2017Issue3_Alabama_v4

CONTENTS | ISSUE 3

COLUMNS

FEATURES

Chairman’s Message Summer Means Convention Season . . . . 6 President’s Message Advocacy – An Important Part of Membership .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Government Relations One For The Books .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Viewpoint April Fools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Inside the Beltway Talking About Taxes... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Washington Report Don't Undo Debit Card Swipe Fee Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Mommy Blogger Nuts About Nutrition... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The IoT is Driving the Integration of Everything In real estate the mantra is: Location. Location. Location. for retailers, regardless of segment, the mantra for 2017 is: Integration. Integration. Integration. 28

Mergers and Acquisitions – Who's Next? The year 2017 is not likely to be record-setting for merger and acquisition activity in the grocery industry now that mega-mergers like Ahold/Delhaize, Walgreens/Rite Aid and Albertsons/Safeway are complete. 32

DEPARTMENTS

AGA News .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Outside the Box .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

15 Minutes With Deborah Weinswig Deborah Weinswig is Managing Director of Fung Global Retail and Technology who travels extensively and is considered one of the top analysts in the field of retail innovation and technology. We caught up with her between flights to talk about everything retail. 36

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ALABAMA GROCER |