Supermarket

Matthew Maratea jumped at the chance to transfer to the new Acme in Bryn Mawr. As a 25-year veteran of the iconic but stressed supermarket chain, the longtime produce manager hadn't seen a new store open in four years. A chance for a high-energy guy to grow professionally? Maratea couldn't resist. Since leaving the Exton store to orchestrate the fruit-and-vegetable lineup at this new $14 million Acme on the Main Line, Maratea has been crackling with creativity, and cracking produce puzzles each day. "This is my biggest challenge," the wiry aficionado of legumes and leeks said Wednesday, hopping toward a refrigerator case that had already been depleted of the day's supply of organic kale and organic navel oranges, and it was only lunchtime.

WHEN I travel, I go to supermarkets. Unlike most touring shoppers, I never pause at store windows displaying jewelry and haute couture. But whether I'm in Aix or Antwerp New Orleans or Naples, I make a beeline for the local grocery store to peruse aisles of preserves, inhale the scent of coffee and pick up toothpaste sporting foreign labels. More than one pal at home has benefited from my wanderings, gifted with a tub of New Zealand clover honey or a pound of chicory-laced coffee from Rouses on Royal Street.

Sixteen years after it was first eyed as a prime spot for Wegmans to plant stakes in the Philadelphia area, a onetime golf course near King of Prussia mall opened to the public this week as home to the latest regional megastore in the chain, whose customers share a cultlike devotion. The parking lot at the Village at Valley Forge was jam-packed Monday, much as it had been when the store first opened Sunday, as hordes of the curious and the ravenous motored up to the 123,000-square-foot supermarket, visible from Route 422 and a stone's throw from the East Coast's largest shopping mall.

Ah, the TV jingles and catchphrases that once lured us into buying big-name breakfast cereals, deodorants, and other essentials. How those Pied Pipers of marketing coaxed cash from our wallets, leading us to snatch the stuff off supermarket shelves, week after week, with little thought of anything but, "I want it. I need it. " I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! (Cocoa Puffs cereal). All right, Bubbles! Get ready to hit the dirt! (Dow Scrubbing Bubbles). Please don't squeeze the Charmin (Charmin toilet paper)

Acme Markets' corporate parent, Supervalu Inc., announced Tuesday it would cut 800 jobs across the country by the end of its fiscal year Feb. 25 as part of ongoing cost-reduction efforts. The Minneapolis-based supermarket retail operator and wholesaler said that, "in general," store-level associates such as cashiers, clerks, and department managers - employees in direct contact with customers - would not be affected by the move. A small number of positions targeted for elimination are within the Acme Markets division, whose regional administrative offices are in Malvern.

Eat This, Not That! takes on the supermarket. Warning the reader away from the overpriced, over-sugared, heavily marketed pitfalls of food stores, the book offers jaw-dropping data, such as that Healthy Choice's sweet & sour chicken has more sugar than a Reese's-flavored Klondike Bar (opt for the oven-roasted chicken instead) and that Hot Pockets are made with dehydrated sardines. The many charts compare tastes, nutrition, and value of everyday products such as salad dressings, breakfast shakes, and peanut butter.

BRUSSELS - Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize says it is cutting almost 5,000 jobs in the United States as it closes underperforming stores. Delhaize said Thursday that it is shutting down 113 Food Lion supermarkets, as well as seven Bloom and six Bottom Dollar Food stores within the next 30 days. A distribution center located in Tennessee will also be closed. Ron Hodge, the CEO of Delhaize America, said: "We believe these actions will enable us to better serve our customers in our markets with high density, while positioning the company for future growth.

Acme Markets owner Supervalu Inc. of Minneapolis on Wednesday reported a net loss of $750 million on $8.3 billion in sales for the quarter that ended Dec.r 3, a decline from the $202 million loss on $8.7 billion recorded during the same period a year earlier. The $3.54-per-share loss for the third quarter compared with a loss of 95 cents per share a year earlier, the supermarket corporation said. The results included noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges of $800 million after taxes.