Retail & FoodService

ALDI, the nation's leading low-price grocer, today announced a  five-year strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation. The grocery retailer launched its expansion efforts with the decision to build its regional headquarters and distribution center in Moreno Valley, Calif. …

Amazon.com is working on a new business called Pantry that will help it expand further into the giant consumer package goods market and take on warehouse club stores Costco and Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, according to three people familiar with the effort. …

Those coupons that used to be available from red dispensers on grocery store shelves and have moved more recently to offers printed at checkout, are increasingly moving to mobile phones. That’s courtesy of Catalina, a marketing company which helps retailers and grocery chains understand what individual customers want and then goes to work encouraging them to buy. …

Nash Finch Co. will close distribution operations at its Blue Ash center in February, resulting in layoffs for 60 employees. …

Kroger, the largest U.S. grocery-store chain, intends to sell benchmark debt, typically at least $500 million, to fund its acquisition of Matthews, North Carolina-based Harris Teeter. The operator of the Kroger and Ralphs supermarkets may sell three-, five- and seven-year fixed-rate notes as soon as today, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction, who asked not to be identified because terms aren’t set. It may also issue three-year, floating-rate securities. …