Just in time for summer, the Heinen's store in downtown Cleveland is serving up cool treats. The grocer is teaming up with Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream to add an in-store ice cream shop in the historic building’s scenic rotunda.

Beginning on May 23, customers can order cones and dishes of ice cream at the newly-installed stand. More than two dozen varieties will be available, including seasonal flavors and some vegan choices.

The Ohio-based Mitchell’s is a local ice cream maker that won the 2019 Heinen’s customer favorite local product award. After a social-distancing shuttering during the early days of the pandemic, Heinen’s reopened its rotunda and second floor balcony in 2021, offering wines and beers on tap and other prepared foods that can be enjoyed in a sit-down space.

Warrensville Heights, Ohio-based Heinen’s was founded in 1929 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The store operates 23 locations with 19 stores in the Cleveland area and four in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago.

Southeastern Grocers and its shoppers showed their generosity during a recent register campaign that netted $395,000 for children’s hospitals. Since its launch last year, the program has raised more than $856,900.

Southeastern Grocers partnered with nine pediatric health care facilities across its footprint for the three-week campaign, timed for National Cancer Research Month. The funds from the donation effort will be used for initiatives including research, family support, child advocacy, therapeutic activities and pediatric specialties.

“We are amazed time and time again by the incredible generosity displayed by our associates and customers who continually lift up their neighbors in need, and we are inspired by their kindness. Our children’s hospital partners do incredible work every day to positively impact the lives of their youngest patients and families by providing not only resources, but hope, when it is needed most,” said Anthony Hucker, president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company's hospital partners includeWolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Studer Family Children’s Hospital in Pensacola, as well as Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., Children’s of Mississippi in Gulfport, Miss., and Ochsner Hospital for Children in New Orleans, La.

Southeastern Grocers is one of the largest conventional supermarket companies in the U.S., with grocery stores, liquor stores and in-store pharmacies serving communities throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Its banners include Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores. The company is No. 39 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Carl Greeley, onetime owner of Baltimore-area independent Geresbeck’s Food Market, died on May 17. He was 92 years old. No cause of death was given.

Greeley opened his first store, Foodland, in the Orchard Beach community of Pasadena, Md., in 1971, according to the Pasadena Voice in 2019, which noted that he later opened a few Box & Save stores and went on to acquire Geresbeck’s Food Market, in Baltimore, in 1985, retaining the name because it was well known to local residents. Greeley’s daughter, Joanne Greeley Graham, later took the helm of the independent supermarket company, which currently consists of three stores in Baltimore, Pasadena and Glen Burnie, Md.

Besides Graham, survivors include Greeley’s wife, Josephine Greeley, three other daughters, two brothers, 10 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.A funeral mass will be held at Saint Mark Catholic Church, in Fallston, Md., on Monday, May 23, at 10 a.m., with interment at Highview Memorial Gardens, also in Fallston. For those unable to attend in person, the mass will be livestreamed on the St. Mark Fallston Facebook page.

“Mr. Greeley was one of the ‘old local grocers’ in the Baltimore area – a title that few people can still claim, from a generation that focused on the local neighborhood and knew most customers by name,” noted local grocery industry observer Jeremey Diamond. “Even in his 90s, he was tending to his three grocery stores, currently operated by the next generation.”

Foxtrot is making its way around Chicago, opening a new store in the Wrigleyville neighborhood at 3649 N Clark Street. Close to the home field of the Chicago Cubs, this well-trafficked spot features Foxtrot’s usual assortment of pantry staples, locally-produced items and prepared foods that can be eaten onsite or taken to go.

This location’s in-store café includes an updated menu with a variety of new summer dishes. Shoppers can enjoy foods and beverages, including beer and wine or drinks from the Foxtrot coffee bar, on the street-side patio.

As with other Foxtrot locations, delivery within a 30-minute window is available to local shoppers who use the Foxtrot app. Pickup is offered as well, in as little as five minutes.

To mark the opening, Foxtrot is giving away tickets to a Chicago Cubs baseball game and doling out items like Chicago-themed magnets. The Cubs mascot will stop by during a family day on Sunday, May 22.

This is the 14th Foxtrot  in Chicago, following the recent unveiling of a store in the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue. Another opening is planned for June inside the iconic Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), and the business is working on expansions in Texas and Washington, D.C. 

Based in Chicago, the e-commerce platform and retailer was founded in 2014 by Mike LaVitola and Taylor Bloom.

In an effort to further its organizational commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Dollar General has hired three executives to join its leadership team. 

Renee Gadsden is the new director of diversity and inclusion for supply chain, leading the company’s work to develop and execute DEI strategies for supply chain partners. Antoine Hinton now acts as director of supplier diversity, responsible for developing and implementing a strategic supplier diversity and inclusion program that will help build robust supplier networks.

“Renee and Antoine are passionate diversity and inclusion champions, and we are excited for them to lead various DEI efforts,” said Dr. Johné Battle, Dollar General's VP of diversity and inclusion. “We are proud to continue growing and developing our diversity and inclusion efforts, and we look forward to expanding our supply chain and vendor partner diversity while continuing to bring the selection and value our customers have come to expect.”

Additionally, Mark Person was promoted to director of diversity and inclusion for retail. Person originally joined Dollar General in 2016 as a district manager, and serves as a member of the company’s African American Employee Resource Group and participates in Develop 2 Lead program, which aims to develop talent throughout the organization.

“I have been impressed by the impact Mark has on his team, his customers and his efforts to give back to the community,” said John Garratt, Dollar General’s CFO. “Great companies start with great people, and to have great talent you must have diverse talent. We are excited to have Mark step into this new role and help us continue diversifying our teams.”

Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, and was also PG's 2021 Retailer of the Year.

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. households hold at least one retail membership, according to a new report from data and tech company Numerator. The report also found that 80% of households subscribe to one program, 13.8% subscribe to two programs, 3.7% subscribe to three and 2.5% subscribe to four or more.

Numerator’s new Retail Membership Tracker analyzes retail subscription models and specifically compares Amazon Prime, Walmart+ and Target’s Shipt Everyday. Walmart+ has permeated 8.1% of households since its 2020 launch, while 53.6% of U.S. households subscribe to Amazon Prime. Shipt Everyday is still only available in limited markets and holds a 1.3% share of households.

Subscribers of multiple programs are more likely to be affluent, ethnically diverse and values-driven, the report found, as well as Black or Hispanic/Latino, from larger households and impulse buyers.

As for specific metrics, 78% of Prime members do not subscribe to other membership programs, while 28% of people exclusively subscribe to Shipt Everyday and 24% to Walmart+. Amazon Prime has the highest renewal intent rate of 80% and 74% of its subscribers report high satisfaction levels.

Numerator found that consumers prioritize shipping speed, with Shipt members most likely to cite same-day delivery as a key membership benefit. Shipt Everyday also outperforms its baseline metrics by two times and has captured 10.1% of their subscribers’ share versus 4.3% of their total shoppers’ share.

“Changes in consumer behavior are accelerating,” said Eric Belcher, CEO of Chicago-based Numerator. “Forward-looking retailers are anticipating and tracking those changes.”

Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart U.S. and Minneapolis-based Target Corp. are Nos. 1 and 6, respectively.