Rite Aid, Walmart, Harris Teeter top the week’s headlines

In this week’s recap of the Top 10 most popular Supermarket News articles, the top story was Rite Aid CEO’s $20M salary causes ire among lenders. Despite Rite Aid Corp. declaring bankruptcy in October, CEO Jeffrey Stein is set to receive a $20 million payout. And the retailer’s main lenders aren’t happy about it, according to reporting from Bloomberg. 

More top stories:

• Walmart will change over to digital shelf labels
• Harris Teeter to open new South Carolina location
• 5 things: The rise of the Asian grocer
• Thousands of Kroger-owned Food 4 Less workers could strike

In other news, despite aggressive membership promotions by Instacart and Walmart that drove an increase in monthly active users, online grocery sales slid 0.4% in May relative to a year ago, to $6.8 billion, according to the latest Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopper Survey.

The decline was driven by a 6% decline in pickup order frequency combined with a slight decline in average order value. The overall monthly active user (MAU) base for pickup was up more than 3% on a year-over-year basis in May 2024 vs. a year ago, however.

Other top stories: 

• Suppliers tell Canadian grocers that price hikes are on the way
• New Austin grocery, Radius Butcher & Grocery, will focus on Texas-grown perishables
• Some 61% of electric vehicle owners more likely to shop at retailers with charging stations
• Take a look inside: H-E-B opens first Joe V’s in Dallas