Food Fight is a program developed to help fight hunger in the over 30 markets Fresh Encounter serves. Each store will have Food Fight bags full of Our Family Brand non-perishable food items that can be purchased for five dollars and then donated to the local food pantries. For appreciation of the customer donating the Food Fight bags, Fresh Encounter will provide the customer with a $5.00 off bounce back coupon for their next purchase!

West Ohio Food Bank’s volunteers are coming from local food pantries to the stores to help with Food Fight Kick-Off on Saturday, June 13th. Customers are encouraged to come in and learn how they can help out in their community. Food Fight will be starting Sunday, June 7th and ending Friday, July 24th.

Partnering with IDT Telecom of New Jersey (www.idt.net), Community Markets developed and launched Text-N-$ave. Text-N-$ave is a simple, unique and exciting mobile advertising program. Employed by thirty-one Community Markets stores across Ohio and Indiana, Text-N-$ave is highly customer friendly. Customers were asked to sign-up for Text-N-$ave in store with their cell phones. They immediately received a “free half-gallon of milk” text message.

Text-N-$ave capitalizes on the explosive growth in text messaging in the United States. In June of 2005, 7.2 billion text messages were sent. Three short years later, the total had increased more than tenfold, with June of 2008 seeing 75 billion text messages sent. In fact, the number of text messages now exceeds the number of phone calls in the U.S.

“It’s exciting when new technology meets a progressive retailer. Community Markets is an innovative and receptive partner. That’s just as important to success as the technology,” said Tom Weekly, President of IDT Retail.

More than 2,000 customers signed up during the first weekend after the launch of Community Markets’ Text-N-$ave program. Today there are nearly 4,000 customers enrolled and the number continues to grow!

A new offer is sent to the Text-N-$ave customers each week. From free, seasonally appropriate items to 10% off total purchase offers, each Text-N-$ave includes a unique PLU number that the cashier enters at the register. All the customer has to do is show their cell phone screen to the cashier to take advantage of the offer. The only customer costs are standard text messaging rates.

“The results have been outstanding,” said Eric Anderson, Co-President of Community Markets. “Our customers love it. Redemptions are running at 20% or more, and the cost is a fraction of direct mail.”

According to Mr. Anderson, that’s just the beginning. “Since each of our Text-N-$ave customers is ‘attached’ to a specific store, we’re able to send specific offers for specific stores,” he explained.

Elissa comes to Community Markets from Kmart Corporation, where she worked for several years, including as a pharmacist after graduating from the University of Toledo. She is looking forward to relocating to the Delta area and loves the community there.

Community Markets falls under the banner of Fresh Encounter, which has its headquarters in Findlay, Ohio. Family owned Fresh Encounter, Inc. is Ohio’s largest independent grocery retailer. Fresh Encounter operartes 32 grocery stores throughout Ohio & Indiana under the banners of Community Markets, Great Scot Community Markets, Fulmer Community Markets and Sack ‘N Save.

Jeff brings nearly 25 years of Bakery/Deli knowledge to the post, having worked both on the supply and retail side of the business. Jeff was formally the Director of Bakery Operations at Strack & Van Til Supermarkets in northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area. Additionally, he spent time with Cub Foods, Dawn Food Sales and Justus Brokerage Company. Jeff is married, the father of four children and currently resides in Muncie, Indiana. He plans to relocate to Ohio in the coming months.

With its headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, family owned Fresh Encounter, Inc. is Ohio’s largest independent grocery retailer. Fresh Encounter operates 32 grocery stores throughout Ohio & Indiana under the banners of Community Markets, Great Scot Community Markets, Fulmer Community Markets and Sack ‘N Save.

For more information about Fresh Encounter or where Concrobium can be found, please contact: Eric Anderson at 419-429-4026 or ericanderson@freshencounter.com

For more information about Concrobium Mold Control, please contact: Sam Title at 416-213-0219, toll free at 866-811-4148, ext. 274, or stitle@siamons.com. http://www.concrobium.com.

Community Markets is proud to be able to donate $1,000 to a worthy charity like as the Liberty Center of Fremont. According to Eric Anderson, Senior Vice President, “’Community Markets is not just a name, it’s our philosophy for doing business. Being able to make a donation to a great organization like the Liberty Center is just one of the many ways we give back to the community we serve.”

The Liberty Center is a homeless shelter with 24 beds. Most of their clients are women with children. Their clients are required to work unless they are disabled. Clients of the center are allowed to stay at the Liberty center for a maximum of 60 days. By then some of them have been able to get on their own and purchase a home. Sixty percent of their budget comes from fund raisers and donations or such as this one from Great Scot Community Markets.

The Fresh Encounter Golf Outing this year raised over $38,000 for various charities across the state of Ohio.

Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, family owned Fresh Encounter, Inc. is Ohio’s largest independent grocery retailer; now operating 32 outlets throughout Ohio and Indiana. Fresh Encounter operates supermarkets under the brands of Community Markets, Great Scot Community Markets, Fulmer Community Markets, Save-a-Lot and Sack-N-Save Supermarkets.