supermarket

From piping in the smell of fresh-baked bread to making you wait in artificially long lines, your local supermarket works hard to get you to spend. Here's how to rise above the temptations.

Saving money gets a tasty twist at international grocery stores, where your favorite foods often come with much smaller price tags. And with food costs on the rise, what a better time to explore than right now.

Supermarket chains like Kroger and Safeway have posted a string of strong quarterly earnings. But with the costs of gas and agricultural products spiking, that could all change.

In this economy, cash-strapped consumers have become more budget conscious and less concerned about appearing cheap. As a result, better-known brands have steadily been losing ground to store-branded food products.

Salad producer State Garden Inc. recalled all its salad products made on Jan. 4 -- sold at Wegmans, Shop & Stop/Giant, Shaw's and other stores on the East Coast -- after a sample in Rhode Island showed it was contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, said the U.S. Food and Drug...

Safeway might not seem to have any connection to Blockbuster, but it turns out the supermarket operator is the landlord of several Blockbuster stores slated for closure. Safeway has filed a motion to ensure the liquidations don't disrupt neighboring businesses.

Americans are returning to indulging in specialty foods the way they did before the recession, and they'll likely make big purchases of these affordable luxuries during the holidays. A recent survey showed 63% of American consumers purchased specialty food this year, up from 46% in 2009.

Supermarket chain Kroger boosted sales and turned a profit in its fiscal third quarter, but failed to beat Wall Street earnings estimates and lowered the top of its 2010 earnings forecast range. Shares fell 9.3% on the news to close at $21.63 Thursday.

The world's largest retailer, Walmart Stores, wants to get even larger: It has joined the bidding war for Indonesian retailer Matahari's hypermarket business, Hypermart, a deal that could be worth up to $1 billion, unnamed sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Whole Foods shares rose Friday after a Jeffries analyst upgraded the stock, saying the grocery's strategy of offering lower-priced items has accelerated sales while maintaining low costs.