Target, Giant Eagle, Walmart top this week’s headlines

In this week’s recap of the Top 10 most popular Supermarket News articles, Giant Eagle goes cashierless at more GetGo stores was ranked as the week’s top story. Among other stories in this week’s gallery:

Beauty products seek a way back in supermarkets

FreshDirect cuts center store prices, adds Ahold Delhaize USA own brands

For its omnichannel and store innovations, robust grocery offering and outstanding financial performance, Target has been chosen as the 2021 Retailer of the Year by Supermarket News. Also, Target Corp. Chief Information Officer Mike McNamara is slated to retire in 2022. Minneapolis-based Target disclosed McNamara’s planned departure in a blog post, saying that Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell shared the news with employees today in a company memo. Target didn’t indicate whether a search for a new CIO was under way or identify potential successors.

In Walmart news, Walmart this week opened its first Ghost Kitchen Brands “virtual food court” location in its Rochester, N.Y., supercenter as part of a multi-state U.S. expansion. Also, this fall, Walgreens plans to lift its starting wage for all hourly employees to $15 an hour. The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain, part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, said Tuesday that the hourly pay hike will be instituted in phases beginning in October, with full implementation expected by Nov. 1, 2022. Currently, nearly half of Walgreens’ hourly employees earn at least $15 dollars an hour, and the retailer’s minimum wage varies by market area but is at least $10 per hour, according to a company spokesperson.