Barbara Soderlin
Omaha World-Herald
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Past articles by Barbara:
Downtown Hy-Vee a possibility, CEO says; grocer plans to open 2 more full-service stores in area soon
A downtown Omaha store could be similar to what Hy-Vee has under construction in downtown Des Moines: a four-story structure housing a 35,000-square-foot supermarket, 81 apartments and a two-level parking garage. That store is expected to open this winter. → Read More
Area farm groups will closely eye DuPont-Dow merger
“Just a handful of large chemical companies, including Dow and DuPont, already control most of the seed supply used to grow crops like corn and soybeans, as well as the herbicides that genetically engineered seeds are designed to be grown with,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, an environmental advocacy group. → Read More
Don't count just yet on ConAgra splitting apart
One analyst suggests ConAgra may have announced the spinoff with no plans to go through with it but instead to garner a buyer’s interest in the potato business. → Read More
ConAgra’s plan to split business could see a new company spin off or leave orbit
Some business units that companies target for a so-called spinoff don’t ever actually make it to new lives as their own companies. Instead, they get snapped up by a buyer before a single share trades hands. → Read More
Walmart may be gobbling up grocery market share, but competitors' sales aren't falling
Shoppers in the Omaha area now spend nearly a third of their grocery dollars at Walmart-run stores. That doesn’t mean competitors have seen falling sales — total area grocery sales grew 20 percent from 2012 to 2014, to $2.5 billion. It means that each company is getting a slightly smaller slice of a growing pie. → Read More
ConAgra CEO tells Omaha employees: ‘We’re either going to win or we’re going to die’
ConAgra Foods Chief Executive Sean Connolly rallied employees Thursday in Omaha to get behind his vision for the company, telling them in stark terms that the radical changes he has been making are necessary for the company’s survival. → Read More
Serious shoppers turn out early for the best deals
If you're seeking the big items at low prices, you need to get in line early and be prepared for all kinds of weather. → Read More
5 grocery stores new to Omaha will focus on fresh produce and meats
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market will open a store at 132nd Street and West Center Road this fall, and is scouting locations in the Lakeside area of west Omaha and in Papillion. → Read More
ConAgra Foods to split into 2 independent companies
The transaction is expected to be complete in fall 2016, with shareholders owning shares of both companies. → Read More
Feds end oversight of Gallup ahead of schedule
Gallup had entered a three-year agreement on April 19, 2013 with the Department of Homeland Security ahead of a July 2013 settlement of a whistleblower lawsuit that it had conducted business unethically → Read More
Beyond jobs, ConAgra’s smaller cuts are adding up
ConAgra Foods is canning some of its formal employee-recognition programs as part of cost cutting that is sweeping the packaged-food industry. → Read More
ConAgra delivering layoff news today, Thursday; more cuts could come
In a Wednesday morning memo, addressed to the finance, information technology and enterprise business systems team, the company said managers would inform the employees of their fates today and Thursday. The memo said the company wasn’t finished with its review of positions, especially those to be outsourced, and more cuts could come in the next 30 to 90 days. → Read More
ConAgra tells employees of layoffs today, Thursday
In the Wednesday morning memo, addressed to the finance, information technology and enterprise business systems team, the company said managers would inform the employees of their fates today and Thursday. → Read More
ConAgra had said layoff news was coming in 'early November'; the clock is ticking
ConAgra said on Oct. 1 it would eliminate 1,000 jobs in Omaha and move 300 more jobs to Chicago, along with its corporate headquarters. But details about those layoffs and relocations have been sparse. → Read More
TreeHouse had long been eyeing ConAgra division
TreeHouse Foods Chief Executive Sam Reed said he had put a team together about a year ago to study ConAgra's private brands division, long before it was for sale but with the knowledge that ConAgra was struggling. → Read More
Nebraska businesses aren't alone: Activist investors on the rise everywhere
When it comes to activist investors, ConAgra and Cabela's have plenty of company: A growing number of the investors are casting their nets to encompass wider geographies and industries. → Read More
Activist investor announces 11% stake in Cabela's, calls for changes
New York investor Elliott Associates calls the Cabela's stock "significantly undervalued" and wants to talk to the Cabela's board about changes that could include selling the credit-card operation or selling the entire company to another firm. → Read More
ConAgra's millions in local charitable donations are in limbo
ConAgra Foods’ move to Chicago might do more than slash the company’s payroll in Omaha. It could put a dent in ConAgra’s charitable giving here, too. → Read More
Omaha businesses’ new goal: Keep ConAgra talent from leaving
Dozens of companies are working together to make sure the city doesn’t lose those who lose their jobs → Read More
ConAgra begins layoffs; more to come in November
ConAgra Foods on Friday began a wave of layoffs that eventually will affect 1,000 people, the first victims in the job cuts announced recently by the packaged-foods giant. → Read More