BUSINESS
March 5, 2013 | By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
Assi Natural Market carries dozens of kimchi products. There are more than 200 kinds of dumplings. Its carts mimic the red and green of Sriracha sauce bottles. All of which seems to indicate a pretty standard Asian grocery. But once it opens this month in Irvine, Assi aspires to be a hybrid of cultures - like the growing and increasingly moneyed population of second-generation Asian Americans it hopes to draw into its aisles. The goal, manager Thomas Yoon said, is to become the Whole Foods of ethnic supermarkets.
BUSINESS
February 21, 2013 | By Ricardo Lopez
A two-year study of more than 1,200 seafood samples by Oceana, an environmental advocacy group, found that a third of seafood sold in grocery stores and restaurants is mislabeled, the group announced Thursday. DNA testing of seafood samples between 2010 and 2012 found that 33% were mislabeled according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The most commonly mislabeled fish were snapper and tuna. Of the samples labeled as snapper, 87% were mislabeled. More than 30 different species of fish were found to be substituted for snapper, but the most common were rockfish and tilapia.
NATIONAL
February 9, 2013 | By Bill Landauer
The name of the town sings out from a plain green road sign on Route 248 in eastern Pennsylvania. Beersville. One mile ahead. No giant stone pretzels or statues shaped like suds-filled steins mark the entrance to the Northampton County town. Instead, the highway signs stop saying Beersville and start mentioning Klecknersville. Did you miss it? Turns out Beersville, about an hour and a half northwest of Philadelphia, is easy to miss. It has a Facebook page. On it, BeerNerd Beer, Stewart Kraft Brewer, and a guy who calls himself Rickie Bobbie who went to "Nasbar University," all claim to live in Beersville.
OPINION
December 9, 2012
Re "Fresh & Easy may check out for good," Business, Dec. 6 I am not surprised. While Fresh & Easy grocery stores have charm, and much of the food is fresh, shopping at them is certainly not "easy. " I try to avoid my neighborhood store. What irks me most is the fact that I have to do my own checkout. I marvel at how skilled supermarket clerks are at that; I am clumsy and slow. The machines often do not accept store coupons, and the clerks who help customers have to go in a roundabout manner to give the discounts.
BUSINESS
October 11, 2012 | By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
As part of its expansion in Southern California, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is opening a hiring center for its Neighborhood Market under construction in Chinatown. The temporary hiring office, opening Thursday on Hill Street in Chinatown, will ultimately hire 65 mostly full-time cashiers, stockers and supervisors at the grocery store, store manager Kenney Tran said. "We're going to provide good jobs and bring accessible groceries and affordable options to the community," he said. The new market, set to open early next year at Cesar Chavez and Grand avenues, is one of 21 new Wal-Mart grocery stores announced in California.
BUSINESS
September 7, 2012 | By Walter Hamilton and Ricardo Lopez, Los Angeles Times
Jackie Dancy has been to the Albertsons supermarket near her Baldwin Hills home many times, but she couldn't care less that the store is closing permanently. The retired accountant now does most of her grocery shopping at a nearby Target, which she likes for its convenience and low prices. "It's much cleaner and well stocked," Dancy said. "They always have what you need. " Supermarkets are a staple of most neighborhoods, but their community status and financial well-being are under intense assault from rivals of all sizes that have steadily siphoned off the grocers' customers.