Month: October 2013

Rouses Markets, one of the largest independent grocers in the South, is bringing its famous andouille, boudin, boiled crawfish and other Gulf Coast favorites to Alabama. In the next few weeks, the family-owned and operated company will take ownership of six former Belle Foods stores from Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG), a retail-owner cooperative of which Rouses Markets is a member. AWG and its group of grocers and operators submitted the winning bid last week at the Belle Foods bankruptcy auction in Birmingham. …

From the 1970s, when Tennessee first looked at reforming its post-Prohibition liquor laws, to today, grocery stores and liquor stores have battled over who should be able to sell Tennesseans a bottle of their favorite Merlot, Chablis or Riesling. Liquor stores have won every fight so far. But they may not for much longer. …

 Harris Teeter shareholders voted Thursday to approve the supermarket chain’s sale to The Kroger Co., a deal that Harris Teeter’s CEO said would make the stores better able to compete against retailers such as Wal-Mart. …