Safeway.com Up and Running in D.C., Baltimore Areas
Safeway, Inc.'s Safeway.com online grocery delivery service is fully operational in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan areas, the company said yesterday. The service went live two weeks ago, Safeway said, and is the latest extension of Safeway's e-commerce strategy that already online in many areas on the West Coast and in the greater Philadelphia area through Safeway.com, Vons.com, and Genuardis.com.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 9/20/2005

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is scrapping its Egrocer internet grocery business

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is scrapping its Internet grocery business after a five-year trial, citing rising oil prices and price-conscious consumers.

(Source: The National Post) 9/14/2005

Stop & Shop Peapod Expanding N.E. Territory

QUINCY, Mass. -- Stop & Shop, based here, and Chicago-based Internet grocer Peapod, said yesterday that they were introducing their joint online shopping and delivery service to western Connecticut and southeastern New York, with deliveries starting Aug 29.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 8/23/2005

Safeway Launches Genuardis.com In Philly 

PHILADELPHIA -- Shoppers here logging on to the newly launched Genardis.com will now be able to specify how 

ripe they prefer certain fruits, or how thick they like their steaks, thanks to a revamp of the Safeway-owned chain's 

online offering that brings it in line with that of other Safeway operating units.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 8/3/2005 

FreshDirect expanding after 2 million orders

FreshDirect has filled more than 2 million orders in three years of operation and will begin delivering to Jersey City and Hoboken, N.J. this month. Company president Steve Michaelson says the service "has become a fixture in the lives of New Yorkers," which includes service to Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and Queens. This summer saw service added for the Hamptons on Long Island.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 8/3/2005

WellnessGrocer.com puts frozen organic and natural food online
Shelf space for frozen natural and organic foods is limited even in large markets, and in smaller markets, may not be available at all. WellnessGrocer is out to fill the need by launching a web site and mastering the art of shipping frozen food.

(Source: Internet Retailer) 7/27/2005

Shoppers’ expectations outpacing online grocers’ web technology, study says

In a study of three online grocers, the Last Mile Supply Chain Center at Michigan State University finds several areas where consumer satisfaction with web site performance has declined since 2003. “Consumers are more demanding, and online grocers need to modernize,” center director Ken Boyer tells InternetRetailer.com.

(Source: Internet Retailer) 6/30/2005

SimonDelivers, Saturdays

MINNEAPOLIS -- Online grocer SimonDelivers, Inc. this week launched Saturday delivery across the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 6/23/2005

Hiller’s Launches Online Indian-Food Store

DETROIT (June 23, 2005) - Hiller’s Markets, a six-store, family-owned chain here, recently launched an online site devoted entirely to the sale of Indian food, a rarity in the supermarket industry. Its Indian food store — accessible at www.hillers.com — is the only online shopping Hiller’s offers. Indian Foods, Minneapolis, manages Hiller’s Markets’ online Indian store and supplies Indian cuisine to Hiller’s for sale in-store. Hiller’s Markets customers can buy items such as chutney, curry and aromatic rice as well as specialty Indian food items. Food items purchased online are shipped both from Hiller’s Markets and from Indian Food Co.’s distribution sites, and customers pay for UPS or U.S. Postal Service delivery. “We’ve always kind of had the reputation of being the place where you could find whatever you’re looking for if you’re a foodie,” said Eric Novak, director of the prepared foods division of Hiller's Markets.

(Source: Supermarket News 6/23/2005

Online Grocer SimonDelivers Posts First Profitable Quarter

MINNEAPOLIS (May 18, 2005) - SimonDelivers, an online-only grocery delivery operation here, announced this week it has posted its first profitable quarter in its six-year history. According to Christopher Brown, CEO, SimonDelivers, the company achieved this milestone after completing its second quarter ended March 27. "We are very excited about experiencing our first positive EBITDA quarter since our inception" in April 1999, said Brown in a statement. "Strong results, like those delivered by SimonDelivers.com today, prove that the online, pure-play grocery delivery concept can work and it gives this industry a new perspective." SimonDelivers services 3,200 square miles surrounding the metropolitan areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul from a single distribution center. This year, the service has implemented a new pricing strategy by matching more than 2,000 items on price with local retailers.

(Source: Supermarket News) 5/18/2005

FreshDirect Expands Into the Hamptons, Launches Chef-Prepared Menu

MAY 18, 2005 -- LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. -- As Manhattan descends on the Hamptons for the summer season, 

online grocer FreshDirect, plans to follow suit, expanding its home delivery for the 2005 summer season to Hamptons 

residents and vacationers.

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 5/18/2005

The online grocery business is alive and well in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Safeway Inc. and Albertson's Inc. both offer online shopping and home delivery service extensively in San Francisco and its surrounding markets. The supermarket chains view the service as a complementary business and use their existing infrastructure to support it, according to

(Source: San Francisco Examiner) 5/15/2005

Upstart Long Island chain eyes Manhattan deliveries
Best Yet Market, an 8-store chain known for quality produce and low prices, wants a share of the grocery delivery market in Manhattan, putting it in direct competition with FreshDirect. Owners Aviv and Eran Raitses, brothers and Israeli immigrants, say they'll compete on price.

(Source: Newsday) 5/4/2005)

Organic Sales Up at Peapod

CHICAGO (May 3, 2005) - Organics now represent 6% of all items sold at Peapod, up from 5% or less in 2004, according to Tony Stallone, vice president of fresh markets merchandising for the online grocer. In a presentation at the All Things Organic conference here yesterday, Stallone credited the sales bump to several initiatives taken by Peapod last year. Through its partnerships with Ahold USA and Wild Oats, Peapod began offering the Nature’s Promise and Wild Oats organic private-label brands in August and October, respectively. A more significant bump in sales appears to have been spurred by the introduction of a new online option allowing customers to group and search organic items separate from conventional brands. Sales of dry grocery items, dairy products and produce — the top three natural/organic categories at Peapod — are currently up 65%, 58% and 68%, respectively, over 2004.

(Source: Supermarket News) 5/3/2005

Kroger introduces online service for low-volume items
In a move to compete with specialty and gourmet retailers, The Kroger Co. will take "Kroger Special Order" from a beta phase to full operation. The online consumer ordering function at Kroger.com helps the $56 billion retailer offer lower-volume items to discriminating consumers who might otherwise shop elsewhere for unusual items too costly to carry on the grocer's shelves. Dry goods will be featured first, possibly expanding later to frozen goods and perishables.

(Source MSNBC) (5/1/2005) 

Online Shopping Is a Research Tool, Johnston Says

Albertsons has been investing in online shopping "not for the 1% to 2% of consumers who want groceries delivered to their homes, but to understand how to deal with customers over the Internet," Larry Johnston, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Boise, Idaho-based chain, said at the Lehman Brothers Retail Seminar here yesterday. "Many young people do extensive Internet research before they go to a store, and we believe that will play out in grocery retailing over the next several years," he explained. In other remarks, Johnston said Dallas is not only "the toughest market in America," but also "a great lab to learn in." He said Albertsons is continuing to rationalize its portfolio of stores, noting that "it used to be possible to be a distant No. 2 in a market and still be successful, but we don't see that as true anymore."

(Source: Supermarket News) (4/27/2005)

E-GROCERY-SHOPPING (QUIETLY) REVS UP AGAIN  
Slowly but surely, retailers are coming back with two basic business models - online ordering piggy-backed onto existing supermarkets, 

and the so-called pure-play approach, which seemed in danger of dying off after the Webvan conflagration, but now has resurfaced with 

a much more specialized way of doing business. 

(Source: MSNBC.com) 4/13/2005 

GROCERIES ONLINE  
Will that be cash, debit or Internet? Independent grocery store owners Jeff and Mishel Sitarz are offering online shopping 

to get an edge on their big-box competition. 

(Source: Winnepeg Sun) 4/14/2005

Peapod Expands E-commerce to Milwaukee

CHICAGO -- Leading Internet grocer Peapod, LLC is adding yet another state to its growing distribution territory this weekend, 

as the Ahold-owned company will launch service in Milwaukee and surrounding cities. 

(Source: Progressive Grocer) 4/8/2005

FreshDirect conquering New York one block at a time 
FreshDirect is finding success for its online grocery shopping service by marketing to more affluent customers 

in certain pockets of New York's boroughs. While the company claims 70% saturation in some high-rise buildings, 

retail analysts believe online shopping will remain a niche market, unlikely to truly challenge traditional grocers. 

(Source: The New York Times) 4/6/2005

Safeway Online Operation Launches in Phoenix

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway, based here, rolled out its online shopping and home-delivery service, 

Safeway.com, in greater Phoenix yesterday. Six Safeway stores in the Phoenix area will process and 

deliver online orders, with 30 new employees devoted to the Internet arm of Safeway's retail operations 

in the market.  (Source: Progressive Grocer) 3/9/2005

STAY-IN-CAR SHOPPING
A new kid on the block wants to change the way America shops, with a one-stop supercenter for groceries, 

videos and dry cleaning. (Source: Arizona Daily Star) 2/17/2005

Why Peapod finds organic foods a natural way to increase web sales
Peapod is carrying more than 300 Wild Oats products in nine food categories ranging from bulk foods to 

dairy products. The reason for the new relationship with Wild Oats: booming web sales.  

(Source: Internet Retailer) 2/15/2005

E-Grocer SimonDelivers Gearing Up for Expansion

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- SimonDelivers, the Twin Cities' online-only grocery delivery service, is looking to 

expand operationally and regionally, and has hired a business consulting, systems integration, and managed 

services firm to provide applications management and hosting services.  (Source: Progressive Grocer) 2/8/2005

MyWebGrocer Sees 'Record Levels' of Business in 2004

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. -- Online shopping provider MyWebGrocer here saw record levels of interest among supermarkets 

in 2004, the company said yesterday. (Source: Progressive Grocer) 1/26/2005

FreshDirect Delivers Two Millionth Order 

NEW YORK CITY -- FreshDirect, the nation's leading online fresh food manufacturing and delivery service, 

said yesterday that it had just fulfilled its two-millionth order.  (Source: Progressive Grocer) 1/21/2005

How the web helps grocers stock fresher produce and cut inventory shrink
Even a few degrees above or below optimum transport temperature cuts the shelf life of perishable produce. To improve cold chain management, web-based systems such as Sensitech's pinpoint the time and location of breakdowns in transport. (Source: Internet Retailer) 1/11/2005