Taking Stock

Vendors Buoyed By Results, Improvements At Acme 

Last year, the new leadership team at Acme Markets – president Jim Perkins, VP-merchandising and marketing Dennis Clark and VP-operations Dan Croce – humbly promised the chain’s vendors that better days were ahead and that new owner New Albertsons/Cerberus would allow the former Delaware Valley market leader greater flexibility and an improved “go to market” game plan.

After six years of rudderless and sometimes inept leadership by former owner Supervalu, the skepticism outweighed the optimism by a considerable margin. But, you couldn’t blame Acme’s direct reps, brokers and distributors for being a bit cynical about the retailer’s future after being assured of many positive changes from 2006 until 2012, only to see promise after promise unfulfilled.

So, when Perkins, Clark and Croce stepped up to the podium at the Acme store in Pennsville, NJ on March 25, there was a spring in their step and appreciation from their vendors.

The Acme leadership team and Acme team members have accomplished many of their initial objectives by simple hard work, honesty and humility.  The stores have become cleaner and easier to shop, morale has improved exponentially by improved communications and team building with the associates, prices have been lowered to realistic levels, and Acme has regained some if its traction as a “local” and more nimble player, a trait that is particularly admired by the vendors who for years had to trudge to Eden Prairie, MN to make their case, only to be stymied or misled.

Perkins, Clark and Croce also spoke of prioritizing “local” civic and philanthropic efforts involving food banks, hospitals and other non-profit organizations. They also noted the importance of realigning themselves with the Eagles as a key link to the community – both in terms of image and charitable endeavors.

In measurable terms, business at Acme has improved substantially, with many vendors telling us that their sales over the past year have increased by at least 10 percent and are continuing to grow. And Perkins noted that Acme will also be spending more on capital improvements during the next year than in recent history. Included in that cap-ex funding will be several major remodelings (the recent grand opening of its store at 10th and Reed Streets. in South Philadelphia would be an example) and the construction of what will essentially be replacement stores in Long Beach Island, NJ and Chestertown, MD.

Acme still has a long way to go before it can be compared to its halcyon days of the past. But what’s happened over the past 12 months is very encouraging. The chemistry among Perkins, Clark and Croce is impressive and the vendors are appreciative of those gains and the overall improved dialogue between themselves and the company.

Or as one of Acme’s suppliers stated during the question and answer period: “Thanks for giving us our Acme back.”

What a difference a year makes.

But At Ahold USA, Reps, Brokers Concerned About Slipping Sales, Increasing Demands 

About a year after its vendor meeting usually occurs, Ahold USA finally held its annual confab with its top suppliers, distributors and brokers, and nearly 1,400 vendors visited the GiantCenter in Hershey, PA last month to hear what the Northeast’s largest supermarket retailer had to offer.

And from the feedback I received from many vendors after the meeting, Ahold is going to have to perform better to gain greater consideration of its demands of the vendors.

To be fair, Ahold USA is in the midst of a huge transition affecting everything from internal culture, leadership style and “go to market” approach.

COO James McCann, who assumed the top U.S. job 14 months ago, has been very frank and consistent in delivering a message of extreme urgency to his associates and AUSA’s vendors. McCann’s pressing approach certainly has merit given how quickly the landscape has changed and to criticize him simply on “style points” would be unfair, too.

But to dismiss some of the motion that exists among the associates, which was also echoed by the vendors with whom I communicated, would be to ignore the fact that those changes are currently adversely impacting both parties.

At this year’s meeting in Hershey, which had a snappier and better pace than in the past, many of the same executives who spoke in recent years – Mark McGowan, Erik Keptner, Bhavdeep Singh, Jodie Daubert, Jeff Dichele, Ray McCall and Tracy Pawelski – once again outlined their objectives and “requests” from AUSA’s large supplier community. And several first time presenters – Jan Van Dam, executive VP/supply chain, e-commerce and now marketing; and John Ruane, senior VP/fresh – also addressed the large crowd detailing the top priorities of their departments.

In a nutshell, the meeting could have been titled “The Big Ask,” because there was little offered in terms of hard numbers substantiating performance, and a lot of references to future improvements and to the importance of showing faith in one of “your best customers.”

McCann has bold plans and a grand vision for Ahold USA. He currently views AUSA as a good retailer, substantially ahead of many of its competitors, but trailing both Market Basket and Wegmans in many measurable metrics. One of his desires is to make the company “famous” across a broader spectrum with upgraded products, better in-store execution and improved services, which would enhance AUSA’s overall value image, consumer perception and presumably financial performance.

Produce, “own” brands and digital retailing have become top priorities for the chain to concentrate on in 2014 to achieve “fame.” In other departments such as meat and natural/organics, the goal is to equal the best in class, and in price, Ahold USA’s objective is to “meet expectations.” Those are certainly noble goals for which to strive, although based on the vendor feedback I received, there’s a lot of work to be done to elevate both produce and “own” brands to the “famous” category. Here’s the challenge: McCann and his leadership team are “asking” the vendors for more, but offering them tangibly less in an environment that many vendors believe is also becoming more confrontational.

Nearly a month after the meeting, I have communicated with approximately 50 brokers, direct sales reps and DSD executives who attended the meeting. Their collective takeaway has been remarkably consistent. Here are a few of their comments: “They want us to invest in their organization, but we’re sales people – by nature and by corporate policy – we live in a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ world. And lately, Ahold’s number have been sliding and the demands are increasing,” said one executive for a very large CPG company.

“If McCann wants to change the culture, if he believes that radical surgery is needed and that there are too many complacent people in Carlisle, that’s his prerogative – he’s the boss. However, when sales continue to slide, the financial demands increase significantly and we’re told that private label items are going to replace many of the branded items we represent, betting ‘on the come’ on behalf of Ahold isn’t all that appetizing anymore,” declared one veteran brokerage senior leader.

“Ahold is still a very important customer for our company,” said a large national DSD vendor executive. “But Ahold’s sales are trending downward and if you add in the reality that many of the associates are confused or unhappy, that’s not going to make their new challenges any easier to achieve. And when you add in the increased cost of doing business with Ahold, you’ve got to question their perspective on the realities of the total market landscape.”

As I mentioned in a column I wrote last month, it’s still early in McCann’s tenure. He clearly feels it’s necessary to move mountains – and move them quickly. But MountAhold is a very tall peak which is tricky to navigate, and with 122,000 associates it’s also a crowded mountain top. McCann’s high intelligence quotient and his tireless work ethic will become moot if he can’t communicate more effectively with his entire audience. That includes not only a large and diverse group of associates, it also covers AUSA’s vendors and ultimately its current and perhaps future customers.

To be balanced, Ahold USA is undergoing seismic changes in many departments. To say the least, this is a highly ambitious effort involving the very core of the organization. The company is nearing a crossroads at which the associates ultimately will either buy into those changes or they won’t. AUSA’s results over the next few quarters will be the most important indicator of success or failure.

In other words, change can be productive, but only if it works.

Apparently, Delhaize No Longer Considers Bottom Dollar a Priority

Five months after taking the helm as chief executive, Delhaize Group’s Frans Muller told analysts and shareholders that many of the retailer’s problems at its U.S. stores (Food Lion and Hannaford) have been “self inflicted.”

Muller made those comments shortly after the Brussels-based retailer announced its fourth quarter earnings on March 13. At its U.S. stores, underlying operating margin dipped slightly from 3.6 percent to 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter, which Muller said was caused by previously announced price investments. A month earlier, Delhaize announced that its overall U.S. fourth quarter sales rose 2.6 percent to $4.3 billion and comps increased by 2.8 percent.

In his conference call to financial analysts, the Dutch born Muller said that continuing to rebuild market share and increase profitability were priorities, adding that greater emphasis would be placed on growing private label sales at both of its U.S. banners

The former Metro AG executive stated that efficiency and speed were important components in delivering market share increases and that the company would focus on core properties that have the greatest profit potential. That would seem to indicate that its fledgling Bottom Dollar Foods extreme value unit would be receiving a more minor corporate commitment.

“It’s obvious that Delhaize Group has to address a couple of real issues,” Muller said. “Our profitability at Delhaize America and Delhaize Belgium has eroded in recent years. It’s to a high degree self-inflicted as we had to step up our price investment and promotional activities in order to maintain our market share and improve our revenue performance.”

Muller acknowledged that Food Lion’s “repositioning” effort over the past three years has resulted in new sales momentum, but the “overall improvement in customer perception has not been enough.”

He added that, despite Food Lion’s improvements which has stabilized some of the problems at the Salisbury, NC-based chain, the large regional chain still trails its competitors in sales per square foot comparisons and total spend at its stores. Muller also noted that Food Lion will transition from “vendor-driven to customer-driven assortments in center store” that will result in a 50 percent turnover in assortments at its stores.

At its more profitable Hannaford unit, Delhaize is committed to maintaining price investments and said that its “Hannaford To Go’ web-driven shopping alternative will be increased with 10 new “click-and-collect” points to be added in 2014.

As part of the revamped center store plan at Food Lion, Muller noted that of the19,000 SKUs that have been reviewed in center store departments, 6,700 items will be discontinued and 3,330 new items will be added, resulting in an 18 percent reduction overall. The project should be completed by the end of the year. He added that the assortment changes would not hurt profit, as more relevant consumer selection and the increase in higher margin from private label offerings would offset national brand reduction.

As part of its ongoing plan, 77 Food Lion stores will be testing and refining its “easy, fresh and affordable” brand and store format. Muller also stated that Food Lion currently captures only 18 percent of its shoppers’ total food spend, compared to around 26 percent for a selected group of its peers including Bi-Lo, Harris Teeter, Publix, and Giant/Carlisle. “We are very optimistic we can narrow this gap,” he said.

According to the 52 year-old industry veteran, whose entire career has been spent in Europe and Asia, Food Lion maintains the number one or number two rank in 72 percent of its stores. The remaining 28 percent of its supermarkets would be reviewed this year to determine “can win or cannot win” status.

At Hannaford, Muller explained that while that division has maintained its market share, sales and profitability are threatened as competitors like Wal-Mart, Market Basket, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart are adding stores in New England. Delhaize is attempting to defend itself by continuing its price investment program, expanding the “Hannaford to Go” web-driven option and by also differentiating its brand, including its current ongoing assortment review. Those assortment changes will be less intensive than the comparable program at Food Lion.

As for Bottom Dollar Food, Delhaize’s price-impact stores whose go to market plan was restructured in 2010, it appears that format is now a secondary initiative. No cap-ex plan was discussed during the conference call and no new store openings were mentioned. Muller’s only comments about the struggling discount division was that Bottom Dollar “made tremendous progress in 2013, and the team is completely engaged to make sure that they make the next steps in making this business model more profitable. That’s the task at Bottom Dollar Food.”

‘Round The Trade 

Excellent speech last month by Jim McCaffrey III, owner of McCaffrey’s Markets. Jim told about 100 trade associates at the March meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Food Trades Organization (MAFTO), held at Williamson’s in Doylestown, PA, that his upscale brand of retailing has created a clear separation between his stores and those of his competitors. “There’s been a huge change in the marketplace over the past five years, but we have continued to focus on the things we do best – understand our customers so we can delight them, pay close attention to detail and acknowledge that our ultimate advantage is our people,” he noted. McCaffrey added that his company’s significant investment in training has also paid handsome dividends. The four store group, based in Langhorne, PA employs about 65 percent of its store level associates on a full-time basis (most chains operate with almost an opposite ratio) and the independent’s focus and execution in its perishable departments (including its prepared foods and commissary operation) has proved to be a significant advantage for his company. Other areas where McCaffrey’s Markets has created differentiation between itself and its competitors are in its strong relationship with the communities it serves (I can attest that there’s virtually no civic or non-profit organization that McCaffrey’s won’t help) and also by promoting new and healthy food options to its customers. Jim asserted that merchandising and marketing organics, gluten free and non-GMO items more aggressively has increased store sales while also helping to educate its consumers about wellness and lifestyle. I’ve known Jim McCaffrey for many years. He’s not only one of the best merchants in the country, he’s a man of great vision, passion and philanthropy…and there’s ever more Ahold USA news: Erik Keptner, the popular and hard working executive VP-marketing for AUSA will be shifting jobs at the big retailer. A member of the rare “30 pound brain” club, Keptner will now become senior VP-sales and merchandising for the company’s Giant/Carlisle unit and Jan Van Dam, current executive VP-supply chain and e-commerce, who joined AUSA from parent company Royal Ahold 14 months ago, will add marketing to his leadership duties. Joining AUSA from Hershey to head up marketing as a senior VP is Amy Hahn. Hahn, who will officially join the big merchant on April 28, spent more than 20 years with the big Central PA chocolate maker, most recently as global VP/general manager for direct retail and  licensing where she led a 700 person cross-functional team, expanding Hershey’s retail presence across North America, Asia and the Middle East. The timing of this announcement is kind of ironic, given the fact that Keptner was inducted into the Shopper Marketing Hall of Fame just a week earlier. In other personnel moves, departing AUSA will be the well-liked Jeff Beaulieu, VP-sales and merchandising for the Giant/Carlisle division. Also at AUSA, C&S Wholesale Grocers, currently the retailer’s largest outside distributor, will now be assuming inventory management responsibilities from Ahold USA for general merchandise and health and beauty care items at American Sales Company (ASC) in Buffalo, NY. This move will leverage C&S’s expertise and provide Ahold USA with new efficiencies and a simpler operating model. Ahold USA will still own and operate the ASC warehouse, while C&S will be responsible for purchase order creation, inventory levels, and overall service levels. Inbound logistics will be managed jointly with Ahold USA transportation. Specifically, Ahold USA will continue to maintain inventory management responsibility for purchase order creation and inventory management responsibility for seasonal merchandise and pharmacy. C&S will work closely with the Ahold USA replenishment and merchandising teams in these efforts. Corporately, Ahold CEO Dick Boer delivered his address to the retailer’s shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting held in Zaandam, the Netherlands on April 16. Putting a positive spin on what has been a somewhat rocky 12 months for the international merchant, Boer said “it is one of the most exciting times ever to be a retailer.” He expressed continued faith in Ahold’s “Reshaping Retail” strategy, while also acknowledging the challenging market conditions in which “customers remain focused on value and were cautious in their spending.” Boer noted that Ahold’s investment in its “fresh” offerings remains a “key area for us to differentiate ourselves versus the competition. It is where real loyalty starts with our customers.” He also touted Ahold’s “omni-channel” vision, which combines traditional stores and online shopping that will “provide a seamlessly connected online and offline experience.” In the U.S., Boer noted that Ahold will increase its grocery “Pick Up Points (PUP)” to at least 200 by the end of the year and will open a new Peapod warehouse in Jersey City, NJ this summer. Other U.S. initiatives include the construction of a 100,000 square foot greenhouse (in partnership with BrightFarms) that will allow Giant/Landover customers a wider and fresh selection of produce and a continued focus on food safety…for those who were expecting major changes at A&P after former CEO Sam Martin was dispatched in January, think again. The fumblin’, stumblin’ and bumblin’ Montvale, NJ retailer stayed “in house” with its new chief executive choice, elevating Paul Hertz from chief operating officer. Hertz joined A&P in 2010 and his career path closely dovetails with other former Yucaipa linked executives (including Martin) who have toiled at other former Yucaipa controlled entities such as Fred Meyer and Wild Oats. Hertz will report to Greg Mays, the Tea Company’s chairman (and another Yucaipa legacy exec). Mays said, “Paul and his team made significant progress in 2013 in improving both the company’s operating and financial results. We believe that 2014 also holds great promise for further accomplishments; we expect to capitalize and improve upon last year’s performance, which will result in a stronger company and greater value for the company’s stakeholders. Paul’s mix of operational, managerial and retail experience makes him the ideal candidate to lead the company as we build on our operational momentum and focus on activities that will achieve projected sales results with a special focus on the needs of the customer.” “Significant progress?” “Great promise?” Is Mays talking about the status of one of his previous employers? Not going outside the company for a new CEO indicates one of two things to me: either A&P found little success in being able to attract a skilled and creative executive with game-changing ability, or it remains very content to continue with its current lineup (executives Christopher McGarry and Nirup Krishnamurthy were also promoted to chief administrative officer and chief strategy officer respectively) of executives who are better positioned to either sell most of its stores or perhaps re-enter bankruptcy. Either way, A&P remains a train wreck. However, we did find one admirable skill that the once iconic retailer possesses: its ability to detect internal fraud. A&P acknowledged that it tipped off federal authorities about a seven figure ticket selling scheme run by former senior VP of marketing John Moritz. It appears Moritz used company funds to buy concert, theatrical and sporting events tickets. And we’re not talking about peddling tickets to a Reading Phillies game either. Moritz’s ticket scheme arranged for A&P to purchase more than 7,000 tickets to major events such as the 2011 Super Bowl, concerts featuring U2, Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi as well as the Broadway hit “The Book Of Mormon.” Last month, Moritz pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in Newark, NJ. He faces as much as 20 years in the slammer and up to $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced on July 9. I wonder if Moritz can score me some tickets to the June 13 Rolling Stones show in
Paris?….not quite yet at the A&P level of ineptitude (but gaining ground) is Canadian owned Natural Markets Food Group. After bombing with its Fresh & Green’s operation in Maryland (those stores were former A&P/Super Fresh units, so maybe there’s a curse in place), the retailer/restaurant firm is now busily working on expanding its organic entity, Mrs. Green’s. Last month we reported on the sluggish start at the chain’s first Virginia store in Fairfax (by our estimates doing only about $100K per week). Now several sources have informed us that the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control confiscated about $15,000 worth of alcoholic products from the Fairfax unit because the store’s alcohol license application was still pending. While Mrs. Green’s was not selling the alcohol and clearly marked the merchandise “not for sale,” apparently having it on premises is a violation of ABC rules. I have a feeling Mrs. Green’s ain’t getting their booze back and their license may take a bit longer to get approved. A better Mrs. Green’s opening occurred late last month in West Windsor, NJ. The company’s newest unit featured improved merchandising and a better trained staff. However, like many of its underperforming new stores, the proof for Mrs. Green’s is in its ability to demonstrate to the affluent customer base it seeks that it can execute consistently at store level. So far that high-level of in-store execution has fallen way short. And with even more stores being added to its expansion roster including high rent areas in Washington, DC, New York City and another Chicago unit, Mrs. Green’s attempt at gaining high rewards thus far has only yielded high risk…it seems there’s never be a dull moment at Wal-Mart and, according to Businessweek, new CEO Doug McMillon stated at a company meeting that the chain’s out of stock issues represented a “$3 billion opportunity.” Bill Simon, president of Wal-Mart’s U.S. operation made a similar statement about a year ago, only to be overridden by company flak David Tovar, who claimed that the Behemoth was very pleased with its in-stock conditions. To even the greenest of trade observers, Wal-Mart’s out-of-stock problems are obvious and huge and have been that way for the past three years. The solution is relatively simple, even for a high volume retailer like Wal-Mart: hire more labor, train them better and pay them enough so they not only stay at their jobs, but they actually like their employer. Wal-Mart last month also rolled out an online tool that allows its customers to compare prices of 80,000 food and household items to those of its competitors. The new software is called “Savings Catcher” and has been rolled out in seven major markets including Charlotte, Atlanta, San Diego, Dallas, Minneapolis, Huntsville, AL and Lexington, KY. One Wal-Mart decision that seems to make a lot of sense is its partnering with Wild Oats, no longer a retailer, but a line of organic products. Originally introduced in 1987, Wild Oats will relaunch at Wal-Mart starting this month with a new, more affordable price point covering a broad variety of categories – from salsa and pasta sauce to quinoa and chicken broth. Both companies said that customers will save 25 percent or more when comparing Wild Oats to national brand organic products. “We know our customers are interested in purchasing organic products and, traditionally, those customers have had to pay more,” said Jack Sinclair, executive VP-grocery at Wal-MartU.S. “We are changing that and creating a new price position for organic groceries that increases access. This is part of our ongoing effort to use our scale to deliver quality, affordable groceries to our customers.” “By partnering with Wal-Mart, Wild Oats is starting a movement that makes it easier than ever for customers to access affordable organic and natural products,” said Tom Casey, CEO of Wild Oats. “Our availability at Wal-Mart will allow us to finally pass along scalable savings directly to consumers. We are reinvigorating our brand by bringing great tasting Wild Oats products to more customers than ever before.  In a “strange bedfellows” kind of way, the Wild Oats operation is partly-owned by a unit of Yucaipa Cos., which directly competes against Wal-Mart with its A&P (Pathmark, Super Fresh, etc.) and Fresh & Easy Banners…expanding from Europe to the U.S. will be huge German retailer Lidl, Aldi’s main rival. Lidl is said to be looking to open as many as 100 stores on the East Coast beginning in 2018 (the original entry date was pushed back from 2015). It has established a U.S. office in Arlington, VA, headed by its Irish leadership team, who are currently gathering data for the expected launch. In Europe, Lidl is a real powerhouse, running nearly 10,000 small discount units in 28 countries. However, as many European retailers have learned (Tesco, Carrefour, J. Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, Leedmark, etc.), operating in the U.S. poses different and challenging realities. And Lidl will be entering the United States during one of the most competitive, overstored and economically unstable periods in the history of food retailing…speaking at last month’s UBS Global Consumer Conference in Manhattan, Kroger CFO J. Michael Schlotman said the retailer plans to enter at least one new market in the near future, “We are going down the path of picking one new market to enter organically. We’ve been engaged in that process since October, and we’ve essentially decided where we’re going to go, though it will be awhile before we go public,” Schlotman noted, adding that Kroger is not sharing more specifics because of competitive reasons and the fact that the price of real estate always increases if they know you’re looking. He also said that growing “fill-in” markets was on Kroger’s agenda. “We have identified several markets, what we call fill-in markets, where our sales trends are strong, our results and our ‘Customer 1st’ surveys we do are strong, so we know that we’re connecting and resonating with the customers in those markets where we’re just under-stored compared to other markets where we have a lot higher market share. We’ve dedicated most, if not all, of this increased capital to those.” And, would Kroger consider the possibility of acquiring stores that may be divested, a clear reference to possible overlap divestitures that the FTC might mandate in light of the recently announced Cerberus agreement to acquire Safeway? “We’ve been happy picking up assets when they become available in markets where we currently operate, and those have been very beneficial for us,” Schlotman noted. “But it would be complete conjecture until they (the FTC) start the review process and figure out what they may have to dispose of. They must still have conversations with the FTC before they decide what assets would become available, and if there are attractive assets in markets where we operate and they fit nicely with our footprint, we’ve long said that those kinds of deals have been great for us. But we’ll wait to see what that chapter says when it get written.

Local Notes

We originally guessed that the Ravitz family, which owns five high-volume ShopRites in Southern New Jersey (and building a sixth unit in Camden), would be the initial Wakefern member to own a PriceRite store (and that may still happen), but kudos to the Inserra family for becoming the first in what promises to be growing group of current ShopRite members to offset their bellwether banner with the smaller, more discount-oriented Price Rite format. And you’ve got to give Wakefern another tip of the cap (yes, another one) for having the vision, flexibility and cojones to keep driving sales and providing viable options to current and future member-owners. Once the Fresh Grocer offset model is rolled out throughout the network, Wakefern will become even more formidable and “go to market” ready… Allegiance Retail Services, LLC, the growing Iselin, NJ-based independent retail support and services firm, last month announced the election of its board of managers at the company’s annual membership meeting, which was held at the company’s headquarters. Reelected to the board were: David Maniaci, chairman and CEO; Louis Scaduto Jr., vice chairman; Michael Stolarz, president and COO; Daniel Katz, secretary;  and Esmail Mobarek, treasurer.…Supervalu’s independent (wholesale) business will consolidate from three regions to two, forming new east and west teams, the Eden Prairie, MN retailer/wholesaler announced late last month. The new east and west independent business regions will be located in Mechanicsville, VA and Hopkins, MN. To lead the new organizations, Supervalu has named the very talented Kevin Kemp president of the east region and Bill Chew president of the west region. With this new independent business organization, Supervalu said it will streamline the organization and reduce operating costs while continuing to drive sales growth with its current and prospective customers. Initially, the company anticipates reducing its employee workforce by approximately 200 positions throughout its independent business regional teams. Impacted employees will have an opportunity to apply for open positions within the new organization. Supervalu said it expects to fill approximately 120 new independent business jobs resulting in a net workforce reduction in its independent business organization as a result of this consolidation of approximately 80 positions… a tip of the hat to Weis Markets, whose third annual “Believe in Heroes” campaign helped raise $115,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. “We are proud of our store associates who helped make this campaign a success and would like to thank our generous customers for purchasing select products or who directly donated to the cause at the register. Together, we have raised $115,000 for our nation’s wounded veterans,” said Kurt Schertle, Weis Markets’ COO. “The Believe in Heroes program benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project is something we look forward to supporting for years to come.”…kudos to Jan Gabriel, president of Paul G. Nester & Son, who was the first to answer our Harold Ramis movie trivia contest last month in which we asked our readers to pair lines from a Ramis inspired movie with the character or actor who uttered them. Here are the correct connections: 1) “Oh, this is your wife, huh? A lovely lady. Hey baby, you must’ve been something before electricity.” (“Caddyshack”/Rodney Dangerfield playing Al Czervik); 2) “I got laid off when they closed that asbestos factory, and wouldn’t you know it, the Army cuts my disability pension because they said that the plate in my head wasn’t big enough.” (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”/Randy Quaid playing Cousin Eddie); 3) “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” (“Animal House”/John Vernon playing Dean Wormer); 4) “C’mon, it’s Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick ‘em up, we zip right out again. We’re not going to Moscow. It’s Czechoslovakia. It’s like going into Wisconsin.” (“Stripes”/Bill Murray playing John Winger; 5) “I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities and we didn’t have to produce anything! You’ve never been out of college! You don’t know what it’s like out there! I’ve worked in the private sector. They expect results.” (“Ghostbusters”/Dan Aykroyd playing Dr. Raymond Stantz); 6) “The football team at my high school, they were tough. After they sacked the quarterback, they went after his family.” (“Back To School”/Rodney Dangerfield playing Thornton Melon; and 7) “This is pitiful – 1,000 people freezing their butts off to worship a rat.” (“Groundhog Day”/Bill Murray playing Phil)…a few obits to report this month. From the food industry, including Erv Schummer, owner of the Valley Farm Market in Bethlehem, PA which he founded in 1970. Schummer immigrated to the U.S. from Austria as a boy and became a “Little All-America” football player at MuhlenbergCollege in Allentown. I remember Erv as an extraordinarily nice man and an extremely hard worker and very good operator. He was only 64 when he passed. Also passing was Mickey Rooney, a legendary name in entertainment circles for nine decades (he started his show biz career at age two), who passed away earlier this month at the age of 93. What a life he led – married eight times, (once to Ava Gardner), winner of two Academy Awards, an Emmy and two Golden Globes and father of nine children – Rooney was an all-around interesting guy. While he’s best remembered for his role in the 14 movie “Andy Hardy” series and as Whitey Marsh, the juvenile delinquent helped by Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) in “Boys Town” (1938), my favorite Rooney role was as Army, the blindly loyal trainer to beaten up and worn-down prizefighter Mountain Rivera (Anthony Quinn) in the great 1962 film “Requiem For A Heavyweight.” Rooney’s work, while as a supporting star, was simply great as was the acting of Quinn and Jackie Gleason who played Maishe Rennick, Rivera’s less than reputable promoter. However, what’s most imprinted on me about Mickey Rooney’s career was the incessant promotion (this was before infomercials) as the pitchman for The Downingtown Motor Inn in the 1970s (I guess I watched way too much TV  back then). By the way, the land on which the long extinct hotel once sat is now home to a Wegmans and aBJ’s Warehouse Club (you knew I’d find a grocery connection). Also passing on earlier this month was Jesse Winchester, 69, the great (and underrated) singer/songwriter whose eponymous first album in 1970 still remains one of the favorite best debut records in my collection. Winchester, who was born in Louisiana and raised in the South, fled to Canada in 1967 to avoid the draft. He gained fame performing in coffee houses in Montreal and it was there that he met Canadian Robbie Robertson, lead guitar player and primary songwriter of the great roots group, “The Band.”  Robertson produced Winchester’s first album which contained such unsung excellent songs as “Payday;” “Biloxi;” “Snow;” “The Brand New Tennessee Waltz;” and “That’s The Touch I Like.” With a voice not dissimilar to James Taylor’s and the ability to write and sing in a pleasing style, Jesse Winchester’s talents are certainly worth checking out. And finally, my sympathies to my co-worker Maria Maggio, her mom Rosalie, her two brothers, Michael and Larry, her children Gino and Rosalie, and the rest of the large Maggio clan on the passing of her father, Mario Maggio, earlier this month. Mario Maggio was the former president of Maggio Cheese Co., an iconic Philadelphia brand if there ever was one, who led the family business that was started by his father Michael, in 1916. In 1998, the Maggio family sold the company to Crowley Foods (now owned by H.P. Hood). Although small in stature, Mario Maggio was a giant of a man – beloved by his family, admired by his associates and highly respected by his industry peers. Even at an age – 94 – that most of us will never realize, Mario was still cracking jokes, dressing as nattily as ever an
d enjoying life. May you rest in peace.