Belle Foods & Chapter 11

It was ten o'clock at night. Cars drove around the parking lot looking for a place near the Food World door. None was available.

When was this? Around 1980. So what happened? Mainly Walmart--the local consumer can purchase groceries, pet vitamins, and a new lever for the toilet all in the same place. What's not to like? Actually, our friend O.B. and some others can tell us plenty that's not to like, but for many consumers, it's a way to save money and time in one quick shopping trip.

Did Belle Foods know what it was getting into when it purchased the once famous Bruno chain that included local Food World markets? Apparently not. While Chapter 11 is designed to let a company reorganize as it pays off debts, it appears there are already offers coming in for the Belle Food stores in south Alabama. Here in the Shoals? None that we're aware of.

Does this bode well for Foodlands, Big Stars, or similar markets? So far, most of these smaller stores have managed to hang in there, but the past few years have seen a decline in the offerings at Foodland bakeries and in their meat department.

It seems it may be an Aldi, Walmart, and Publix world--none of them local or even from Alabama. To those inclined to lament these changes, perhaps you could type out a list of remedies using your Word Perfect or Lotus 123 software?

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A nine year-old child died yesterday. She was a passenger in a truck driven by a 16 year-old. Not only was this child not buckled in as required by Alabama law, she was sitting in the lap of a passenger who, along with the driver, survived.

We're often asked to give our opinion on such deaths, probably because we've previously criticized parents who let young children either operate or ride on four-wheelers. The nine-year old had no idea of the danger she was in. The 16 year-old should have known the law, but obviously didn't care. He should now care and be reading his insurance policy very carefully. We can tell him right now it won't pay for even half of what the child's parents will sue for.

Parents, why let your child put himself/herself in such a position? You don't have to answer--we already know your response.

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Apparently, the murder of Jessica Broadfoot wasn't Homajean Grisham III's first violent rodeo:

Grisham on Probation

Shoalanda