Grocery

Price Co., which operates 21 discount warehouse stores in four states, on Friday said that it is negotiating with a Montreal-based retail chain to form a joint venture to open and operate an undisclosed number of Price Clubs in Canada. The San Diego-based company is discussing the joint-venture proposal with Steinberg Inc., which operates grocery and retail stores in Canada and the United States. The discussions could be concluded "shortly," according to a Price Co.

Ross Hagen Actor was a regular on TV's 'Daktari' Ross Hagen, 72, a handsomely rugged actor who was a regular on the 1960s TV series "Daktari" and starred in the low-budget biker movies "The Hellcats" and "The Sidehackers," died of prostate cancer May 7 at home in Brentwood, said Lee Srednick, his partner of seven years. Launching his career in the 1960s with guest shots on TV series such as "The Big Valley" and "The Virginian," Hagen also appeared in the Elvis Presley movie "Speedway" and the motorcycle movie "The Mini-Skirt Mob. " In 1968, he joined the cast of "Daktari," the CBS adventure series starring Marshall Thompson as an American veterinarian running an animal study center in Africa.

The Teamsters' announcement that they will refuse to deliver to the grocery stores beginning a few days before Thanksgiving is a classic example of why unions lack public support (Nov. 25). Their disregard for the effects of their actions on others reinforces my perception of unions as groups of aloof, self-centered bullies. I have been asked to forgo convenience and choice for the last two months; now I am expected to accept a holiday food shortage for the purpose of gaining an attractive benefit package for grocery workers.

Microsoft Corp. is bringing digital advertising to the grocery cart. The software maker has spent four years working with Plano, Texas-based MediaCart Holdings Inc. on a grocery cart-mounted console that helps shoppers find products in the store, then scan and pay for their items without waiting in a checkout line. Starting in the second half of this year, the companies plan to test MediaCart in Wakefern Food Corp.'s ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast. Customers with a ShopRite loyalty card will be able to log into a website at home and type in their grocery lists; when they get to the store and swipe their card on the MediaCart console, the list will appear.

Re "L.A.'s war on shopping carts," Editorial, May 20 I walk to the store to do grocery shopping for the week. Because I cannot possibly get all these groceries on the bus or carry them home, what will the city do for me? Offer free taxi vouchers? If the mayor thinks requiring locking mechanisms on shopping cart wheels will boost his popularity, he should think again and get busy revoking this ordinance. Lori Graham Los Angeles I like shopping at Aldi grocery stores, a German-based chain with many locations in the U.S. You don't have to worry about hitting a shopping cart in the parking lot. How do they do it?

Regarding your Dec. 1 editorial on "McJob" being included in a new dictionary: I predict that a future edition of Webster's will include the word "Walmartize," as in "the grocery industry was Walmartized, so that the majority of employees held McJobs." Paul Eklof Costa Mesa

If anyone doubted that the United States is in the midst of a cultural war, he or she might want to look at Patt Morrison's Dec. 23 column, "Shopping at Wal-Mart Like Nightmarish Trip Overseas." Stating that she "was terrified someone would recognize me," Morrison bravely risked a shopping trip to the world's No. 1 retailer. Appalled that most of the merchandise available was made overseas, the author bemoaned the rise of "Wal-Mart's world," a world rich with affordable, practical merchandise.

Albertsons Inc. has received a preliminary takeover bid from larger grocery store rival Kroger Co., while its drugstore unit has attracted bids from three pharmacy chains, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. Albertsons put itself up for sale in September after struggling against competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Regarding "Lockyer to Sue Grocery Chains," Jan. 31: I wish someone could explain to me why Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer claims it is illegal for the grocery stores to help each other during the strike, and yet it is perfectly legal for other unions to supply money and help to the United Food and Commercial Workers during the strike. Ray Garnett Santa Clarita California is experiencing its worst fiscal crisis ever and yet the attorney general is misusing state resources to interfere with a private dispute with little benefit to the public.