table, bargainers for two leading regional supermarket chains and the Food and Commercial Workers union are coming down to the wire in contract talks.Giant Food and Safeway stores in the Baltimore-Washington area are scheduled to close tomorrow morning while employees meet for a vote on new contracts that would cover an estimated 25,200 workers. If the contracts are not ratified, members of Baltimore Local 27 and Washington Local 400 could strike.

The kerfuffle over the proposed wine store in Wegmans' newest location in Columbia heralds the next looming battle in consumers' fight to modernize Maryland's alcohol policy. The recent Howard County liquor board hearing demonstrated the intensity of both sides' arguments. The local retailers, backed by the alcohol distributors, fear increased competition — while consumer groups clamor for greater convenience and selection, and lower prices. The alcohol industry in Maryland has traditionally dictated its own regulations.

Unlike most other states, Maryland shoppers have to make one extra stop for a cabernet to go with that steak they bought on sale at the supermarket —grocery stores in the state are generally banned from selling alcohol. Increasingly, though, grocery chains like Wegmans and Harris Teeter are trying to find ways around the prohibition, drawing pushback from Maryland's powerful liquor lobby and package goods stores but support from consumers hoping for easier food-and-wine pairings.

Anthony S. D'Anna, a retired Mars Super Markets Inc. executive and World War II veteran, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke at Symphony Manor assisted-living facility in Roland Park. The longtime Timonium resident was 85. The son of an Italian immigrant and a homemaker, Anthony Settimo D'Anna was born in Baltimore and raised on Mulberry Street. After graduating from Calvert Hall College High School in 1944, Mr. D'Anna enlisted in the Army and served in Europe with the 63rd Infantry Division.

Contract negotiations between management and the union representing workers at Giant Food and Safeway are expected to continue Tuesday, said a union spokeswoman, who added that no progress had been reported so far. The contract between the grocery chains and the union, which represents 23,000 employees in the Baltimore-Washington region, expires March 31. On Monday, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 in Landover said five...

A Baltimore police officer has been charged with attempted theft of groceries at a Northeast Baltimore store after a cashier — the officer's daughter — rang up items for her at reduced prices, police said Saturday. "We demand, we expect more from the people who wear this badge," Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The officer is facing both an internal investigation and a criminal summons. The charge comes within days of the department's suspending John A. Ward, 32, a four-year veteran of the force.

He played a hardnosed detective on HBO's The Wire, a trombonist on Treme and soon Wendell Pierce will be a grocery store owner. The actor who has a made a career starring in David Simon's popular television series plans to open Sterling Farms grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods in New Orleans, where there a shortage of good supermarkets. He talked about the plans recently with The New York Times. He and a business partner have already opened Sterling Express in the city where Treme is taped.

THIS PAST SATURDAY I passed by the old Gorsuch Avenue A&P. OK, it's really a Super Fresh, but I'll always think of that grocery store by its former name.It was no ordinary Saturday in Waverly. It was the last day of the store's selling-out sale. A few people milled around outside. That evening, the store closed for good.I've often heard that Baltimoreans stubbornly live in the past. So the passing of a food store that had served in this same location for 60 years is a cause for neighborhood mourning.

With so many major issues confronting our country, it may seem silly to care about such a small issue - but as a farm girl, I understand the potential a seed has. My concern is simple, it's local, and it affects people in their neighborhoods: It is the disappearance of checkout clerks in grocery stores and box stores. I have refused to use "self-checkout" at stores since it first appeared. First, I do not wish to train to be a cashier (clearly it's a job without much of a future). Second, I am not offered a discount to do so. And most important, by using self-checkout, I effectively would cut the hours of work available to people in my community.

Your gushing about the arrival of Wegmans ("Counting down the days until Wegmania finally hits Howard County," Feb. 9) left off another important fact: the insane traffic congestion on Snowden River Parkway that the opening of Wegmans will cause. Don't get me wrong. I like Wegmans, too, as a grocery store and I have been known to drive to Hunt Valley to go to Wegmans. But that's just the point. As you mentioned in your article, people will come from great distances to go to the store, i.e. like the 1,500 shoppers you mentioned for opening day in Landover.