Content about Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM — Royal Ahold CEO Dick Boer expressed condolences for the victims of Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon in a meeting with shareholders Wednesday.

"The Boston area is, of course, one of our main U.S. markets, and our thousands of employees are shocked by Monday's events," Boer said. "Our thoughts are with everyone in the city of Boston and the surrounding communities, and especially the families and friends of those affected."

The company's Stop & Shop banner has a prominent and long-standing presence in the area.

AMSTERDAM — Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold has completed the sale of its majority stake in a Scandinavian supermarket chain, the company said Wednesday.

Ahold announced that it had completed the sale of its 60% stake in ICA to Swedish firm Hakon Invest for $3.3 billion. The deal was announced Feb. 11.

Based in Sweden, ICA operates the ICA and Rimi chains in Scandinavia and the Baltics.

AMSTERDAM — Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold has repurchased nearly 1 million shares as part of its $647.3 million share-buyback program, the company said Monday.

Ahold said the 960,596 shares were repurchased at an average price of $14.91, for a total of $14.33 million.

The company announced the share-buyback program in late February. Ahold operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover supermarket banners and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States.

AMSTERDAM — Rene Dahan will step down as Royal Ahold's board chairman in October, the Dutch supermarket operator said Wednesday.

Netherlands-based Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle chains and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said that Dahan would step down after serving on the company's board since 2004. The company plans to propose at its shareholder meeting the appointment of Jan Hommen as Dahan's successor.

AMSTERDAM — Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold is selling its majority stake in a Scandinavian supermarket chain to an investors group, the company said Monday.

Ahold, which operates the Giant-Carlisle, Giant-Landover and Stop & Shop banners and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States, said it would sell its 60% stake in ICA to Hakon Invest of Sweden for $3.3 billion.

ICA, based in Sweden, operates the ICA and Rimi chains in Norway and the Baltics.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — Royal Ahold has appointed a new COO for its U.S. subsidiary, the company said Thursday.

Ahold, based in the Netherlands, announced that it had appointed James McCann as COO of Ahold USA, effective Jan. 1, 2013, replacing Carl Schlicker, who has announced his retirement. McCann, a 43-year-old native of the United Kingdom and currently Ahold's chief commercial and development officer who will continue as a member of the company's corporate board, began working for Ahold in 2011.

AMSTERDAM — A division of Ahold USA has completed its acquisition of stores in the greater Philadelphia area.

Giant-Carlisle officially closed its acquisition of 15 Genuardi's stores, a subsidiary of Safeway. The deal was previously announced in January and was approved by the Federal Trade Commission last month.

As previously reported, during the conversion process, five stores at a time will temporarily close for about a week. The three-phase staggered approach is expected to be completed on July 22.

CHICHESTER, England — Self-monitoring blood glucose levels in Type 2 diabetics not on an insulin regimen may contribute little to managing the disease, according to an analysis published online last month by The Cochran Library.

DULUTH, Ga. — The U.S. division of an Amsterdam-based supermarket conglomerate has tapped NCR for a solution to manage the stores' offers and promotions to customers.

AMSTERDAM — Ahold has announced the appointment of Jeff Carr as EVP and CFO, starting Nov. 12.

Carr will be a member of Ahold’s corporate executive board, pending shareholder approval. He will succeed Kimberly Ross, who is leaving Ahold in November to become CFO of Avon.

Carr will be responsible for Ahold’s finance, real estate and IT functions. He will also manage the company’s existing €350 million cost reduction program and explore further ways to reduce costs and simplify the business.

CITY OF AMSTERDAM, N.Y. — Baby food brand Beech-Nut announced that its new facility has earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Building Certification Institute.

The $124 million facility, which serves as Beech-Nut's headquarters and production plant, opened in June 2010 and was designed to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use. Facility features and highlights include:

• Annual energy savings equal to the energy demands of more than 2,000 people;

AMSTERDAM — Sales for Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold increased 5.9% to $13.3 billion in first quarter 2011, the company said.

This compared with first quarter 2010 sales of $12.6 billion at Ahold, which operates the Giant-Carlisle, Giant-Landover and Stop & Shop chains in the United States, as well as online grocer Peapod. Profits for the quarter were $419.1 million, a 6.2% increase over $394.6 million in 2010.

Sales for Ahold USA were $7.6 billion, a 7.4% increase over first quarter 2010. Same-store sales increased by 5% over last year.