Supermarket Chain

Boys Markets--the 54-store Los Angeles supermarket chain built on catering to Southern California's burgeoning minority communities--said Tuesday that it has received a $130.7-million takeover offer, reportedly from a wealthy Mexican family. The announcement comes as the Los Angeles supermarket industry is being shaken by a round of takeovers and mergers.

Jack Greene Grand Ole Opry star sang hit 1960s tune Jack Greene, 83, a longtime Grand Ole Opry star who earned fame with the late 1960s hit "There Goes My Everything," died Thursday at his Nashville, Tenn., home from complications of Alzheimer's disease, a Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman said. The plaintive ballad showed off his deep voice, made him a star and earned him Single of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Assn. in 1967. The song inspired thousands "who had lost loved ones" to write him, Greene later said.

The nation's third largest supermarket chain announced Wednesday that it was joining with other major retailers and would stop selling ground beef containing “pink slime,” also known as “lean, finely textured beef.” Supervalu Inc. announced its decision in an e-mail to reporters. Earlier Wednesday,  Safeway Inc., which operates Vons in California and Nevada, announced it was dropping the product. “While it's important to remember there are no food safety concerns with products containing finely textured beef, this decision was made due to ongoing customer concerns over these products,” Supervalu said in its statement.

British supermarket giant Tesco may soon be bidding bon voyage to its American problem child. Five years after the company landed in California and opened 200 stores across the West, Tesco said it is preparing to sell its struggling Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain and retreat from the U.S. market altogether. "It's likely, but not certain, that our presence in America will come to an end," Tesco Chief Executive Philip Clarke during a Wednesday conference call from Los Angeles.

SAN JOSE - A Northern California-based supermarket chain that caters to Latino immigrant shoppers and was founded by an undocumented schoolteacher from Mexico announced Friday that the company is being audited by federal immigration officials. Disclosure of the audit, which could result in a mass firing, comes six weeks after San Jose-based Mi Pueblo Food Center joined E-Verify, a voluntary and controversial computerized system that screens the immigration status of new employees.

Richard Rhee, owner of the California Market supermarket chain, has died. He was 62. A celebrated and controversial entrepreneur, Rhee died Sunday of lung cancer. He started his supermarket chain in 1986, turning a former Mayfair Market on Western Avenue into a Koreatown landmark by converting it into a massive Korean foods store.

Joseph A. Albertson, a businessman and philanthropist who built a neighborhood grocery store into the nation's sixth-largest supermarket chain, has died at his home here. He was 86. Albertson died late Wednesday, Albertson's Inc. said. The company would not disclose the cause of his death. Albertson had quietly given millions of dollars to various causes, including nearly $35 million to the private College of Idaho in Caldwell, renamed Albertson College of Idaho in 1991.

Food 4 Less Supermarkets has raised $75 million to continue the aggressive expansion campaign it began after acquiring the 142-store Alpha Beta chain two years ago. The company, based in La Habra, raised most of the money when parent Food 4 Less Holdings Inc. sold to the public $50 million worth of notes. The remaining $25 million was borrowed from banks. The supermarket chain plans to use the money to improve and expand the chain.

Vons, the California supermarket chain that bills itself as the "more store," has agreed to merge with a smaller chain of Detroit-area supermarkets in a deal valued at $660 million. The merged company would keep the name Vons Cos. With combined sales of $3.4 billion, it would rank near the top 10 publicly held supermarket companies. If the deal goes through, Vons would become a publicly held company less than a year after being taken private.

Having won over frugal shoppers with basic private-label lines, the nation's supermarkets are now trying to lure other customers with their brands of gourmet-style coffees, ice creams and fresh pasta sauces. Vons is tempting customers with its Royal Request espresso-flavored ice cream. Ralphs is serving up Private Selection soft drinks, introduced over Memorial Day weekend. In Northern California, Safeway is enticing shoppers with its own chunky chocolate chip cookies.

SAN JOSE - A Northern California-based supermarket chain that caters to Latino immigrant shoppers and was founded by an undocumented schoolteacher from Mexico announced Friday that the company is being audited by federal immigration officials. Disclosure of the audit, which could result in a mass firing, comes six weeks after San Jose-based Mi Pueblo Food Center joined E-Verify, a voluntary and controversial computerized system that screens the immigration status of new employees.

The nation's third largest supermarket chain announced Wednesday that it was joining with other major retailers and would stop selling ground beef containing “pink slime,” also known as “lean, finely textured beef.” Supervalu Inc. announced its decision in an e-mail to reporters. Earlier Wednesday,  Safeway Inc., which operates Vons in California and Nevada, announced it was dropping the product. “While it's important to remember there are no food safety concerns with products containing finely textured beef, this decision was made due to ongoing customer concerns over these products,” Supervalu said in its statement.

In the end, Southern California's big three grocery chains and their unionized workers settled their labor fight because of this economic reality: Another strike would have severely damaged both sides. On Monday, negotiators for Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons and the United Food and Commercial Workers reached a tentative deal, averting a strike that would have sent more than 54,000 workers across Southern California off the job. After months of public posturing and private wrangling, the negotiations grew urgent Sunday evening after a key deadline passed, clearing the way for a labor stoppage at any time.

Rob Gokee and Allison Vanore know that buying wine at their neighborhood Fresh & Easy near the USC campus can be something of a production. After scanning two bottles at one of the store's self-checkout stands, all heck broke loose. An alarm sounded. A red light flashed. And the checkout computer froze until a clerk came by to confirm the buyer was at least 21 years old. California politicians, egged on by the grocery clerks union, want to put an end to such four-alarm checkouts.

Three days before a key labor contract expires, negotiations between a grocery workers union and three of the region's leading supermarket chains are going slowly. The sluggish pace has workers recalling memories of protracted talks that led them to the picket lines seven years ago. The contract covers about 62,000 grocery workers in Southern California, including those employed by Ralphs, which is owned by Kroger Co.; Safeway Inc., which owns Vons and Pavilions stores; and Albertsons, which is owned by SuperValu Inc. The current contract ends Sunday night.

Theo Albrecht, the secretive co-founder of Germany's worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, a co-owner of Trader Joe's in the United States and one of Europe's richest men, has died. He was 88. The retail machine that Albrecht built with his brother Karl has won over German consumers with their no-thrills but super-cheap offerings, making billionaires of the two and spawning imitation discount stores across Europe. The company's Aldi Nord division said in a statement Wednesday that Albrecht was the driving force behind Aldi's internationalization, expanding stores to France, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the United States, among other nations.

The proposed $2.5-billion merger of two big Southern California supermarket chains has moved onto a fast track and a final agreement could be reached next week, sources said Monday. Negotiators for Ralphs Grocery Co. and Yucaipa Cos., owner of Alpha Beta and other chains, were able to resolve enough issues that they dropped plans for a tentative pact and instead will soon present a definitive agreement to the Ralphs board, sources said.

When Rewe Handelsgruppe wants to test a new line of corn flakes or yogurt, Germany's largest supermarket chain can now send them to its new field laboratory: Austria. "We're going to be the test market for new products," said Klaus Smolka, president of Austria's Food Industry Assn., referring to Rewe's recent acquisition of Billa AG, an Austrian grocery chain. "It's simply cheaper for them to try out products in a limited market like Austria."

Cash-strapped food shoppers in Southern California are spending more of their grocery budgets at discounters and superstores that are rapidly expanding their food selections. And the big supermarkets are fighting back. Vons has turned to more aggressive pricing in recent months. Ralphs revamped its price structure and customer loyalty program last summer to grab back market share from competitors. Stater Bros.

Today may be the last time that shoppers can double the value of a manufacturer's coupon at Ralphs supermarkets for more than 50 cents. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles-based chain is expected to eliminate bonus valuations on coupons for $1 or more and will only double the value of coupons for 50 cents or less.