Strack & Van Til opens Cedar Lake store

CEDAR LAKE | After hungering in a food desert for three years, residents of this lakeside community happily converged on the first-of-its-kind Strack & Van Til grocery store Thursday following grand opening ceremonies.

Grocery delivery company expands to Lake County

Grocery delivery service WeGoShop.com has expanded to include Lake County.

New Ultra opens in Merrillville

MERRILLVILLE | A new Ultra Foods store featuring a unique modern décor with expanded meat, produce and hot food sections opened Tuesday at 6001 Broadway in Merrillville.

The new Ultra opens in Merrillville

Meat cutter Dennis Kazmierczak restocks the ground beef cooler at the new Ultra location in Merrillville. The grand opening for the store will be May 16. Hours are 6 a.m. to midnight daily.

The new Ultra opens in Merrillville

The new Ultra location in Merrillville is open for business. Located in the remodeled 65,000-square-foot former PayLow Foods’ building, the store is the fourth Ultra Foods in Lake County.

The new Ultra opens in Merrillville

Jen Witvoet of Wheatfield, shops for bread and other groceries at the new Ultra location in Merrillville. Located in the remodeled 65,000-square-foot former PayLow Foods’ building, the store is the fourth Ultra Foods in Lake County.

The new Ultra opens in Merrillville

The new Ultra location in Merrillville is open for business.

GROCERY: Competition, costs driving consolidation within segment

Conditions within the grocery segment are encouraging the trend of smaller chains of stores selling out to become part of larger "super-independent" ones, said Dave Wilkinson.

WeGoShop

Sally and Michael Moyers' franchise, Wegoshop.com, shops and delivers groceries and other items for a small fee. They've expanded their franchise into Valparaiso and Chesterton areas in Porter County. .

Wegoshop.com

Sally Moyer, of Michigan City selects olive oil while shopping at a local food store. Moyer and her husband, Michael, opened a shopping and delivery franchise, Wegoshop.com. They shop and deliver groceries and other items for a small fee. They've expanded their franchise into Valparaiso and …

Strack & Van Til buying WiseWay, PayLow stores

Highland-based grocery store chain Strack & Van Til plans to buy seven WiseWay and PayLow locations from WiseWay Supermarkets, according to a joint news release the companies issued Tuesday.

GROCERY: Store performance split based on segment

Independent grocery stores are performing marginally better this year compared to 2011, but larger retail chains are continuing to struggle with sales declines, said Donald Weiss.

Consumers, retailers get burned on beef prices

The weather may be perfect for throwing a steak or burger on the grill, but high beef prices mean consumers and retailers are the ones being burned.

GROCERY: Economic performance dividing winners, losers in market

Independent grocery store chain executive Donald Weiss said all stores are not created equal, especially considering that the financial performances of some firms in the Chicago area has been dismal.

Moo Oink products on shelves in Northwest Indiana

Moo & Oink products are now available at multiple locations in Northwest Indiana.

GROCERY: Sales for 'premium' items improving

Grocery store customers are demonstrating greater confidence in the economy by buying "premium" food items more often, Donald Weiss said.

Save-A-Lot stores to open in Kouts, Wheatfield

Discount grocer Save-A-Lot will open two stores in Northwest Indiana on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving dinner taking a bigger slice of budget

As diners are gobbling up their Thanksgiving dinner, higher food costs will be gobbling up a larger portion of their budgets, as a survey shows that the retail cost of the typical holiday meal increased about 13 percent this year.