Supermarkets

Long before banks started locating branches inside supermarkets, grocery stores acted as informal financial establishments, cashing payroll checks and personal checks to provide ready cash for their customers. That's starting to change. Whole Foods Market Inc. is considering banning the use of personal checks at its stores and this month stopped accepting checks at two stores in Los Angeles County and one in Arizona as a test. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the California division of British retailing giant Tesco, won't take personal checks at any of the 70 stores it operates in California.

Anne Marie Sablock said she regularly drives past an Albertsons, a Whole Foods Market and several other supermarkets to shop at the Ralphs on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. The Seal Beach mother of two teens is price sensitive and likes a broad selection of goods. She buys house brands and private label products. "I shop here because there is more choice and better prices," Sablock said as she dropped a box of Ralphs brand instant oatmeal into her cart last week.

There's a tug-of-war underway over food prices between the nation's supermarkets and giant food manufacturers including Nestle, Unilever and Kellogg. The nation's big grocery chains contend that food manufacturers have raised prices too fast and too far, considering large drops in prices for fuel, corn, wheat and other important commodities in recent months. The food companies disagree and say they are still coping with many rising prices themselves.

Los Angeles County supervisors backed off a threat Tuesday to ban plastic shopping and grocery bags that environmental experts call unsightly and destructive. Instead, officials chose the weakest of five alternatives recommended by county executives: a volunteer program that leaves it to supermarket and store owners to coax customers into packing their purchases in reusable containers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working to open its first small-scale grocery stores in Arizona, according to city planning officials, as the world's largest retailer looks to fend off competition from British supermarket rival Tesco. Tesco entered the U.S. marketplace last year, opening 37 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. The company is seeking to woo U.S. shoppers with small grocery stores that feature ready-to-eat meals and fresh produce. Bentonville, Ark.

Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and six other grocery store chains must face consumer lawsuits alleging that they sold farm-raised salmon that was artifically colored, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The justices unanimously overturned lower court rulings that threw out deceptive-marketing lawsuits over the fish. Consumers say the naturally grayish farmed salmon is colored with synthetic versions of natural pigments found in the diet of wild fish.

Perched on less than an acre of land off an unpaved road in a hardscrabble rural area, farmer Gumercindo Ajanel would hardly seem like a Wal-Mart regular. But in fact, he's working for the American retail giant. On a recent morning, he proudly displayed fresh-picked cilantro and parsley he ships to the chain's local stores. A company agronomist taught him to grow greens that are hygienic and visually appealing. Best of all, he said, Wal-Mart buys frequently and pays promptly.

Fresh isn't turning out to be all that easy. With much fanfare, British retailer Tesco this fall billed its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain of small grocery stores as a fresher, more convenient alternative to large supermarkets when it opened its first stores in Southern California. Nearly six months later, it looks as though many shoppers aren't buying it. The chain remains optimistic but says it is suspending the opening of U.S. stores for three months.

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.

In a shift on federal food safety policy, the Bush administration soon will begin telling consumers during recalls whether their local grocery store has been stocking contaminated meat or poultry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which announced the change Friday, currently publicizes food recalls and sources but does not tell consumers where the tainted products have gone. Long-standing anger about this policy flared in February during the largest beef recall in U.S.