All Over Albany

The organic milk shortage

A sign on the dairy case at the Hannaford in Albany.

Over the last month or so we've noticed signs popping up on dairy cases at both Hannaford and Price Chopper noting that there's an organic milk shortage. And the shelves in the case have appeared rather bare at times. (We were the ones who took the last half-gallon of organic milk at the Slingerlands Price Chopper the other day. Sorry about that.)

So, what's going on?

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A ShopRite for Slingerlands, and a tech park

Right now there's not a lot there besides dirt.

Thursday was the official groundbreaking for the Vista Technology Campus in Slingerlands. A lot of the attention was focused on one of the tenants already signed up: ShopRite. That makes three stores now officially announced/open for the area (there's a fourth planned for Colonie). ShopRite continues what appears to be a strategy to go to head-to-head with Price Chopper -- the Vista ShopRite is pretty much be right across the road from the Slingerlands Chopper. [Spotlight] [YNN]

Planning for the Vista site has been going on for a few years -- but Thursday's announcements would seem to indicate it's picking up momentum. It's a potentially significant development project. The site includes 150 acres of land planned for development. And the developer -- Columbia Development -- says its plan includes up 1.4 million square feet of office, research and manufacturing facilities, medical office, and retail space.

A few quick thoughts about all this...

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Price Chopper owner sues ShopRite owner over online ads -- is the supermarket war on?

A screengrab from October 20, 2011. Here's a larger version. (We removed the Google toolbar at the top.)

Updated at 3:30 pm after hearing from Wakefern/ShopRite.

The Golub Corp -- which owns Price Chopper -- is suing the cooperative behind ShopRite over ads the cooperative allegedly bought on Google, the Times Union first reported today. Golub is alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competition. (We pulled the filing -- it's embedded after the jump.)

We noticed the ads last week while looking up some stuff about Price Chopper. A search for "Price Chopper" on October 20 returned the regular search results -- and at the top: a text ad for ShopRite. We took a screengrab (above) and figured we might eventually use it as evidence in what appears to a supermarket war that's starting to heat up.

Golub saw the situation rather differently. From the filing:

Upon information and belief, Defendant Wakefern has infringed Plaintiff Golub's registered mark in interstate commerce by various acts, including purchasing keywords including or relating to the PRICE CHOPPER® mark and engaging in Internet advertising campaigns using the PRICE CHOPPER® mark, to sell, offer for sale and advertise Wakefern's retail grocery goods and/or services. Defendant's use of the PRICE CHOPPER® mark is without permission or authority of Plaintiff Golub and such use by Defendant is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake and/or to deceive.

Golub alleges Wakefern also bought similar ads on Bing and Yahoo (and it includes screengrabs in the filing).

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Price Chopper Shops4U

Price Chopper says it's rolling out an online shopping service called "Shops4U" next week at its Niskayuna store. From the press release:

To access Shops4U, Price Chopper customers simply go to the online ordering tab on www.pricechopper.com and pull down the menu for Shops4U. Once they register, customers can pick and choose from among tens of thousands of food items carried in their local Price Chopper store. Orders can be picked up at the store or delivered to homes, offices or community gathering spaces in the Niskayuna area.

In addition to the online component, Shops4U also allows customers to interact with specially trained Price Chopper teammates who will go through the store to select the best in fresh meat, produce and seafood, along with bakery and packaged grocery items. When a customer places an order online, the pick-up time is indicated. The order will be selected and ready at that time for pick up. The customer need only drive up to the designated pick-up parking spots in front of the Niskayuna store and call the phone number indicated on the sign there. The grocery order will be brought out to the car, where the guest can pay by credit card and drive off, without ever having to leave the car.

Delivery orders will be brought to the home, business or community gathering space by Price Chopper's professional delivery staff within a designated time period.

The service costs $10, plus another $5.99 for delivery (with a discount for the first order, and every fifth order after that). The full press release is pasted after the jump.

The company says it plans to eventually extend the service to all of its stores.

In what is almost surely not a coincidence, Shops4U is rolling out just before the planned grand opening of the new ShopRite in Niskayuna on October 2. And what's one of the services ShopRite's been touting: "ShopRite from Home," an order ahead and delivery service.

We're not buzzing with excitement over ShopRite coming (back) to the Capital Region -- but if it can prompt competition with the players already here (especially on price), that's not a bad thing.

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People like shopping... whenever they want

While perusing Progressive Grocer recently*, we came across this interview with Neil Golub, the CEO of the company that owns Price Chopper.

A few bits that were interesting:

+ Ben and Bill Golub, who had been in the wholesale food business in Schenectady, set up their first retail store after checking out a market on Long Island in 1931.

+ The market they set up -- "The Public Service Market" -- opened in Green Island in 1932. (The first Central Market, which would become the name for their chain, opened in Schenectady in 1935.)

+ The company changed the markets' name to Price Chopper in 1973. It also made the switch to being open 24/7. Golub says sales went up 30 percent after making the switch to being always open.

The interviewed is embedded above. And here's more on Price Chopper's history from its website.

(Video of the interview is embedded after the jump. Caution: it auto-plays.)

* What, you're not reading Progressive Grocer?

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Schweddy Balls? Maybe not.

Updated September 13 at 7:30 am

Ben & Jerry's has a new flavor: Schweddy Balls. You've probably heard. It's been all over the interwebs. It's inspired (if that's the word) by the famous SNL in which candy maker Pete Schweddy (played by Alec Baldwin) brings his "Schweddy Balls" to an NPR food show (it's embedded after the jump).

Anyway, Fox44 in Burlington is reporting that "all" Price Chopper locations won't be carrying the ice cream because of the name. We put in a request for comment with Price Chopper Thursday afternoon about the story, but haven't heard back (we'll update if we do), so we can't confirm. They've admittedly had more important things to focus on this week. (We also didn't hear back from Hannaford -- maybe no one wants to touch the Schweddy Balls issue. Hannaford got back to us -- their response after the jump.)

Said a Ben & Jerry's spokesman to Time about the name: "The name is irreverent. But we've always been about having some irreverence and having some fun ... We're not trying to offend people. Our fans get the humor."

So what's in Schweddy Balls? From Ben & Jerry's site: "vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum and is loaded with fudge covered rum and milk chocolate malt balls." Reviews of the flavor have been... mixed. [NY Mag Grub Street]

The Ben & Jerry's scoop shop on Lark Street in Albany says the flavor is currently available there (it was sold out as of the evening of September 12). The RPI scoop shop says it might have the flavor this weekend. And the Saratoga shop says maybe by the end of next week.

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Mexican Coke at Price Chopper

Sweet.

Via Fred comes this pic of a Mexican Coca-Cola display at the Slingerlands Price Chopper this afternoon:

Made with Real Sugar
Product of Mexico 355 ml

The price for one of the glass bottles: $1.39.

Soda snobs have long touted the superiority of Mexican Coke -- made with sugar from sugar cane -- over the domestic swill, made with high-fructose corn syrup. It was once hard to find in the US (you could often score it at places like taquerias in the Southwest and California), but a Costco started carrying it a few years back. And recently it's spread to more big box stores and supermarkets (apparently with Coca-Cola's blessing).

This is the first time we've heard of it being carried in a Price Chopper or Hannaford. (Daniel spotted some during the opening of the new Fresh Market in Latham.) Until now, Coke drinkers looking for the good stuff had to wait for the kosher-for-Passover version.

(Thanks, Fred!)

Earlier on AOA: We enjoyed a Mexican coke with our taco from Tortillaville in Hudson.

The odd story involving Price Chopper, Twitter and a total overreaction to a negative comment

A man in the Syracuse area has alleged that a Price Chopper rep contacted his friend's employer and requested "disciplinary action be taken" against his friend because of a negative comment the friend made about the supermarket chain on Twitter.

This story is so odd -- and outrageous -- that we met it with great skepticism when we encountered it late Monday afternoon. But as the story quickly spread across the web Monday night, large parts of it appear to be true.

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Price Chopper to sell "sustainable 'locally grown' seafood"

Price Chopper announced today that it will be selling fish raised by Local Ocean, the indoor aquaculture company near Hudson. It's touting the fish -- sea bream -- as locally-raised and sustainable.

Local Ocean is an interesting operation. It's a huge warehouse space filled with tanks for raising fish. The setup is a mostly closed system that recycles its water supply with a filtration system that uses bacteria. The plant/farm/fish bowls reportedly cost more than $10 million to build. The company says the system should be flexible enough to raise a range of fish, both saltwater and fresh water. (There's a short video clip of Local Ocean officials talking about the concept embedded after the jump.)

Seafood stocks all around the world are under pressure from overfishing. Traditional fish farms have stepped up production to meet demand, but they've come under criticism for their environmental impact. That has some people hoping that indoor fish farms will provide a viable -- and more sustainable -- alternative.

Price Chopper says the Local Ocean fish will be available in six stores Hudson, Shoppers World in Clifton Park, Loudon Plaza in Latham, Bethlehem, Niskayuna and Saratoga Springs (Route 50). It'll be $9.99 a pound.

Earlier on AOA: Hannaford to sell only sustainably-sourced seafood

photo: Price Chopper

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Price Chopper gas discount for CDTA fares

$50 at PC = $2 off a CDTA pass

Price Chopper has extended its Fuel AdvantEdge gas discount program to CDTA fares.

Here's how it works: This discount is based on 10 cents/gallon up to 20 gallon discount for gas. So for every $50 you spend at Price Chopper (while swiping your AdvantEdge card, of course), they'll knock $2 off the price of an eligible bus pass (31 day rolling, 10 day trip, Star tickets). Spend $100, save $4 on a bus pass. Spend $150, save $6. And so on. (As with the discount for gas, the credits can be used once and expire after 90 days.)

Here's a brochure that lists all the details.

The Chopper and CDTA are touting this program as maybe the first of its kind in the nation. They're running it for a 90-day trial period (now to May), "with the option to continue contingent upon its success."

photo: Price Chopper

Cartwheeling over prices

We noticed this sign and cart when we walked into Hannaford on Central Ave in Albany the other day. It touts how much you could have saved if you bought the cart of items at Hannaford instead of Price Chopper. The items in the cart included stuff like macaroni and cheese, Nutrigrain bars and peanut butter.

Of course, Hannaford is going to set this up so it can come out on top. It proclaimed that the Chopper's "cart" was 14 percent more expensive. Price Chopper could probably pick its own cart and come out cheaper than Hannaford.

When we did our annual price check of 40 items last year, we found that Price Chopper was about three percent more expensive than Hannaford. They were both more expensive than Walmart.

Also: Here's another bit to stoke the rumors about Wegmans and the Capital Region.

First witnesses in Bruno trial, doctors flooded with requests for flu shot, public info meetings on post office closures, Thriller dance cancelled for lack of space

Here's a rundown of notable election results from yesterday. In some of the highest profile races: Jerry Jennings cruised to victory in the Albany mayoral election, Paula Mahan beat Mike Hoblock for Colonie supervisor, Republicans swept the contested seats on the Saratoga Springs city council, Republicans Bob Mirch and Neil Kelleher were both bounced from the Rensselaer County legislature. [AOA] [TU] [TU] [Saratogian] [Troy Record]

The new optical scan voting machines seemed to work out OK yesterday. [TU]

The first witnesses in the Joe Bruno trial took the stand yesterday. The head of an Albany investment firm testified that his consulting payments to Bruno increased after the senator became majority leader -- and that Bruno was responsible for bringing in $400,000 in revenue from labor unions. A former Bruno staff attorney testified that he "was not involved" in Bruno's business ventures, but did say he provided legal advice about agreements between Bruno and clients. [CapNews9] [Fox23] [TU]

Local doctors' offices say they've been deluged with patients calling for the H1N1 vaccine. [TU]

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Court halts mandatory flu shots for health workers, stabbing in Glenmont, small pumpkin crop, Paterson-Schwarzenegger friendship

A state Supreme Court judge has issued a temporary halt to the state-mandated flu shots for health care workers. A handful of lawsuits, including one filed by three Albany Med nurses, argue that state Department of Health overstepped its authority in requiring the vaccinations. The state health department says it's "confident that the regulation will be upheld." [NYT] [TU] [AP/Troy Record] [WTEN]

Neil Breslin and a group of other state senators are calling for Hiram Monserrate, recently convicted of misdemeanor assault, to quit -- or get kicked out of the Senate. Breslin said that Monserrate's exit is a necessary step toward the state Senate earning back the public's trust. [TU] [AP/Troy Record]

Shop owners and residents near Hackett Middle School in Albany say students have been causing a bunch of problems right after school as they walk through the neighborhood (map). [TU]

Investors with an Albany investment company currently under federal investigation say they raised red flags about the operation more than two years ago. [TU]

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Teen shot while riding bike, council president candidate accused of sexual harassment, attendance down slightly at Track, demolition begins on Wellington

Police say a teenager was shot in the leg as he rode his bike through Albany's West Hill neighborhood on Saturday (map). Police say they don't have a suspect. [TU] [Fox23]

Lenny Ricchiuti -- head of the Albany Police Athletic League and a candidate for Common Council president -- has been accused of sexual harassment by a former PAL employee. Ricchiuti is running against Carolyn McLaughlin for the Common Council presidency. [TU] [TU]

The Bethlehem police officer who's accused the town's police chief of using a racial slur has had his service weapons taken away -- the town cited the officer's "emotional state.". [TU]

Critics of Albany's charter schools say the schools score better on state tests because they have lower numbers of special education students. [TU]

Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce that his office has not found any evidence that a special unit of the state police had been assembled to gather information about politicians. The issue rose out of the "Troopergate" dispute between Joe Bruno and Eliot Spitzer. [NYT] [AP/Troy Record]

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No progress in state Senate, mid-year budget change could be necessary, alleged pharmacy robber nabbed, stimulating the sign economy, hunting for what's left of Henry Hudson

The state Senate had two more in-and-out sessions this past weekend. Negotiations are apparently going on behind the scenes. The big sticking point remains leadership of the chamber -- specifically Pedro Espada's role as president pro tem. David Paterson is reportedly telling Democrats they may just have to get over it. [Newsday] [Daily Politics] [Buffalo News] [NYDN]

State comptroller Tom DiNapoli says it's looking like the state will be short on money later this year -- and a mid-year budget adjustment will probably be necessary. Of course, the would be virtually impossible with the state Senate locked in its current mess. [NYDN]

A state audit of the Schenectady Metroplex Authority reports that the org isn't tracking whether its investment projects are meeting job creation targets and that it's leaving parking money on the table. The authority disputed many of the findings -- and said it's purposefully not charging for parking. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Is it a coincidence that the owner of the construction company with a virtual lock on big projects in the City of Albany is BFF with the mayor and police chief? [TU]

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Save money on gas... at Price Chopper?

Price Chopper announced a gasoline discount deal with Sunoco today. Here's how the "Fuel AdvantEdge" deal works:

1. Every time you spend $50 at the Chopper, you become eligible for a 10 cent/gallon discount at Sunoco
2. Those 10 cent discounts build on each other -- so if you spend $150 at the Chopper, you get a 30 cent/gallon discount on gas.
3. The grocery totals add up over the course of 90 days -- tracked by your AdvantEdge account.
4. You can "spend" your accumulated discount on a single gas purchase of up to 20 gallons.
5. Go back to step 1.

At least, that's how we think this works.

It's pretty easy to spend $200 at the Chopper over the course of a month. That would lead to a 40 cent/gallon gas discount. Depending on the size of your car, that could mean a discount of $4 or more on a fill-up.

So this could be a good deal with you're already a Chopper regular. But if you're not, you'd probably save more money overall by shopping at Hannaford or Walmart.

Woman killed in Schenectady deli stick-up, Tonko endorses Morris, Paterson reaches out to Bruno on same-sex marriage, Price Chopper alleges grocery espionage, plane lands on Route 9

A woman was shot and killed in a deli on Eastern Ave in Schenectady Friday night (map). Police say it appears the woman got caught up in the middle of a robbery -- but they're not sure whether the she was intentionally shot. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

A Troy man has been arrested for the death of his girfriend's three-year-old daughter. Police haven't said yet how the girl died. [TU]

Paul Tonko has endorsed Shawn Morris in the Albany mayoral race. Responded Jerry Jennings: "... the people behind me are the people that live in this city, that work in this city, and that will vote in this city." [TU] [CapNews9]

David Paterson has reached out to Joe Bruno to help him lobby Republican state Senators to support to the same-sex marriage bill. [Liz Benjamin]

The Obama Administration has found many of its appointees in New York State. [TU]

Another New Yorker the Obama team has leaned on heavily -- whether they like it or not: Chuck Schumer.

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Checking out the new "green" Price Chopper

That's green as in eco-friendly. The outside is actually sort of a tan color.

The new "green" Price Chopper officially opened today in Colonie. The Golub Corporation is touting the location as "the most advanced Green Store in the entire Capital Region."

OK, consider us interested. So we checked it out.

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City treasurer received ghost tickets, it's good to be a lobbyist, problems at the Muddy Cup, Chopper uses AdvantEdge cards to notify of recall, Fallon was quizzed for final credits

Albany city treasurer Betty Barnette has testified that she had no knowledge of the ghost ticket system until she read about it in the news -- but the TU has obtained copies of seven no-fine tickets given to... Barnette. She says she has no memory of receiving the tickets. [TU] [CBS6]

Firms that lobby the state billed their clients almost $174 million last year. NYSUT spent $4.4 million -- the most of any single group. [Biz Review]

Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are apparently becoming BFF. He's even memorized her mobile number. [NYT]

The Saratoga County towns that had sued to hold up the Hudson dredging over concerns about their drinking water supply have dropped their suit. The dredging project is scheduled to start this month. [Daily Gazette]

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This isn't going to help your supermarket envy

Consumer Reports has released supermarket rankings based on a survey of thousands of its readers (you need to be a CR subscriber to see the whole list). And the results are going to cause people in the Capital Region with already-established supermarket envy turn even a few more shades green.

(Paging Bruce Roter!)

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Scanning Tedisco-Murphy, take 5

Election day is just a week away in the race to fill Kirsten Gillibrand's old House seat. We've been reading the coverage so you don't have to. (The last scan.)

The big news this week: two debates!

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Pataki to take on Gillibrand?, Albany council pursuing ghost ticket scandal, Troy could be among first for stimulus money, cable bills going up, crustacean capers hot right now

The head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has reportedly approached George Pataki about running against Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010. [AP/Troy Record]

State Democrats "familiar" with the situation say David Paterson is considering the return of Charles O'Byrne, who was his top advisor until O'Byrne resigned over tax problems. Paterson is reportedly frustrated by accusations that his administration is coming apart. [NYT] [NYP]

The Albany Common Council has scheduled sworn testimony in March from police department and union officials about the ghost ticket scandal. Officers called to testify will have to be paid three hours of overtime if the hearing doesn't occur during their regular shift. [TU]

The Schenectady police officer accused of being serially absent from patrol has been suspended without pay for a month. The officer topped the department's pay list last year after racking up enormous amounts of overtime. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

One of the Albany River Rats says "guys were flying around like ping-pong balls" as the team bus rolled over on the Mass Pike during its crash early Thursday morning. Four players and one of the team's broadcasters were hospitalized overnight. A spokesman for Yankee Trails, the company that owned the bus, says the driver at the wheel yesterday is an "exceptional" operator. Mass state police are investigating the cause of the crash -- ice appears to be the leading candidate. The Rats' game scheduled for tonight has been postponed. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [TU] [Troy Record]

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State facing even bigger budget gap, politicians fight over printer, food bank demand up, garbage workers told to take it easy,

A budget analysis from the state Assembly projects that the state's budget gap for the next fiscal year is actually a billion dollars bigger than originally thought. Sheldon Silver says the growing gap increases the need for higher taxes on high-earning households. David Paterson says he's still resistant to the idea. [Biz Review] [NYDN] [TU]

Jonathan Lippman was confirmed yesterday as the new chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. Lippman says getting state judges a pay raise will be among his first priorities. Also: he apparently looks a little like Bernie Madoff to some people. [TU] [CapNews9]

A city attorney has told the Albany Common Council that its subpoena powers probably do not allow it to question the head of the police officers' union about the ghost ticket scandal. Councilman Corey Ellis has been pushing for the council to directly investigate the matter. [TU]

The woman police say hit a pedestrian along Western Ave near St. Rose and then drove off was charged yesterday with leaving the scene of an accident. The family of Stanley Brown, the man hit and killed in the accident, says he loved to walk. [Troy Record] [TU]

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Arrest in 40-year-old murder case, AMD hopes for June start on fab construction, subpoena debated for "ghost tickets" scandal, buzzer sounds early on Patroons' season

State police have arrested a man for an alleged murder from 40 years ago. Investigators say Nelson Costello murdered David Bacon over a woman. Costello, who most recently has been living in Arizona, was a part-time cop in the Town of Waterford in 1969. Bacon's disappearance had been deemed a missing persons case four decades ago. Officials haven't said what led them to treat the case as a murder, but they say they will probably release details later this week. [Daily Gazette] [TU] [Troy Record]

The state's political leaders are lining up to push for a high-speed rail line connecting cities along the old Erie Canal. [TU]

Former Schenectady police chief Greg Kaczmarek was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday for his involvement with a drug ring. Kaczmarek's wife, Lisa, was also sentenced yesterday -- she got six months. That sentence has drawn criticism for being too light, but Judge Karen Drago told Lisa Kaczmarek, "your culpability with respect to getting illegal drugs on the street was far less than your co-defendants." The busting of the organization has led to convictions for 24 people. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [TU]

AMD says it wants to start clearing the land for the Luther Forest chip fab in March and start construction in June. But first its board has to approve the spin-off of the company that will actually own the fab. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

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Dems pick candidate for Gillibrand replacement race, stabbing in downtown Saratoga, RPI involved with Africa education intiative, local sales of YakTrax up

The Democrats have picked Glens Falls venture capitalist Scott Murphy to run in the special election for Kirsten Gillibrand's seat. Murphy emerged as the choice after former TV anchor Tracy Egan and AFL-CIO official Suzy Ballantyne dropped out. The 10 Democratic county chairman made their pick yesterday at the Gateway Diner in Albany (no, that's not in the district) while, apparently, wearing lots of Gillibrand flair. [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record] [TU] [@pattigibbons]

Murphy will face Jim Tedisco in the special election -- and people are already lining up to replace Tedisco should he win. [Saratogian]

Police say a man was stabbed multiple times early Sunday morning at Club 388 on Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. The victim was airlifted to Albany Med. Police arrested two men shortly after the incident -- the cops had been on patrol in the area. [CapNews9] [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian]

Saratoga Springs mayor Scott Johnson says the city's council "has already embraced the concept, but not the details" of paid parking downtown. That's not going over well with downtown business owners. [TU]

As David Paterson's public profile has taken a hit (or, hits) over the last few weeks, it appears that Sheldon Silver is controlling the agenda at the Capitol. [AP/Saratogian] [TU]

Joe Bruno, who's under federal indictment, in a recent memo to employees at the consulting firm he now heads: "If there was ever a time to be righteously indignant, that time is now." [TU]

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