Watch out Walmart and Amazon. Dutch grocer Ahold is creating a giant by buying its Belgian rival Delhaize for 25 billion euros ($28 billion). Besides creating a major player in Europe, the deal will merge four supermarket chains on the U.S. east coast: Ahold's Stop & Shop and Giant stores and Delhaize's Food Lion and Hannaford markets. The companies say they will lower operating and purchasing costs and expand the reach of Ahold's online grocery store Peapod.

Kroger Co., continuing its positive momentum during its first fiscal quarter, reports identical store sales up 5.7% for the quarter ending May 23, marking the 46th consecutive quarter with positive non-fuel comp sales growth. "Our strong identical supermarket sales growth was driven by an increase in the number of households shopping with us in the first quarter. We also meant our goal to grow the number of loyal households at a faster rate than total household growth again in the quarter," said Michael Ellis, Kroger president and COO, in a call with analysts.

How Carlsberg would run the perfect supermarket, choose flatmates and find the ideal girlfriend have all been themes in the beer's advertising. The Danish brand is back to mull what would happen if it went into the barbershop business. The new installment of "If Carlsberg Did" series in the UK and Sweden includes 30- and 40-second spots cut from a 72-second anthem version. The campaign, via 72andSunnyAmsterdam returned this year after a four-year hiatus.

Burger King, which last year introduced in Japan the Kuro Shogun burgers with black cheese on black buns (not likely to fly in Duluth) now is doing it in red with a new burger and chicken sandwich. The bright red Aka Samurai Beef and Aka Samurai Chicken owe the color of their buns and cheese to the inclusion of tomato powder, according to a company release. The burger comes with a grilled onion slice plus "Angry Sauce" flavored with doubanjiang spicy chili bean paste.

General Motors is counting on design and features, not cash on the hood, to deliver sales. The next-generation Chevrolet Malibu sedan, for instance, has a new look, automatic braking, and a hybrid version that will return the segment's best fuel economy. GM executives see $1,000 in extra per-vehicle profit from the 2016 Malibu based on options and features. They are counting on upgrades to the new Cruze to achieve the same thing. That will be a challenge in a market that is seeing incentives heading up.

Olive Garden is moving away from deep discounting and instead relying on value platforms like Cucina Mia. the platform, which debuted in February 2014, lets guests mix and match six pastas and five sauces, and then add different proteins, all at a fixed $9.99 price point. Said Darden CEO Gene Lee, "We are finding Millennials love Cucina Mia because they get to customize their meal. We also find the value-seekers like that entry price point."

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel says brands can act "friendly" on social media, as long as they don't act like your (creepy) buddy. That's good because the photo and video sharing app opened up to advertisers last year, with Samsung the first brand. The tech brand sponsored last year's Stories feature in November for The American Music Awards. Stories creates a chronological timeline of events.

At a recent Goldman Sachs Annual dotCommerce Day presentation, Kevin Hofmann, Home Depot's SVP and president of online operations, explained to investors how the retailer's common order management system is an "inventory visibility platform" to oversee the millions of deliveries that take place through small delivery trucks, big delivery trucks, through direct fulfillment distribution centers and in-store-pick-up transactions. "The IT investments we are making are really to optimize that whole supply chain offering," Hofmann said.

Led by the U.S. and China, global auto sales have been feverish in recent years, reaching all-time record numbers. But a new study warns that demand is going to soften - and soon. Worldwide, sales will continue to increase, according to the annual automotive outlook produced by Detroit-based AlixPartners. But the rate of growth will slip to an annual 2.6% for the next seven years, down from 3.1% between 2007 and 2014. The U.S. and China will likely see the sharpest slowdowns, the study warns.

Subway will celebrate its 50th anniversary by renaming the Milford, Conn., street where its headquarters is located in its own honor, and local government has agreed to the change. The new name: Sub Way. The previous name of the street reflects the influence of a former brand: Bic Drive, after the Bic Corporation, whose headquarters used to be on the same street. Since Bic asked to keep its name on the half-mile section of road where it still has a lighter factory, Subway only gets to rename a stretch of the road.