Being car-less on the outskirts of Logan Square, Chicago, RetailWire Associate Editor Matthew Stern shops at Walgreens a lot. Recently he found two new grocery coolers with various unexpected items had been set up in the store. So he tried the sushi. Does the expansion of Walgreens’ fresh food offerings have the potential to redefine its role in urban markets and elsewhere?

Barnes & Noble chief executive, Steve Riggio, is a big believer in multichannel retailing for no other reason than it drives sales in his company’s bookstores. Mr. Riggio told analysts attending Prudential’s Back-to-School conference “instead of seeing the Internet as a cannibal…an Internet connection drives customers to the stores.” How important is a multichannel approach to success in retailing? Which companies do the best job of complementing their in-store business with online and/or catalogs?

A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store. Consumers discovered they could find the very same items they planned to buy at the supermarket for sale at the local drugstore, convenience store, dollar store and discount store, saving themselves time and sometimes money. Mark Hugh Sam, an analyst with Morningstar said, “There are so many options now for consumers to buy food that their loyalty to their local supermarket chain has steadily eroded.” Has the way grocery stores buy products from manufacturers, including the collection of various up front fees for shelf space, promotional support, etc., become a competitive disadvantage for the channel?

Most stories about supermarkets losing share to a competitor involve a big box such as a Wal-Mart Supercenter or Costco. The story in the Philadelphia, Pa. area is different, however, because the competitor that is taking share away from grocers there isn’t a big box operator at all. It’s Wawa, the convenience store chain. Is the small box experience in the Philly area also happening in other parts of the country? What is the reason behind Wawa’s success?

Mike Mallon, vice president of real estate for Dominick’s, told the Chicago Tribune, “Walgreens are popping up on every corner.” What are your thoughts on the expansion of the major chain drugstores into food?

Just-Food.com reported yesterday that Mace, an Irish convenience store chain with more than 450 stores, plans to open 30 supermarkets by 2004. Do you see US convenience store operators opening/acquiring big box stores similar to what Mace is doing Ireland? What do you see as the upside/downside to this strategy?

ACNielsen released findings from its latest Channel Blurring study that show a continuing trend of consumers shifting shopping trips away from supermarkets to supercenters, dollar stores and warehouse clubs. Are fresh foods the best opportunity for supermarkets to differentiate themselves from the competition? Is today’s present store layout adequate to promote this point of difference with other formats?

The Food Institute has released a new sales report that says “Supermarket sales during December posted the largest decline since March of 1998, dropping 1.5%.” And that ,”A good portion of this decline can be attributed to increased sales in other retail formats that are selling more and more food products”. Which is a more significant threat to the viability of supermarkets – retail competitors in other formats or price deflation?

Gas pumps will be added to the parking lots of about 350 Kroger stores nationwide by year’s end. Natural food departments will be opening in about 120 of its stores. And the company is focusing on general merchandise and seasonal items, such as patio swings. Should the grocery industry adopt a strategy of targeting product categories that supermarket shoppers are currently purchasing in other channels?

McDonald’s Corp. is quietly exploring how to use that vast real-estate network of 46 million customers a day at more than 30,000 locations around the globe to sell other items beyond food. Should McDonald’s broaden its sales scope beyond food?

7-Eleven plans to allow its interactive kiosks to accept cash for online purchases later this year. Will 7-Eleven’s interactive kiosk be successful with the convenience store’s customers?