Safeway, Albertsons, Dollar Tree top the week’s headlines

Judge rules in favor of Safeway worker who confronted shoplifter. A longtime Safeway employee in San Mateo, Calif., who was fired last year after intervening to prevent a shoplifting attempt, did not act inappropriately and is therefore eligible to collect unemployment benefits, a judge in the state’s Employment and Development Department has ruled. Antoinette Baez and another employee confronted a shoplifter who was attempting to leave the store with $500 worth of groceries after failing to pay at a self-checkout terminal, according to local reports. Baez, who had worked at the store for 22 years, was fired after the company found that the incident violated Safeway’s guidelines for handling such situations, the reports said.

Other top stories:

• Kroger, Albertsons file pointed responses to FTC
• Hearing to decide next step in Kroger, Albertsons merger set for August
• Dollar Tree plans 1,000 store closures
• 11 cool tech products we saw at NGA

In other news, Presidente Supermarkets is continuing to expand rapidly in Florida, including a site in a massive, high-profile development in Miami that was announced last week. The company, which currently operates about 45 supermarkets in Southern and Central Florida, is hoping to open three additional locations this year, including one in Pompano Beach, Fla., that is set to open in about three weeks, Ariel Martinez, a spokesman for the Miami-based retailer, told Supermarket News.

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