Grocery

Susan Heisler, a retired grocery store merchandiser and recreational pool player, died of lung cancer March 3 at the Chesapeake Hospice's Mandrin Center in Harwood. The Glen Burnie resident was 55. Born in Baltimore and raised on Bush Street, she was the daughter of Roger Heisler, who served in the Navy, and Nira Blank, a Koppers Co. and Maryland Glass employee. The family moved to Anne Arundel County and she was a 1965 graduate of Northeast High School, where she ran track. She was a bartender at Dino's in Glen Burnie on Ritchie Highway.

Nate Weiner used to do most of his grocery shopping at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley and the Giant near his Hampden home. Now he orders most of his groceries online from Relay Foods and picks it up at designated spot on Sundays. "I get most of my produce from them," said Weiner, 26, a mechanical engineer and part-time student. "The local stuff is picked that morning. They're some of the best vegetables I've ever had. " While the aspect of fresh and local food is an attraction, the real selling point for him is convenience.

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...

The developer of a vacant lot in Charles Village owned by the Johns Hopkins University has decided not to build a grocery store there. The university supports the decision about the site, at the corner of St. Paul and E. 33rd streets, said a statement released Wednesday by Armada Hoffler, the lead developer of the 1.1-acre site. The other firms involved are Beatty Development Group LLC and Skye Hospitality LLC. The development group, 3200StPaul, has met with residents of Charles Village and the surrounding communities in recent weeks to solicit their thoughts on how the land should be used.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If I had to vote on which food store I would like to see at the Rotunda, I would vote for Graul's Market. My reason is simple: Graul's is a full-service market. Retirement communities and apartment buildings, all inhabited by senior citizens, surround the Rotunda. St. Mary's Roland View Towers is a two-building complex near the intersection of Roland Avenue and 40th Street. Roland Park Place and Keswick Multi-Care are right across from the Rotunda on 40th Street. Many who live and work in those complexes depended on the Giant for groceries until it moved down the hill.

The grocery industry has become smitten with Towson, but is so much love a good thing? With the opening two weeks ago of a Weis Markets, the third new grocery store to open in Towson in the past two years, supermarket shoppers in the region can choose between about 10 chain grocery stores. That doesn't even include big box stores that also sell food, like Target. Meanwhile, another chain, Harris Teeter is a suitor for the fire house property in the center of Towson where it wants to build a store.

Susan Heisler, a retired grocery store merchandiser and recreational pool player, died of lung cancer March 3 at the Chesapeake Hospice's Mandrin Center in Harwood. The Glen Burnie resident was 55. Born in Baltimore and raised on Bush Street, she was the daughter of Roger Heisler, who served in the Navy, and Nira Blank, a Koppers Co. and Maryland Glass employee. The family moved to Anne Arundel County and she was a 1965 graduate of Northeast High School, where she ran track. She was a bartender at Dino's in Glen Burnie on Ritchie Highway.

It was encouraging to read that the revitalization of the Wilde Lake Village Center will be shortly under way and will include a new and improved David's along with a CVS (Feb. 28).  I did find the comment attributed to Kimco Realty's Vice President of Acquisitions and Development, Geoff Glazer somewhat concerning. The article stated that Mr. Glazer believes David's and the new CVS will present residents the choices of a traditional grocer.  Perhaps Mr. Glazer does not realize that the true gem of the Wilde Lake Village Center, past, present and hopefully future, is Today's Catch.  Based on  this article and the way Today's Catch was mention almost as an afterthought, it appears that the importance of this store to the community is lost on Kimco.  For years, residents had the convenience of doing their basic grocery shopping at Giant and walking next door to Today's Catch for the best fish and seafood in town.  If Kimco is even remotely interested in creating a complete grocery store experience for the community, they will make sure that Today's Catch is as easily accessible to David's as it was to Giant and will do everything within their power to make sure that this store succeeds in their new Village Center.

Mortician Erich March told me he was tired of seeing people in his East Baltimore community die of conditions like diabetes and hypertension. He blamed the lack of grocery shopping choices in the neighborhood where he grew up and where his Aisquith Street funeral home is located. He and his wife, Michele Speaks-March, were determined to bring a new style of shopping to the Oliver, South Clifton and Darley Park neighborhoods. They were not targeting the vegan or food faddist crowd.

A few months ago, things were looking bleak for Brooklyn Homes resident Christina Stocks. The 27-year-old single mother of two took a pay cut at work and fell behind in her rent payments. She was facing eviction - and a Christmas on the streets. Searching the Internet for some sort of help, Stocks came across the United Way's Family Stability Initiative. She called, and everything changed. The organization helped Stocks out with her rent - keeping the family in their apartment - and provided her with groceries and Christmas presents.

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?

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.

Gertrude Brownstein, who worked for eight decades in grocery and department stores and later in a family-owned auction business, died of cancer Dec. 18 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 100 and lived in Owings Mills. Gertrude Fishbone was born on Jan. 1, 1912, in Baltimore. She was the daughter of Hyman and Ida Fishbone, immigrants from the Ukraine. Family members said they came to this country speaking only Russian and Yiddish. They opened a corner grocery store in 1920 at 3600 Keswick Road in Hampden.

City officials are offering a trade: groceries for guns. This Saturday, Klein's ShopRite will give a $100 gift certificate to anyone who turns in a firearm. The "Goods for Guns" buyback will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Coldstream Homestead Montebello Community Corp. headquarters, located on the campus of City College. "Every single gun we get out of our neighborhoods is a success," said City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who helped organize the event.