TOPLINE NEWSThe National Grocers Association is looking to Congress and federal regulators to investigate what it alleges are illegal and anticompetitive business practices from the biggest food retailers in the U.S. NGA offered a stinging rebuke and numerous examples of what it maintains are major retailers’ abuses in a 24-page document released on March 16, titled, “Buyer Power and Economic Discrimination in the Grocery Aisle: Kitchen Table Issues for American Consumers.” NGA, which represents independent grocers, contends the actions of large retailers, especially during the pandemic, threaten the existence of a healthy grocery ecosystem and argue that congressional action and investigations by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are needed.AMAZONThe Amazon Care virtual health pilot program will expand to all of the company's U.S. employees starting this summer, and later this year Amazon will open up the Care service to other employers.The National Football League has reportedly finalized new 11-year media rights deals, including making Amazon the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football. Amazon had recently shared broadcast rights to Thursday nights, so the new deal indicates a move toward some streaming exclusivity. Contractual requirements mean the Thursday night games will still appear on traditional over-the-air broadcasts just in the teams' home cities.Even as other retailers have dialed back or completely eliminated new stores openings, Amazon continues its rapid expansion into grocery, now opening its 12th Amazon Fresh store, in Long Beach, CA.Amazon is now testing electric delivery vans from Rivian in San Francisco, marking the latest expansion of the program after it launched on some routes in Los Angeles last month. The Rivian investment is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040.Amazon Music is integrating promotional artist merchandise within its mobile app on participating artists’ pages, side-by-side with their songs, albums, live streams, and music videos. Artists including Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, King Princess, Lady Gaga and Gucci Mane are among the initial participants in the program. To coincide with the announcement, Amazon Music is also debuting exclusive merchandise collections from select artists. In addition, rapper Wale has made Amazon Music the exclusive online retail partner for his merchandise collection.Fueled by a boom in e-commerce shopping brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the top apparel retailer in the U.S, according to research by Wells Fargo shared by CNBC. Amazon’s apparel and footwear sales in the U.S. rose approximately 15% in 2020 to more than $41 billion, outdistancing Walmart by 20% to 25%, the report said.MASSMeanwhile, Walmart has hired Brandon Maxwell, a Project Runway judge who designs a high-end label sold in upscale stores, as creative director for its two “elevated” private labels, Free Assembly and Scoop. While Walmart is still primarily seen as a purveyor of low prices rather than fashion and a good deal of its more fashion-forward clothing is only available online, Denise Incandela, executive vp of apparel and private brands for Walmart, told CNBC that is changing. More national brands will be sold at stores and clothing displays will be made more appealing with mannequins and creative imagery.Walmart and Sam's Club stores have become part of an international initiative that would allow those getting COVID-19 vaccinations to show standardized digital proof of their immunizations. Their customers may soon be able to use free health apps such as HealthPass or Common Pass to create digital credentials proving they have been inoculated while also being able to access the rest of their health records.Target is rolling out a new arts and crafts private-label brand called Mondo Llama this month. The brand encompasses 400 arts and crafts items and kits for projects such as painting a ceramic ladybug or turtle flower pot. Each priced under $25, the items began rolling out March 14 and most will be available by March 28. The mass merchant will also launch a new food-and-beverage private label called Favorite Day in April.SUPERMARKETAhold Delhaize USA’s digital, e-commerce and commercial engine, Peapod Digital Labs, teamed up with Quotient to become the first grocery group to offer a new promotion amplification tool through its retail media platform, AD Retail Media (powered by Quotient), as part of the vendor’s retailer performance media platform. The promotion amplification tool reportedly combines retailer point-of-sale and loyalty card data with weekly retailer temporary price reduction feeds to target and automate digital media to the right audiences at the right time.CONVENIENCE7-Eleven’s pending acquisition of Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Speedway has hit a speedbump after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent a March 10 letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to pause its review of the sale to 7-Eleven parent company, Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. President James Hoffa asked the FTC to put the review on hold until either "legislation introduced by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chairwoman on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, has been enacted; or the FTC is able to ensure that the legal and economic staffs have meaningfully taken into account the lack of efficiencies and the full range of competitive harms that the transaction may cause." MPC and 7-Eleven reached a $21-billion agreement for the Speedway chain in August 2020. The transaction would grow 7-Eleven's network to more than 13,000 c-stores.PETPetco said it added one million new customers in the fourth quarter of 2020, mostly fueled by its digital business, which grew 90% year-over-year. In total, it reported fourth quarter sales of $1.3 billion, up 16.5% year-over-year, driven by comparable sales growth of 17%. For the full year, the pet retailer reported net sales increased 11% year over year to $4.9 billion, while its comp sales also increased 11%.