2012

From shake-ups in the retail chain Supervalu, to faltering retail banners, the United States retail industry has done quite well this past year despite devastating weather, uncertain economy, labor unrest and an uneasy political climate. We now count down the top five news we featured in 2012.

1. Recall of Ground Beef in the U.S. and Canada
This was one of many recalls of 2012, many of which had been done voluntarily. The USDA recalled ground beef and their products that were suspected of E.coli contamination. The products were from a Canadian company known as XL Foods Inc.

2. A&P Store Closures
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. (A&P) filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, as it sought approval to conduct closures of 14 stores that they termed underperforming.

3. The Grocery Game
We featured this website in one of our 2012 news stories that highlighted the Teri Gault owned site, which is a site giving saving tips for shoppers and online coupons. The 12-year-old site started by the mother of two has grown even to Canada. Also featured was a list of the best online grocer coupon sites on the web.

4. Supermarkets Delayed Openings and Closures Over Hurricane Sandy
Superstrom Sandy blew over and caused a lot of damage, particularly in New York and New Jersey, which lead to many supermarket closures. Power outages and flooding in stores and inability of workers to get to their job locations also contributed to many stores to close or delay openings.

5. Hostess, Union Labor Dispute
Hostess Brands has been a lot in the news in 2012 following lengthy talks with unions that ended up in failure, leading to the announcement that it would be laying off more 18,500 employees and closing stores and bakeries, as well as delivery routes. The decision was arrived at when a smaller union representing some of its staff refused management offers and threatened strike action. A strike would have resulted in major damage and unmanageable costs for the Twinkies snack maker.