CHICAGO - For financially pressed consumers, it's coming down to a choice between spending on gasoline or groceries, and gasoline is winning, a food industry analysis finds.

A strike at Valley Fry’s and Safeway supermarkets has been averted, at least for the foreseeable future.

Safeway and Fry’s stores expect to have enough workers to keep local stores open even if contract talks fall apart and a strike erupts.

A Mesa supermarket, which is scheduled to reopen today after a remodeling that makes liquor more visible, has riled some neighbors, including a local legislator.

For two years, grocery stores have sent customers this message: Shopping here will save you money.

The opening of the Hispanic-themed Mi Pueblo Supermercado at Main Street and Dobson Road in Mesa might be delayed six to eight weeks so its opening can be coordinated with other grocery stores the company plans to open in Phoenix, said Luis Granda, Mi Pueblo marketing manager.

Ben Moreno remembers the old days before trucks took produce to the grocer’s back door. "Farmers would bring their crops to the Wholesale Terminal," says Moreno, 71. "They would even come by horse and buggy to sell."

Sprouts is readying space at Brown and Gilbert roads in Mesa for its fifth Arizona grocery store — the third in the East Valley — scheduled to debut March 19. Albuquerque, N.M.-based Sunflower Markets, which has stores in Scottsdale and Gilbert, is coming next to Tempe.

The supermarket strikes that have plagued Southern California soon could be replayed in the Valley.

Talks between Fry’s and Safeway supermarkets and their Arizona employees are expected to resume within a few days.

Fry’s and Safeway executives and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 finally carved out time to get together Friday.

Chandler-based Bashas' supermarket chain says it's been victimized by a cyber attack on the stores' online systems, which provided criminals with access to customer payment information.

Police in Chandler say they've arrested a suspect in an armed robbery of a supermarket.

The Market at Fulton Ranch was chosen as the name for the new, full-service supermarket planned to open in the fall on the northeast corner of Chandler Heights and Alma School roads in south Chandler.

Mi Pueblo Supermercado, an upscale Hispanic market being developed in Mesa, has scheduled a job fair July 15 to fill many of the 300 jobs available at the store.