BJ’s Wholesale Club and Giant Eagle’s GetGo Café + Market have both launched fuel promotions around the Fourth of July.

From June 22 to July 4, BJ’s customers can save 50 cents per gallon at BJ's gas stations when they spend $150 or more in one transaction, with no limit to how many times they can take advantage of this offer. The gas promotion is in addition to the retailer’s Fuel Saver program.

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Meanwhile, from June 30 through July 4, regular unleaded gasoline will be priced at $2.75 per gallon for all myPerks Pay Direct and AdvantagePay members at every GetGo location. This same cents-off discount for myPerks Pay Direct and AdvantagePay members will also apply to all other fuel grades, including premium and diesel. Both programs are extensions of Giant Eagle’s myPerks loyalty platform, enabling those who enroll to pay electronically for fuel and grocery purchases directly from their bank accounts. Enrollment in myPerks Pay Direct is free.

This is the first of several exclusive discounts and bonuses planned for myPerks Pay Direct members throughout the summer. Beginning July 6 and running for a limited time, members will receive an extra “perk” per dollar when they use myPerks Pay Direct for purchases at any GetGo, Giant Eagle or Market District location.

Convenience store chain GetGo, with more than 260 locations throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, is operated by Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle Inc., No. 40 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, and also one of PG’s Top 10 Most Sustainable Grocers. Marlborough, Mass.-based  BJ’s, with 238 clubs and 168 BJ’s Gas locations in 19 states, is No. 27 on PG’s list.

Employee-owned Woodman's Markets is teaming up with tech platform InMobi Commerce to up its retail media game. Through the partnership, InMobi will provide the Midwest chain with video ad experiences and deliver AI-powered campaign automation and optimization tools.

Woodman’s new retail media capabilities, which include brand video, sponsored product video and shoppable ads, allow the grocer to smooth shoppers’ path to purchase, including their journey on its e-commerce site. At the same time, Woodman’s will leverage the technologies to offer more streamlined solutions to its local and national brand partners.  

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“As retail media continues to evolve, Woodman’s has been looking for partners to help us stay on the cutting edge with innovative solutions that will both attract deeper investment from our brand partners while creating an easier, more seamless customer experience on our site,” said Dan Hess, director of e-commerce at Woodman’s. “InMobi’s stance as a video-led platform that helps more regionally focused grocers with solutions like AI-powered campaign automation and optimization solidified them as the perfect partner for our retail media journey.”

Nestlé is one brand partner that is deploying sponsored product video through the new retail media program. "Video ad experiences have become key to attracting consumers’ attention in a world where brands are competing for it daily,” explained Tyler Weigman, national shopper marketing lead at Nestlé. “We are excited to partner with InMobi to bring our products to life through innovative video experiences on Woodman’s site.”

Janesville, Wis.-based Woodman’s has 19 stores throughout Wisconsin and northern Illinois and is No. 77 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

FoodStorm, Instacart’s order management system (OMS), has introduced new capabilities to streamline the process of selling, managing and fulfilling personalized made-to-order items, according to a June 27 blog post by Rob Hill, who was CEO of FoodStorm until San Francisco-based Instacart acquired it in 2021, whereupon he joined the latter company as general manager, order ahead. With these new features, retailers can expand their online assortments, provide customers with a more engaging ordering experience and implement a seamless order management process for their teams.

Using the FoodStorm platform, customers can now easily communicate their requests and directly personalize their orders, both online and in-store. For instance, if a customer is placing a custom birthday cake order, they can select the flavor, frosting and even add personalized messages, reducing the need for associates to manually add separate notes to the order. 

“The ability to offer our customers fully customized sandwiches from our deli counter has revolutionized our business,” noted John Acierno, owner of Joseph’s Classic Market, an independent grocer operating four locations in Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach, Fla. “Not only has it significantly boosted our sales, but it has also transformed our in-store operations, allowing us to fulfill the desires our customers have been longing for. We can now deliver an exceptional and personalized experience that keeps our customers coming back for more.”

FoodStorm’s OMS empowers grocers to seamlessly manage their foodservice business, enabling them to expand the number of products offered, improve the customer experience and ultimately optimize in-store operations.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. is marking a sustainability milestone. The organic and natural grocer revealed that it has prevented 500 million single-use plastic bags from having an impact on the environment.

According to Natural Grocers, its use of disposable bag-free checkouts and other practices began in 2009 with a Bring Your Own Bag program. In addition to diverting waste, the program has helped local communities, as the grocer donates 5 cents to a local food bank every time shoppers bring their own bags.

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"Natural Grocers is proud to achieve this milestone with the help of our conscientious customers. Eliminating the use of plastic bags at checkout was a system-level decision that was enthusiastically embraced by our company, customers and good4u Crew, knowing it was an important way to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bag waste,” said Raquel Isely, VP of marketing. “This practice has also enabled us to donate over $1.5 million to our local food banks, which perfectly aligns with one of our Five Founding Principles, 'A Commitment to Community.’”

As it attains one sustainability milestone, the retailer continues to work toward other goals to reduce waste and optimize resources. Three years ago, Natural Grocers switched to plant-based compostable produce bags and 100% recycled, recyclable and compostable paper bags, and recently halved the use of plastic stretch wrap in its bulk packaging facility and distribution center.

Family-operated Natural Grocers operates 166 stores in 21 states. The Lakewood, Colo.-based natural and organic grocer is No. 95 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Natural Grocers one of its 10 Most Sustainable Grocers. 

Tops Markets LLC is now accepting EBT SNAP online on the Flashfood app, thanks to payments company Forage. The grocer’s customers can use their smartphones to browse the Flashfood marketplace for heavily discounted groceries and save up to 50% on items nearing their best-by date, including meat, dairy, seafood, fresh produce, bakery items and center store foods. As of today, purchases can be paid for with an EBT card and then retrieved from the Flashfood Zone inside participating stores. 

“As a company committed to feeding more families, we’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Flashfood and launch EBT as an online payment method for Tops Friendly Markets,” said Ofek Lavian, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Forage. “We are proud to help provide access to affordable, healthy groceries for low-income Americans that continue to struggle with the realities of food insecurity and inflation.”  

Forage, which received USDA approval to process EBT transactions in August 2022, is the primary processor of EBT payments for Shopify merchants, and works with independent grocers, marketplaces and platforms to power EBT SNAP online. 

To date, Toronto-based Flashfood has teamed with more than 1,700 stores across North America.

Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops has approximately 150 supermarkets, including five franchise stores, and employs more than 14,000 associates in New York, northern Pennsylvania and western Vermont. The banner’s parent company, Northeast Grocery Inc., is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

A family-owned independent grocer in Webster, N.Y., dating back nearly 87 years is closing its doors. Hegedorns Market will serve its last customers this week in the town of nearly 5,400 east of Rochester.

Hegedorns began as a dairy market in 1936 during the Great Depression and moved into purveying groceries in 1953. The 45,000-square-foot store at 964 Ridge Road offered a variety of grocery essentials and featured full-service meat, bakery and produce departments. The store also served customers with a catering department and onsite flower shop.

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In one of its last circulars, Hegedorns owners thanked the community for its decades of support and praised the nearly 200 team members who staffed the location. The family noted that its loyal customers helped them provide first-time jobs for hundreds of young people and donate to various community organizations, schools, churches and scouting groups over the years. 

Shoppers posted their sentiments on social media, with one sharing, “I was there 2 hours ago… took lots of pictures, went down every aisle, lots of them empty. Just had to get their famous donuts one last time. Spent over $150 and got a Hegedorns grocery bag as a thank you. I sure am going to miss shopping here.”

Increased competition, including from Wegmans Food Markets based in nearby Rochester, factored into the family's decision to close the store. “We have two Wegmans within three miles of us, we have an ALDI’s, Target and Walmart. Years ago, we didn’t have that to compete with. Even though we offered certain things that we feel were better than the competition, it wasn’t enough financially,” owner Johnathon Gonzales told the WROC television news station in March.

The store’s last day will be Thursday, June 29.